New Generator

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

I've been sitting here surfing the net looking at Brand New Generators.
There must oodles of them. I've never owned one.
I want one thats just big enough to fit in the back of my Kobota 500.

What are you guys using?

Thanks.

[red oaks lumber]

i have a coleman 5000 watt. weighs around 100 lbs and is about 2 ft. sq.

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

i have a coleman 5000 watt. weighs around 100 lbs and is about 2 ft. sq.

What all do you run off of it Steve? Is it just for emergencies?

[thecfarm]

You got a tractor? I've been thinking of one that runs off the PTO. No gas motor too maintain. I don't lose power here often. In fact I went about 10 years without it being off much more than 4 hours,once a year. Two years ago we was without power for about 14 hours.

[Qweaver]

It seems like 2 out of 3 storms put us out of electric.  I have an 11000 watt welder/generator that will run the majority of my house and we have had it on often this  summer.

[giant splinter]

I have two Honda generators, the 6500 and the 2000 ..... both are very quiet, fuel efficient and easy to start. I use them in case the power goes off or for running lights in the field if i am not around any other power source. They are very helpful in any emergency or for heavy equipment maintenance and repairs in the evening after daylight hours, Great around the mill when you run out of daylight and need to finish up your cutting list.I keep the 2000 in the back of my pickup with a few cords and a light stand along with a drop-cord to light up anything i need to work on at night.

[sawguy21]

You obviously want a gas drive portable. How many watts do you think you will need? Is it for occasional use or is it going to see heavy service? What is your budget? Briggs and Stratton makes some reasonably priced units but don't expect to use them as primary power for say a hunting camp or run a construction site. Honda, Yamaha and others make good quality gennys that are very reliable and quiet but not cheap.

[Holmes]

I agree about the Honda being the better product. The less expensive generators tend to give excessive power. I tested  a unit and it was putting out 147 volts on the 120 outlet, it had  fried the controls on a boiler.  I believe the better generators use inverters to give a more even power supply, at least my Honda does.

[WmFritz]

I've got the Honda 2000 watt inverter. It will run the eccentials for us like; furnace, sump pump, fridge... runs about 8 hrs on a gallon of gas. One of the other nice things about it is it can safely  be hooked to sensitive electronics like laptops.

[Holmes]

When you need a gen it's great to have one but if it is noisy it is no fun to listen too. 

[VictorH]

Just a thought - you can get some of the 4-8K ones that run off propane.  propane doesn't go bad and the carbs don't gum up.  Also in a power outage gas can be hard to get whereas the bbq tanks are still often available.  And if you have a couple 100# tanks they will last you a long time.

[pat smith]

Yes i agree, i think if one can afford it propane is the best choice today, i've made my living being a mechanic , in oklahoma we've been able to keep some ethanol free fuel but now it's all going to ethanol they say up to 10% but alot of what i test is 10-17% and you also get phase separation ,and ethanol draws water, problem with things that doesn't run alot is fuel gets stale but will still burn and turns to varnish when heated ,so engines will run but when they cool down varnish gets very hard ...locked engines,stuck valves, in 2-cycle scored cylinders , oil will not bond to alchol , so in short all the schools i attend......no one know's how we are going to deal with this !!! propane in my eyes would be the best answer!!!

[bugdust]

I recently had a 20KW natural gas generator installed to service the house in a power outage, which seems to be more often now that the electric company no longer maintains their rightof-ways. I also kept the 5KW Honda gasoline generator for portable jobs. The natural gas unit kicks on once a week for a test run and has functioned great so far. These also will run on propane too.

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Lots of good advice here.

I'm looking for one to run an air compressor occasionally, skill saw and air wrench.
Needs to run on gas.

[pat smith]

what i try to do is only put however much gas i think i will need, and try to let it run out of gas, this is only my thought on 2-cycle oil but i use echo red armour fuel mix been using it in my chainsaws,and brush cutters for 11 yrs and never had to touch a carb on any off them!!!

