I have the original Murphy's Machine 500 Gal. processing system for sale. Built in 2008, I have made as much as 5000 gals. per year. (Only made it during farming season) Complete set up has: Processor, Wash tank, Dry tank, 2 1000 gal settling tanks. Also have 225 gal super sucker. More than $18,000 invested.

Finally got electricity for my pumping station so my diesel needs have diminished significantly.

Will take any reasonable offer.

Email: truckman0679@yahoo.com or call 307-272-4208

Will be glad to send pictures and more information.

This is a very nice unit.. Built with care.

Murphy's Machines will provide free tech support to whoever purchases this system.

The plans say that it can be made for $5K. Is that not the case?

Where did the $18K go?

quote:

Originally posted by Diablo:
The plans say that it can be made for $5K. Is that not the case?

Where did the $18K go?

Building it is not free of effort.. and doing such a nice job requires even more effort..

Other machines of similar construction will run two or three times that much money..

quote:

Originally posted by Callum:
That is a very generous offer.
Do people who have the 500 gallon reactor frequently require tech support?

quote:

Originally posted by Murphy:
Murphy's Machines will provide free tech support to whoever purchases this system.

Hi Callum,

If you PM me with a phone number, I'd be happy to go over the various reasons folks who build larger systems require tech support..

My phone does not make calls to Australia however...

quote:

Originally posted by Murphy:

quote:

Originally posted by Diablo:
The plans say that it can be made for $5K. Is that not the case?

Where did the $18K go?

Building it is not free of effort.. and doing such a nice job requires even more effort..

Other machines of similar construction will run two or three times that much money..

Effort is $0.

So what you saying is that you can't build for $5K or at $5k construction will be poor quality?

I see many users praising the MM500. So I looked into it and it clearly states that it can be done for right around $5K.

Big difference from 5 to 18, so I want to understand why and what exactly is being offered. Then I can make a decision if this is a good deal over building one myself. But now I'm concerned that $5K is not realistic and it and will cost far more for something of good quality. $18K x2 or x3???

quote:

Originally posted by Diablo:

quote:

Originally posted by Murphy:

quote:

Originally posted by Diablo:
The plans say that it can be made for $5K. Is that not the case?

Where did the $18K go?

Building it is not free of effort.. and doing such a nice job requires even more effort..

Other machines of similar construction will run two or three times that much money..

Effort is $0.

So what you saying is that you can't build for $5K or at $5k construction will be poor quality?

I see many users praising the MM500. So I looked into it and it clearly states that it can be done for right around $5K.

Big difference from 5 to 18, so I want to understand why and what exactly is being offered. Then I can make a decision if this is a good deal over building one myself. But now I'm concerned that $5K is not realistic and it and will cost far more for something of good quality. $18K x2 or x3???

I have had several customers who contracted out to have someone else build their MM500 systems for them and they were all charged an appropriate fee. No one is going to spend a minimum of $5k to build something and then not charge for their effort to build it.

As for that $5K figure.. I should probably update it and raise that number a bit as the page was created about 6 years ago.
That said, it is true that I am quoting the bottom line figure for a very basic, no frills system.

Does that $18K figure include storage tanks, extra pumps, or other bells and whistles beyond the stand-alone MM500 design? Something to consider.

quote:

Originally posted by truckman:
I have the original Murphy's Machine 500 Gal. processing system for sale. Built in 2008, I have made as much as 5000 gals. per year.... More than $18,000 invested.

If your numbers are correct, you have spent $18,000 to build the equipment to produce less than 30,000 gal of biodiesel. That is over 60 cents a gal just to pay for the equipment before the cost of chemicals and oil are taken into account.

Just curious. How much of the construction of the reactor did you have to contract out and how much do you think that added to the total cost?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Poppy,

quote:

Originally posted by Poppy:

quote:

Originally posted by truckman:
I have the original Murphy's Machine 500 Gal. processing system for sale. Built in 2008, I have made as much as 5000 gals. per year.... More than $18,000 invested.

If your numbers are correct, you have spent $18,000 to build the equipment to produce less than 30,000 gal of biodiesel. That is over 60 cents a gal just to pay for the equipment before the cost of chemicals and oil are taken into account.

Yup.. and for every gallon made, that 60 cent figure gets smaller and smaller. That's how it works when you make an investment.

5000 gallons per year is a very small number as compared to the overall capability of the MM500..

quote:

Originally posted by Murphy:
Yup.. and for every gallon made, that 60 cent figure gets smaller and smaller. That's how it works when you make an investment.

That is true. The problem here is that he is not going to be producing much more biodiesel from this machine so the 60 cents a gallon spent on equipment does not appear to be reducing any time soon.
When he sells the reactor some of this 60 cents a gallon will be recovered, butI think it will be very unlikely that it will sell it for anything like the $18,000 spent
Maybe he was able to write some of it off on his taxes.

quote:

5000 gallons per year is a very small number as compared to the overall capability of the MM500..

That is what I thought too. I had originally posted that he had seemed to have overcapitalized and a 500 gallon reactor to produce 5000 gallons of biodiesel a year was overkill. That is the part I edited out.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Poppy,

quote:

he had seemed to have overcapitalized and a 500 gallon reactor to produce 5000 gallons of biodiesel a year was overkill.

Sometimes its about time verses cost. A cheaper machine might be all that was necessary, but maybe he doesn't have the time in a year to run 143 batches in an Appleseed and chose to only need to run 10 batches a year in an MM500.

Or maybe he has 4-5 seasonal machines that need to be fed 100gals a week for a month and a half, so if he can't make a 500gal batch when he makes one, he is wasting his time. Then the machine sits dormant until the next fall.

Try not to judge a man's choices; you can't know what he needs were that supported that choice at the time.