I am wanting to purchase a large towable (mobile) air compressor with atleast a 175-200 cfm rating, My questions are what brand is the most reliable in your experience SULLAIR, AIRMAN , LEROI, INGERSOLL - RAND, SULLIVAN ETC., ? What should I look for if I buy used and what is the upkeep besides normal fluids ? What is low hours before problems usually occur? Anything would be beneficial.

 

I used to have a Sullair 250cfm compressor. Bought it used with around 1000 hrs. Had a Perkins diesel in it. Ran great for a few years. Eventually, parts for the Perkins became hard to locate. Our dealer eventually told us to stop bringing it in for service. They no longer could obtain parts in reasonable time. Had the axle break on it. But nothing too major. I think at the end the injector pump was going bad. But it had over 9500+hrs, and a lot of different operators (most of them idiots!). Make no mistake, it made us money. For the past few years I've been renting them as needed. Typically, I'll rent Sullivan 185's. They are powered by John Deere diesels, and are very nice machines. Good luck with your purchase!


Chris

P.S. Make sure you have adequate tires on your compressor. A diesel powered compressor of this size is very heavy! The factory spec tires on ours were under-rated. Blew a couple of them. Just replaced them with a higher load range tire and eveything was fine.

 

Of the brands you listed Sullair is the most trouble free. I/R is good too. I have no experience with Airman or sullivan. LeRoi used to be good but am not impressed with their portables of late. Look for well maintained equipment. If it is reasonably clean, then probably it has been taken care of. Look especially at the radiator / oil cooler. When they plug up with debris on the outside then you are going to have problems. Most all of the problems are caused by the engine anyway. John Deere makes a good Industrial engine and is easily repaired with good parts availability.

 

Sullivan, I-R, Airman are all most trouble free with proper maintinance. We run all diesel units, I-R s are the hardest starters in the cold due to no way to keep the compressor unloaded when cranking. Greg

 

i like Sullivan they have best also easy to find parts for it and you can find them used

 

the sullivan d185q or 210q are excellent compressors. they have the deere 4cyl engine in them. i worked for a large rental company, we maintained a large fleet (over 100) compressors, all makes but mostly sullivan, sullair, and inger. the sullivans are very long lasting with the proper maintanence. (but most things are) the sullivan control system is the most trouble free in the long run (very important) the filters and seperator are avilable after market. the only thing to look for in on the sullivans is where the bell housing bolts to the engine block, deere 4cyls can leak there but if you keep an eye on the oil level its not a problem. very slow leak. besides the 4 air filters and the oil/fuel filters there is only one other "filter" it is the seperator. its function is to keep the oil from the screws from going out the tank. hours for service are oem on the engine oil, and totally depend on the operating enviorment. the more the dust (sand blasting) the faster you need to change. with the exception of operator abuse there should be no reason why a small (200 cfm is a small towable) shouldn't last for at least 10,000 hours. but if the macine is abused its a gamble at any hours. a good way to tell is by the condition of the trailer, everything from the lights and hitch to the sheet metal condition. if the hour meter doesn't work or has been replaced with out explanation your back to a gamble.
lastly when you check any comp out, run it for an hour before you make a decision alot of compressor problems don't show up untill everything is good and hot.
if i can help or you have any questions let me know.

 

I'm just curious... what does one of these rent for?

 

i'm not exactly sure, being a mechanic i never really asked. i do know that the lenght of the rental and the amount of gear makes a huge difference in the unit rental price. i would guess at about 100 bucks a day or 350 a week but i may be way off. a quick call to any rental company would give you an exact number.

 

I have used an IR and it was great, it was used for jack hammers. Get a diesel.

 

Make Sure You Don't Get One Thats a Wagon Thats a trailer that has an axel at the front and back. Don't let them tell you how easy it is to pull, because there's no weight on the trucks frame.

 

a quick check of the company that i used to work for came up with these prices. less than i expected.
Description
DAILY RATE WEEKLY RATE MONTHLY RATE
1.3 CFM THOMAS 1/2HP Elec. 14.00 56.00 168.00
1.8 CFM THOMAS 3/4HP Elec. 25.00 100.00 300.00
3.4 CFM THOMAS 1HP Elec. 32.00 128.00 384.00
4 CFM EMGLO Elec. 34.00 136.00 408.00
6.2 CFM EMGLO Elec. 42.00 168.00 504.00
6.2 CFM WEBSTER 4HP Gas. 42.00 168.00 504.00
8.6 CFM WEBSTER 5HP Gas 44.00 176.00 528.00
19 CFM WEBSTER 8HP Gas. 59.00 236.00 708.00
Palatek Air Compressors
210 CFM Sullivan Diesel 70.00 280.00 800.00
250 CFM Sullivan Diesel 75.00 300.00 900.00
375 CFM Air Compressor 162.50 600.00 1800.00
900 CFM Air Compressor 275.00 1100.00 3300.00

All Prices are in Canadian Funds. Applicable taxes are not included in prices.

sorry about it not lining up but you can figure it out

 

I've owned several portable compressors, currently have a'96 IR 185 w/ JD diesel, love it, runs like a sewing machine. Had an older Sullair 185, it was a good machine, and, assuming you are Ford guys, there's nothing wrong with those little Smith 100 CFM compressors w/ 302 engines, (had one of those) they make excellent air and are easy to work on. Anyway, IR compressors are my preference.

 

Also....you can catch rental companies turning out some new inventory and selling the old ones.....I'd like to think they maintain them as well as anyone would, and hopefully the renters don't abuse them?? Anway, that's where I bought the last 2 I had for excellent prices. Finding a large sandblast pot may be another story, though (very hard to come by)

 

Bronconut, The BEST test of a piece of equipment is a rental house. I work for one and let me tell you I if there is a way to break something renters WILL find it!! I had a skidsteer come back with both arm cylinders shattered, I found out after that a bank vault dropped through the floor above where they were working on to it. I seriously believe a lot of them could break a steel ball with a glass hammer!! Greg

 

Yeah, I was a bit leary, I said to myself when I was about to buy it that I hoped some idiot (renter)didn't shut the compressor down when it was running at high RPM's, or sandblast right on top of it. I just happened to be on equipmenttraderonline.com the day a local rental place stuck they're compressors on there, and went the next day, huddled the mechanics together & asked them which machine had given the least trouble & they put me on it (for an excellent price, I might add) Anyway, maybe I got lucky because it's served me well & I made my $$ back in no time on a few blasting jobs. A big CFM compressor is nice to have, but remember the 250 CFM & less machines aren't made to go over 125 PSI, but it'll hold it constant whether it's 1 1/4" air line or 3/8". If I can assist anyone w/ any info on these type compressors, let me know!