Business & Industry
Buy and sell business equipment and machinery in Guatemala.
A corn mill grinding for a tortilla shop before dawn, a generator that keeps a small eatery open through a power cut, a concrete mixer back from its last building job: this is equipment bought to earn a living, listed here new and pre-owned. Much of it outlives the business that bought it and goes on working for the next owner. Before you agree a price on anything with a motor, read its plate. Most premises in Guatemala are wired single-phase, so a three-phase machine will not run there as it stands, and a gasoline engine that pulls well on the coast gives noticeably less in the highlands.
Business equipment sorted by the trade that uses it:
a builder starts in construction, where scaffolding, mixers and hand tools change hands as one job ends and the next begins. Anything driven by an engine or a hydraulic arm, from a skid steer to a generator, sits in machines and heavy equipment. A farmer looks in agricultural for feed and livestock trailers. Restaurants and hotels fitting out a kitchen or a dining room use hospitality, and desks, filing cabinets and paper go under office.
The corn mill behind the neighbourhood tortilla shop:
is the workhorse of the tortilla trade, grinding the lime-cooked maize that families carry in each morning. A gasoline mill is cheaper, grinds more for its size and keeps going when the power drops; an electric one is quieter, burns no fuel and starts at a switch. A new mill for a small tortilla shop runs from about Q5,500 to a little over Q8,000. A used one is worth what its motor or engine is worth, because the parts that wear out, the discs and the belt, are cheap and easy to replace. Smooth discs are a reason to negotiate, not to walk away.
Rated horsepower at sea level, and what is left of it in San Marcos:
changes the sums on anything that burns fuel. An engine loses power steadily as it climbs, because thinner air carries less oxygen: a gasoline mill or generator that delivers its full rating in Zacapa is noticeably weaker in the capital and down by close to a quarter in San Marcos. In the highlands, buy with a margin above the load you need to run, or go electric: a motor fed from the grid barely notices the altitude.
Three-phase motors on a single-phase supply:
are where buyers of used electric machinery get caught. Most homes and small premises in Guatemala are connected single-phase, and three-phase is a separate service that a workshop either has or does not. A lathe, a large compressor or an industrial dough mixer built for three-phase will not run on a single-phase line as it stands. Read the plate before you agree a price: voltage, phase and amps. If it says three-phase and your premises are not, add the cost of a new connection, a phase converter or a replacement motor.
Signs of hard work on a used corn mill or excavator:
on a mill they start in the grinding chamber. The discs wear smooth, and a mill that only grinds fine dough with the adjusting screw wound all the way in needs a new pair. Test it on a batch of cooked maize, not running empty. An electric motor that hums but will not turn usually has a failed start capacitor, a cheap fix that still earns a discount; a burnt smell or a tripping breaker points to the windings. A gasoline engine should start in a few pulls and run without blue smoke. On an excavator or a backhoe, Caterpillar or any other make, the hour meter can be swapped, so judge the wear rather than the number. Rock the bucket and the arm for play in the pins and bushings, look for oil weeping from the hydraulic cylinders, and see how much is left on the tracks or tyres.
Listing a generator, a mill or the contents of a closing workshop:
start with a clear photo of the plate, so voltage, phase and horsepower can be read, and give the rated output: how much a mill grinds in an hour, the wattage of a generator. Say what altitude it has worked at, the hours, the last service and which parts have been replaced. When a business closes, list by lot with counts and sizes; office furniture in particular moves faster that way than piece by piece. Someone driving in from Chiquimula to see a generator will want to watch it start from cold and carry a real load, so have fuel in the tank and something heavy to plug in.