Please post your generator choice and experiences

[meburdick]

"Portable" is only in reference to the fact that it can be plugged in when needed and unplugged when done. I don't much care for the term either, but "it is what it is'.

 

[gcmedica21]

Hopefully everyone is still following this thread, I'm the OP and am narrowing down on my choice. Its gonna be a portable unit and one I am considering is a Powermate with a Subaru engine. You don't see these as often as the Generac's so I'm wondering about the quality of the Subaru engine. Anyone have any thoughts? Its roughly in the Kw range I want. Generac brand jumps from 10Kw to 15Kw, and I'd like to have 12Kw if possible.

Powermate PM0601250 Portable Generator - PM0601250 - 12,500 Watt Electric Start Generator w/ Subaru Engine

Hello,
I have had a built in 16Kw Generac for 5 years and it has been great. Only problem i have had with it was during initial set up.......hose had a leak in. Warranty replaced it and has been rock solid since then. Maintenance has been done regularly. It does what i need. I have 3/4's of the house set up on it. Would i buy another one? Absolutely!!!

 

[patrick_g]

I strongly recommend that you not cut it too close in figuring your size. Loads tend to grow not shrink over time. Long trouble free operation is more likely if the genset is running under its rated output rather than at or close to max rated output. Upsizing for these reasons could be a good investment and not leave you wishing you had more power or lower maint.

Pat

 

[scott_vt]

Good Mornin General Lee,
I have a 8000 watt Pramac, Honda engine 13hp. Payed just about $1400 for it and no problems, although I would like to convert to propane at some time, no cans to carry that way...

Its a pull start that allways starts on first or second pull.

It will run the basics of the house, I have the plug on the corner of the house, so just have to turn off the main and throw one breaker. A 10 kw would probablly be about right for me, but this one came along and has worked flawlessly...

 

[YesDeere]

Been following this thread. Lots of info. It's a hard decision. But on the Subaru engines. I wouldn't be afraid of them. I've had one in my pressure washer for 5 years and it still will fire on first pull. Second if it's a bad day(rare). I think I read somewhere that there are more of these motors produced than any other small motor.

 

[CAS300D]

Subaru makes a great gas engine, with that said, unless your strickly going to stay with Gas, you should also look at Tri Fuel Generators such as Winco or Yamaha.

 

[General Lee]

Subaru makes a great gas engine, with that said, unless your strickly going to stay with Gas, you should also look at Tri Fuel Generators such as Winco or Yamaha.

I did look at a Winco Tri-fuel, it was more than what I wanted to spend.

In reference to Subaru.....One generator I'm considering was a Powermate w/ a subaru engine and I found a little dealer near me that sells Subaru brand generators, but they are quite a few hundred more ($700) then the powermate. Same wattage too.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

I read a blog of a guy who imported a Lister from India and set it up to run a generator. He had to take it apart and clean it up before running it, but eventually ended up with a great unit. People who have never run a Lister don't know how reliable and versatile they are. I have seen 100 year old hit and miss Listers that ran pumps for decades without repair. They are also very forgiving of fuel and will run fine on stove oil.

Listeroid Diesel | Otherpower

 

[John White]

Well this last storm that rolled through here a few days ago left many people without power for over 10 days in blistering heat. In the last 6 years we have been without power longer than 5 days three or four times. I have a 6000kw watt down in my home shop. It is about 400 ft from the house and I have a 100 amp service line to it to run my welder. When power goes down, I just unplug my welder, and plug in my generator. (after turning 200 amp switch off and tapeing it) It has a battery start, (cant hardly crank one by hand any more due to a bad shoulder). This time I almost got caught with my pants down and alot of people it did. This storm rolled in so fast that we didnt have time to think about it and was almost un prepared. I usually dont keep more than a couple of gals of gas on hand. (for the mower) Luckely this time I had 4- 5 gal cans full. We had been planning on a trip with our Utility vehicle and I had purchased 20 gals to take. After the storm hit there were no gas stations open and after 3 days when a couple did get generators, the lines were long and a 3 or 4 hour wait in very hot tempetures. I had luckely just filled my truck up a day before it hit. I ran my well, ref. , freezer, lights, tv, cealing fan, and wife washed clothes, all off the litle gen. I really missed the AC and it was very uncomfortable. I would run through about 8 gals a day and that was from about 6am to 10 pm when we went to bed, and shut gen down a couple of hours in mid morning and mid afternoon. Freezer and frige stayed pretty cold. My son had bought a 5000 watt sometime ago off of Lowes. I had to go over and take the carb off and clean it. Although he had sta bil in it. I think it had crud in it from the factory. My neighbors gen blew up after about 4 days. This almost disaster led me to do some serious thinking about self preservation. There were some people stealing generators and a couple fights while wating for fuel. If I had not had the 20 gal of fuel we would have been in bad shape. (after about 4 days I bought another 20 gal. lines were shorter then and drove 30 miles to a place that was not hit as hard as our area. I decided to give a diesel generator some serious thought. First of all I have 5 vehicles (back hoe, dozer, dump truck, service truck and farm tractor) that are diesel and I usually try and keep them at least 1/2 full. I probably could have eaisly scrounged 50 gal. I had a budget to work with $1400 and I knew I wasnt going to get much of a diesel gen for that amount. I had seen some of these small single cylinder that advertised 7000 watt but were only 5000 watt continous. A couple of people I know have them, some like them and I know of a couple that blowed after using them for 4 days straight. I wanted at least 10000 watt to try and be able to run the AC. I couldnt find one in my price range. But on Craigs list I found one of these little enclosed trailer generators they use to run the lights when working on the highways at night. The guy wanted $1500 for it. He said he bought it for emergency power outage and it had been sitting in his back yard for 3 years and never used it. (started it every month) His wife said she wanted it out of the yard. I drove clear to Chicago yesterday and got him down to $1200. It has a little Kubota 3 cyl diesel, with a Leroy Somar 6000 watt (continous duty) I wish it had a larger gen. (he said I could buy a 10000 watt get head off e-bay for $400.) I dont know if it will run it or not. Needs a few things done to it, but that little engine sure sounds sweet. A generator is a thing like a $500 Smith & Wesson in your night stand, that you may never use in your life and you think of all the things you could have bought with the money, or a fire extinguisher that you might have for years that never gets used, but when you need it, how much is it worth. You could not buy a generator for any price for about 3 or 4 days after the storm.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

John what is the HP on that Kubota three cylinder?