HCJtractor
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2009
- Messages
- 1,544
- Location
- upstate South Carolina, Greenville
- Tractor
- Kubota M6800, Massey Ferguson 240
I shopped for a large generator for several months and finally decided on the new line of Northstar generators from Northern. These new models have just been introduced and were said to be improved. I did like many of the features as compared to the old ones, including a newly designed Honda engine, a metal gas tank, and a better frame. I ordered a 13,000 watt model. Boy, that's when my troubles began. Soon after ordering it, I found they had been recalled because of a "gas cap issue." After another month of waiting, my local dealer finally released one. He installed the battery, fired it up and found it to be defective. So he unboxed another one, and it was not much better, but he told me how to play with the choke to make it work. After I got it home, and tried to power my small welder, the same issue arose. It would rev up and down and voltage fluctuated wildly. After numerous calls to Northstar, they suggested having my local technician work on it. For a $2600 generator with less than 5 minutes run time, I was not happy. Also, there is no technician at my local Northern. Luckily, my local manager had pity and refunded my money. They admit there have been numerous problems with these new large generators, and they expect them all to be recalled. So beware. I would wait if you plan on getting one. The kinks are obviously not worked out. The glowing review online is bogus and they denied publication of my poor review. So much for honesty.
Ended up buying what I should have gotten all along---a blue Miller Bobcat 250. Works great!
Ended up buying what I should have gotten all along---a blue Miller Bobcat 250. Works great!