[loggah]

I bought a generac 6500 a few years ago i use it to run my sawdust blower,works great,but it is a bit heavy has its own wheels and handle. Most of the time when im doing a big project i use my Miller Bobcat portable welder ,its good for 8000 watts. Don

[Seaman]

We run the Honda 2000. You can lift it over the tailgate of a pickup, it's light! Runs quiet and a long time on a tank. I got an electric impact to go with it, great combo.
Convince a neighbor to get one also, a slave cable between the two will give you 220W!
Not cheap at $ 1000, but well worth the price.
Frank,

[justallan1]

I just bought a Coleman Powermate 3000 for $300 and it does everything I want. It's 120/240 volt. I can run a 240 well on it or bring it to the house for outages and have run the computer, my work radio charger, a light, freezer, fridge and the heater on it at one time without a problem. It has wheels and a handle, but is just small enough that I can pick it up to load in the truck when I need to.
I have found that it's a little small to run my mig welder on the higher settings.

Allan

[gspren]

I recently had a 20KW natural gas generator installed to service the house in a power outage, which seems to be more often now that the electric company no longer maintains their rightof-ways. I also kept the 5KW Honda gasoline generator for portable jobs. The natural gas unit kicks on once a week for a test run and has functioned great so far. These also will run on propane too.

  What brand did you get? I am looking at this size in propane.

[Hilltop366]

Not sure what else you want to run on air but if it is just the air wrench I would go with the electric impact, then you would not require to drag along the compressor, also would not need as large a generator.

[DeepWoods]

For what it's worth, I have a Honda EU3000is.  It is very quiet, sips gas, and has enough power to run a pancake style compressor.  It is an inverter style generator that can be used for sensitive electronics.  The only drawback that I find it has, is that it is only 120 volts.  It will not run our well pump during a power failure, since it has a 240 v motor.  But it does well with the rest of the 120 v loads in the house. 

I recently had a carpenter friend that needed to fill the tires on his skid steer. He had a 2000 watt generator and a pancake compressor.  It wasn't enough to get his compressor to run.  I went to get my Honda, and it started his compressor right up.  I find starting an electric motor is the hardest thing to do with a generator, as they can use as much as three times the power to start, as to run.  Just my .02

[LAZERDAN]

I see now they have come up with the portable propane (Lp) gen set. (google generac propane)  You can use the 20 lb. bottle off your grill if you want.  no bad gas anymore.  I do not see to many drawbacks if you don't need it daily for construction    Lazerdan 

[scsmith42]

David, between my wife's veterinary practice and our farm, we have seven generators, including propane, gasoline and diesel in wattages from 5,500 up to 225,000.  Brands include Onan, Honda, Kohler, Miller, and Northern, and we've also had a Generac for a while.  Our diesel Onan's both have over 7000 hours on them - one is approaching 9000 hours.

If you want mobility, gasoline is the most portable and economical option.  If you plan on a stationary installation with an automatic transfer switch, then propane or natural gas is best (fuel does not go bad and NG outages are rare).

If you need portability with durability, then go with diesel (but they cost and weigh more).

A portable welder is another option, as they offer portable power as well as portable welding.

For a house, if you have a gas furnace and don't need to run the HVAC in the summer during an outage, then you can usually get by with 5.5 - 7 KW.  These will start a well pump, run the fridge, some outlets, etc.  If you need to run the air conditioning as well, you'll need at least 12KW.

For small, portable needs, it's hard to beat the Honda EU series.  One of our generators is a 6500 Honda EY, and right now it is being used for 50 hours a week w/o any problems.

A lot of times you can find a reasonably priced used stationary generator at a generator service company (15 - 50 KW) that was removed when they upgraded to a larger unit.

I will admit to some brand bias; my Northern diesel generator with a Hatz diesel burned a hole in the piston at 103 hours and they would not warranty it because it was 3 hours out of warranty.  That was even with 50 hour oil changes.  Also, the Generac that we had for a while kept having nickle and dime type of problems.  One week a sensor would go bad, a few weeks later the starter drive would go bad, then the start switch would go bad, etc. 

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

I have learned a lot from you guys.....But my goodness, after reading SCsmith42's reply, I believe I could just run a drop cord from his farm to mine.  :D

Good information Scott and from all the rest. I appreciate it! 

[BobInMN]

I'm just curious, has anyone ever tried one of the 800 watt generators sold at HF for $100?  I kinda figured for that money it might be worth a gamble to buy one for camping.

[beenthere]

Bob
What do you want the HF gen to do for you, and for how long?

