Ken Sterling writes:

A fella runs a junk yard and has a crane with an electro-magnet for
moving scrap metal - he uses a 10,000 watt DC generator to power the
magnet.

Someone might have abstract ideas about doing this by rectifying an AC
generator, or a similar scheme. But 10 KW is a lot of power and it isn't
so simple to just hook up a few parts and have it work for long. Does this
thing really use that much ooomph? Where does all the heat go?
Don't know any details other than the original post. Have no idea
what kind of current a junkyard magnet would draw. I personally am
wondering if he could simply run a dc generator from the motor in the
crane from an extra drive pulley or driveshaft someplace. Also don't
know what is meant by "going bad" - whether it's the generator portion
or the engine is finally wearing out.... I got all this "second hand"
as the fella that asked evidently knows the junkyard guy, and thought
I may have an idea as to where he could find this generator.
Ken.