I don't really have much uses outside of repairs to buildings. The power usually only goes out a couple of times a year. I don't camp, at least, not yet. Might later, though.
I recently obtained a Champion 6500 watt for 'scrap of copper price', it had 0 compression suggesting holed piston, burnt valves or worst broken con rod.
Plans was to drive from PTO however B4 planning that I investigated the clonda engine.in depth.
Much to my surprise the guts were just like new, i.e. barely broken in!---and the clock showed over 800 hours of usage. Decals on the genset showed that a contractor was the former owner so I knew that it worked hard.
No ridge in cylinder, walls like a mirror all bearings tight.
It turned out that the exhaust valve was stuck open and that was all!
Cleaned it up, changed oil and lent it to a pal for a 4 day power outage.
My total cost to refurb was less than $40. (wheels,paint,oil & gaskets.)
Cosco currently carries that same set.
From web searches I learned that Champion is highly rated and that they seem to have an excellent control on quality. And I do believe that!
Over 800 hrs of construction site hard work! (you could tell, dinged, scratched wheels broken and rusty, no TLC there)
Kubota B3200/L2501/SVL65-2/U35-4, IH 454/656, Ford NAA, Case 1845C/480E/450C LGP
I have a 2500 watt Honda generator that I use for my construction and fencing business. It will run any of my power tools and is small/light enough I can pick it up by myself (about 120lbs). It's nice to be able to pick it up and carry it in the loader bucket, set it in the back of the truck, etc. With a Honda GX160 engine I imagine it will provide many, many hours of use. It was about $900 a couple years ago. It does not have 240v however, so it's use as backup power is pretty limited. On a big jobsite with multiple guys working I might want a 5000-6000 watt generator, but if it's only one of two people working a 2500-3000 watt unit is plenty.
I picked up a used and neglected Honda EM5000S from Craigslist. It appears the guy was a drywall contractor and it was a dusty mess. I fixed the dinged up air filter housing, installed a new air filter, changed the oil. That generator starts up first or second pull with the same gasoline that was in it when I bought it 2 years ago, or maybe it was three years ago. I have had no serious power outage since I got the generator. It does not appear to burn oil and does not smell like it is burning oil. My Stihl KM110 starts up easily and it is a Craigslist purchase. It runs better since I adjusted the valves. My Craigslist Stihl hedge trimmer starts up easily too but I had to do a carb kit. The hedge trimmer was not my best purchase as it needed the carb kit and an expensive (relatively) part. I guess I am saying sometimes you can do ok with Craigslist purchases. I also visit pawn shops but some have retail prices on their stuff.
Thank you! I'm looking between 5500 and 7000. The big question is brand. There's Briggs, Generac and Centurion, Sportsman(Buffalo Tools), Troy-Bilt, Champion, Homelite, Subaru/Robin, and Duromax. I'm sure there's more. That's a lot of choices.
You are on the right track it sounds like to me. You can pick up used ones but as a rule even if it only has 100 hours on it I never like to pay more than 50% of new price because of the risk involved. We still have the 7000 that we bought new over 20 years ago for like $1600 new from Sams or a place like Sam's in Memphis.