Used and new-surplus generator sets from 135 kW to 1.48 MW, on natural gas or diesel, sold from our yard in Red Deer. This page sorts them by condition before fuel, because condition decides more of what a unit is worth. No price is published here. Call for pricing and the figure you get is for the one unit you picked.
For a buyer, a gas set and a diesel set that have each worked a long life have more in common than two gas sets where one has never carried a load. So this page starts from condition and treats fuel as the second question. Every unit here is either used or one of the surplus generators for sale that never went into service, and some listings cover both at once. If you are still weighing whether used suits the job at all, start with the new vs. used generator buying guide.
A used unit has worked a service life on somebody's site. That makes it a second-hand generator for sale in the plain sense, and it means the build year tells you little. What sets the value is how many hours the engine has run and what was done to it along the way, above all whether it has had a major overhaul and when.
A new-surplus unit was bought or built for work that never came, so it has no service history. It has still aged. The clock on it is calendar time rather than engine hours, and storage is hard on a machine in its own way. Ask where and how it was kept, and what has been checked or replaced since it came out of storage.
Some listings stand for more than one unit, and those units do not have to match. A single listing can hold a low-hour set and a high-hour set, or a new-surplus unit and a used one, under one name and one photo. Before a price means anything, ask which unit it is for, and get that unit's own hours and condition on the quote.
These are the units whose listing calls them used or surplus, whichever fuel they run on. The page reads them from our inventory every time it loads, so once a unit sells, it leaves the grid without anyone editing this page. Under each card is the condition exactly as its listing words it.
Condition as listed:Used (low & high hour)
Condition as listed:Used
Condition as listed:New surplus & used
Condition as listed:Used — good condition
Looking past used and surplus? Equipment for sale lists everything else NexSource sells. Diesel generators for sale and the page for natural gas generators for sale each list every set on that fuel, whatever its condition. If you want the engine without the generator, Industrial engines for sale starts from the engine instead.
Two numbers describe how much work a used engine has done, and they answer different questions.
The total on the meter since the engine was first started. It is the whole working history in one figure and shows how hard the unit has been used over its life. On its own, it does not tell you how much life is left.
The count since the engine was last opened up and rebuilt, which says how far it is into its current life. When you compare used natural gas generators, or a used set on any fuel, compare this figure first and then read it against the lifetime total.
Some listings describe the hours with a word, such as Low, in place of a figure. That is a description, not a reading. Ask for the number on the meter, and ask for it to be written on the quote.
The Caterpillar XQ1250G Natural Gas Generator Set reads 40,614 hours since new, with its overhaul done at 30,451 hours. Take one from the other and the engine has run 10,163 hours since that overhaul. That is the figure to weigh, with the full total as background.
An hour figure at the overhaul is half the record. The other half is what the work was and who did it.
Major overhaul has no fixed meaning. Until the work is itemized, treat the phrase as a date stamp and nothing more. Ask what was replaced, what was machined and what was reused, and whether the work stopped at the engine or took in the generator end and the cooling system too.
Ask who carried out the overhaul and whether the work orders or invoices still exist. A record with a shop name, a date and a parts list can be checked; a line on a listing cannot. Where the paperwork survives, ask for a copy. Where it does not, ask what is known and have that put in writing.
The word turns up on plenty of refurbished generators for sale, and it can mean anything from a full rebuild to fresh paint. It does not describe the work. The units on this page are listed as used or new surplus, and where one has had a major overhaul its listing gives the hours. Whatever a unit is called, ask for the list of work on the quote.
Read the model, serial number and build year off the plates on the engine and the generator end, and check them against the listing and the quote. If anything differs, find out why. A mismatch is a question to settle before price, not after.
Find out which controller the unit carries and what it is set up to do. Some listings include paralleling controls or describe a unit as paralleling capable. Where a listing does not say so, assume the unit runs alone until we confirm otherwise. If it has to work beside sets you already own, send us their make and model.
What the unit sits in is part of what you buy. The listings describe packages such as a container on a semi trailer, or an enclosed trailer with its own double-wall fuel tank. Confirm what comes with the unit you are quoted, ask what state the trailer and tank are in, and work out what moving it will take before you plan the haul.
A unit that starts is not yet a unit that carries your load. Ask for a run on a load bank close to the load it will carry on your site, and note how steady the output stays and how hot the engine runs. Load banks sit in the same rental fleet as these generators. Ask early, and settle how long and at what load when you do.
A used set makes sense when the load is staying and you are ready to take on the upkeep of an older engine. If the job could end, move or change size in a season or two, renting can cost less than owning the wrong unit. Where a unit here is also offered for rent, its listing shows a For Rent badge. The guide on renting and buying works through where the line usually falls.
These units can start as a rental, with the rent you pay counted toward the price if you keep the unit:
Not quite. A new-surplus unit has never worked on anyone's site, so it has no service history. That does not make it fresh. It may have been started for testing, and it has been ageing in storage for as long as it has sat. Where the build year is known, the listing gives it. Ask how and where the unit was kept, and what has been inspected or replaced since.
You need both. Hours since the overhaul tell you where the engine is in its current life, and hours since new tell you what it went through to get there. A listing that gives only one figure, or a word such as low, is not enough to price against. Ask for the actual meter reading and the scope of the overhaul, and have both put in writing on the quote.
You can ask for one, and the best time is when you first enquire about the unit. NexSource rents load banks out of the same fleet as these generators, so a run at something close to your real load can be arranged, rather than a start and an idle. How long it runs, at what load and when are settled at the time you ask, so raise it early.
The word on its own would not tell you much, which is why it is not the one to rely on. The units on this page are listed as used or new surplus, and where one has had a major overhaul its listing gives the hours it was done at. If you are comparing refurbished generators for sale from anyone, ask for the list of work done and get it on the quote.
Both fuels appear on this page when we have them. Gas and dual-fuel sets are grouped together and diesel sets have their own group, and because stock changes as units sell, the diesel group can be short or missing at times. When it is, our diesel generators for sale page shows every diesel set on offer, whatever its condition. You can also call (403) 887-4567 with the size you need.
One unit at a time. The figure depends on its hours, its overhaul history, the condition it is in and how it is configured, down to the voltage, the controls, the enclosure and any trailer or tank. Identical models can be priced far apart for those reasons, so no figure is published. Name the unit you want and we send a written quote for that unit alone.
If one of the used generators for sale above suits the job, tell us which and ask for its hours, its overhaul record and its condition on a written quote, and raise a load-bank run at the same time if you want one. If none of them fits, tell us the load you need to carry, the voltage on site and the fuel you have, and we will tell you whether anything in the yard comes close.
