Hunting Washington Forum

Equipment & Gear => Power Equipment & RV => Topic started by: blackpowderhunter on October 22, 2020, 12:26:53 PM

Title: generator help
Post by: blackpowderhunter on October 22, 2020, 12:26:53 PM: Looking at picking up a smaller backup generator for the house, 6k-8k running watt range.
between the generac, briggs and stratton, and champion what would you geniuses say? i'm new to this size as my only generator experience is with the smaller 2k portable honda and yamaha ones.
the dual fuel ones intrigue me as I always have multiple propane tanks as back up, but not sure if theres any issues with the dual fuel systems.
leaning generac for their overall history and seem to be the most established brand...reason for looking at those 3, is i can get a fairly good discount on them.
only being used for powering a small house (1k ish sq ft) thats furnace/hot water is natural gas..so don't need anything huge, mainly to keep some heat, a few lights, and make sure i dont loose any elk or fish in the garage freezer :chuckle:
Title: Re: generator help
Post by: Henrydog on October 22, 2020, 12:34:36 PM: I have a Generac 6500 propane. Nice wheels runs great if I start it every month to 6 weeks. If I let it sit for a long time it is kind a bear to start the first time, after that 1 pull starts. I am not sure if the hard starts are because it is propane or just the nature of Generac Overall I am happy with it.

It is fairly heavy, but not unwieldly, in fact I 2 of us just put it in the back of my pickup to power that camper this week with the cold forecast.

The reason I went LP and not gas is the gas now day has such a short shelf life and I did not want varnish on the carb.
Title: Re: generator help
Post by: blackpowderhunter on October 22, 2020, 12:38:00 PM: thanks.
yeah this one will likely live in the garage and be wheeled out to the backyard to be run to power the house.
but ya'll will be happy because if i buy one, my luck will have it that we wont have any storms or power outages this winter :chuckle:
Title: Re: generator help
Post by: Oldguy on October 22, 2020, 02:25:35 PM: Bought a Champion last year on a relative's recommendation and used it for power outage once. I run it about twice a month to keep it charged up and so far I've been very happy with it. (Could use a trickle charger instead)
Title: Re: generator help
Post by: brokentrail on October 22, 2020, 03:06:53 PM: I have a dual-fuel Champion that we use for power outages and it works great for us. I have used propane and gas, both work without any issues. You may find you will need multiple tanks if using propane as they tend to start freezing before they are empty but there are ways around that online. I just use multiple tanks and that works for me.
Title: Re: generator help
Post by: follow maggie on October 22, 2020, 06:14:02 PM: I use a dual fuel champion, 9100 watt to run my equipment at work and it’s grest. Reliable and dependable. Can be difficult to start the first time on propane & it’s loud, but I’m happy with it.
Title: Re: generator help
Post by: Crunchy on October 22, 2020, 07:53:49 PM: I bought a Power Stroke generator from Costco or Home Depot. It has the Honda motor 6800-8000w for about $1100. That was 7 years ago. Have not had one problem with it since purchased.
Title: Re: generator help
Post by: Machias on October 22, 2020, 08:03:42 PM: Just bought a Harbor Freight Predator 9000 for $837, which included the wheel kit and battery. It's running right now. Liking it a LOT and has a bunch of great reviews.