[clww]

I bought a Generac 6500/5000 model from TSC two years ago. I have used it extensively at the cabin when I'm there working. I have nearly 1000 hours on it with few complaints. The only thing is that it does use about a quart of oil every 200 hours of running time. It's a gasoline powered model, and I would buy another one.

[loggah]

clww, thats the same one i bought,works good. Don

[scsmith42]

I'm just curious, has anyone ever tried one of the 800 watt generators sold at HF for $100?  I kinda figured for that money it might be worth a gamble to buy one for camping.

The 2 cycle one?  The RR museum next to the farm bought one a couple of years ago.  The darn thing worked surprisingly well.

[easymoney]

i have two of those little 2 cycle generators. mine say 1000 watts. they would work for camping running lights, charging batteries and maybe a coffee pot. they will not run a skil saw they are not nearly as noisy as some of the Briggs and stratton and such. i had rather sit in the dark than listen to some generators run.
i plan to buy a larger generator to run an electric chainsaw for cutting firewood and such. my luck has not been good with gas chainsaws.

[Larry]

I've had a 12 hp Subaru Robin Homelite generator for 12 years now.  It's been through two ice storms with 10 day plus outages.  I've had to do two carb cleaning jobs because of junky gas.  I finally learned to start it the first of every month to let it run for 15-20 minutes.  Also use Stabil Marine gas stabilizer.

It's a 6.5 KW and will run essentials in a normal house pretty easy (no AC).  No problem with the TV or computers.  The big problem is the expense to run 24/7.  During ice storms we would normally run it for an hour in the morning, hour in the evening, and maybe an hour before bed.  Sometimes might run it at dinner to check the FF.  Only real need was to keep food froze/cold in fridge and freezer.  Heat was with wood stove only.

During the last ice storm it was impossible to get gas unless you drove better than a 100 miles.  The boat has a 50 gallon tank and I hooked it up to the generator the last time.  Think I used between 30 and 40 gallons for 10 days.  That's a lot of gas iffen you have to fetch it in 5 gallon cans.

If buying a new one I would definitely go with propane.  I would really would like to convert this one if I knew there would not be any problems.

It was battery start but after the first battery died I just pull start it.  Normally one or two pulls and its not all that hard to pull.

[VictorH]

There are conversion and add on kits for most small engines.  Some allow you to use either gas or propane and others make the engine dedicated to propane.  You can even get tri-fuel kits that allow for NG to be used as well.  Kits typically cost from $125-250 depending on the engine and use.  Many of the kits are simply an adapter that fits between the air cleaner and the existing carb.

[dgdrls]

http://greenmountaingenerators.com/

Not certain on your budget, but this place moves refurb' military units.

DGDrls

[Ron Scott]

One needs to determine what their size needs are. I rate them on noise, so prefer the Honda's as being the most quiet. However, they are also quite pricey for their size.

[1woodguy]

my favorites for toting around are the smaller Hondas
Or ones with the Honda motors
Old gas doesn't seem to bother them as much

For bigger generators you can still load yourself if you wake up feeling strong I have several pramacs that have honda motors
 

[Brucer]

I use a Honda EM3000 to power the chop saw at the milling site. I chose Honda because of the low noise -- don't want to annoy the neighbourhood.

Use a fuel conditioner if it's going to sit for a while. I lock mine up over the winter and it starts just fine in the spring.

Before you buy, take along your power tools and ask to try them with the generator you are considering. I was looking at a 2500 W Honda to power my 1500 W chop saw. Tried it out at the dealer's and the saw took 45 seconds to get up to speed. The generator was ticking along very nicely the whole time but the saw motor would have burned out in a matter of days. I bumped up to the 3000 W generator and the saw started instantly.

Be very careful with these light, portable generators. They are just too DanG easy to steal. Wherever mine is, it's securely fastened to something that can't be moved. And I'm not going to get into how it's fastened ;).

[Magicman]

I have two; a Honda EU2000, and a Champion 3500.  For quietness, nothing beats the Honda.  Although China made, the Champions are very reliable and have a USA based home office and warranty center.  They are very popular in the RV community, but not as quiet as a Honda.

There are two very different technologies with today's generators.  The "inverter" generators produce DC voltage which is inverted to AC.  They idle down and speed up as higher current is needed.  Standard AC "generators" run at either 1800 (Onan) or 3600 RPM, and are much noisier.

