The first Hobart slicer I bought was 7 years ago through craigslist. Guy wanted $150 for it. a 1612 slicer that was made in the late 70's. Previous owner had used WD 40 on it too many times and the carriage plate was completely seized up. After a teardown/cleaning/lubing it worked like new. It even came with the sharpener attachment. That slicer never let me down slicing up cured/smoked pork bellies for over 7 years until a house fire destroyed it along with all our other belongings.
I was on the lookout last year and was surprised at the prices for the used Hobarts and Berkels. I did find a Hobart 1712 (automatic slicing mode) and got the seller down to $700 from $900 and felt lucky. Again, it needed a complete teardown, but it was easier the second time around since I knew what I was doing. We slice up about 220 lbs of smoked bellies each month for sale, and need a large format slicer.
Deals on the large used slicers are out there, you just have to be constantly on the lookout for them.
As to size, weight problems, I have ours on a roll around cart which makes it easy to go from the storage room to the kitchen area on slicing days.