[John Mc]

Remember when shopping that a lot of the lower priced generators are NOT safe for use with electronics (TVs, computers, etc.)  Also remember that a lot of modern heating and cooling systems are now controlled by electronics.  Not only can some of these controls be damaged by "dirty power" from the less expensive generators, some of them simply will not function unless the power is clean enough.

Generally, you want to look for a generator where the THD (Total Harmonic Distortion) is LESS than about 5 or 6%.  Also beware:  some manufacturers will give you a rating that says "THD less than 6% at 50% load".  Ask them what it is at Full Load -- since it's often higher (I'm not sure why this is, but I've seen it on several occasions when looking at generators).

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Good thought John....but the problem around here is, the places that sale generators, have customer service people who can't answer the first question about a generator.  :

[John Mc]

Yeah, often it takes some digging with the manufacturer's tech support or customer service line.  I've had decent success getting my questions answered by emailing or posting questions online to various manufacturers. If they are going to put it in writing, they're often more accurate.  If you call, you often have to work to get someone who KNOWS the answer rather than just getting brushed off with a non-answer ("I use mine to power my TV all the time").  You want a number or specific wording in print like "safe for sensitive electronics, not just someone's anecdotal experience.

The inverter-based generators tend to have VERY clean power - often better than what you get from the grid.  However, these can be very expensive. It's also not necessary to go all the way to inverter generators to get power that is "clean enough". 

It just bugs me to see generators advertised as being great for "emergency power backup" for your home that have a THD that won't safely drive electronics. Years ago, when the most electrically complicated thing on your furnace was a thermostat that was not much more than a mechanical on/off switch, that may have been fine.  But a lot of folks have much more complicated systems these days.  What are you going to do in the middle of winter when you fire up your generator and it fries your control board?

[Tom L]

I have a honda eu2000 and have been very happy with it. us it to power my home when we are out of power

last yr during sandy it ran for 10 days straight. in the economy mode and burned 15 gallons of gas.

runs my fridge freezer and a small light at night. if I unplug everthing it can run a coffee pot.

very quiet and mine is 10 yrs old now, may have 700 hrs on it and still runs strong.

[snowstorm]

dose anyone have any experience with an onan gen its the emerald series. it came out of a motor home. if i ground the brown wire that went to the remote panel it starts an runs fine. seems odd it needs to be grounded. if i plug a 1300watt heater in it works fine then it will run 2 1/2 hp motors. unplug the heater and the engine dies. try running 1 motor and the engine dies. the elc motor will run for a few seconds the governor goes wide open on the engine. the really strange part is the engine losses its fire. i used an inductive timing lite to check spark . turn the elc motor on and the engine quits from no spark why?????????       its rated 4000 watts 

[Gary_C]

I have a Honda EU 3000i that supplies all my power while living in the woods which is most of the time. It mostly gets used to recharge the battery bank for the inverter in my camper plus I carry it in the pickup for misc power tools on the job. It's an inverter generator with an eco setting so it only runs as fast as needed for the power demand.

It's been a great generator and the only drawback is it's so heavy and I can just barely lift it into the pickup bed alone. But it's completely dependable, electric start, sips gas, and is super quiet. I'd highly recommend it for carrying in a pickup. But it does not provide 240 volt power.

[woodenboater]

I've got a Honda 2000 generator that charges batteries at my cabin, runs the well pump and some power tool usage (prefer my Milwaukee cordless for most work). Relatively quiet and runs forever on eco. They hold their value, iow, not cheap used ;)


good luck

wb

[petefrom bearswamp]

I have 2, an eu2000 Honda at my Adirondack camp and a Makita (Robin Subaru eng) 5600 here at the house.
Both are very good units the honda is light and quiet,  the Makita heavy but on wheels..
Ran the makita 4 hrs last week when the power was out.
Burned about 2 1/2 gals of gas at full load.
It is noisy but it is at my shop 125 feet from the house so not too bad.
It runs all the essential stuff, water pump, wood boiler furnace in the winter,   2 freezers and 2 refrigerators plus tv and lights.

[Magicman]

This Honda EU2000 has served us well for 9 years. 


 
We used it morning and night in Colorado for 9 days and burned 4 gallons of gasoline.