Got an email from Harbor Freight. They're having a year end generator sale on their Predator line. 20% off with coupon. So the 9000w peak/7250w run model I have is $880-$176=$703, the 8750w invertor model is $1200-$240=$960. Coupon good thru Jan 5th. EDIT- they DO NOT come with the wheels & handle, separate kit, $40 8" wheels & handle, $50 10" wheels and handle. sam
I have the 9500w Inverter unit, and it's a beast. Super quiet (just as quiet as a Honda), comes with built-in handle & wheels, and no worries about square-wave damaging the control board on your stove, or anything else. Will run my entire house, including the electric stove, and in the summer, might even run my 3 ton a/c compressor if everything else is off, or I install a soft-start kit. So $2400 - 480 = $1920 + tax. The comparable Honda will set you back $6000+ tax, and it's only 7000 watts.
That looks like a HELLUVA UNIT. We have a HF 4000 watt Genny we picked up a couple years ago.....Works great to run a couple stoves. WE installed a 20kw gen set in it's own shack back in 2000 and it was always ready to go. Sadly the large fuel tank sprung a leak some years ago and we have not replaced the tank as yet. The 20 KW is wired through a 400 amp transfer switch and will run the entire house. Current plan is to get a line from the Well to the Main house power switching center in the generator shack....Well is still run off the old ranch house power......So getting these things fixed will give us the ability to run the well too......... After the recent cold snap and ice/snow event.....yesterday a healthy storm blew in and we had 50 mph winds off and on....enough to bring down some limbs and make a mess. Power went out at 12:45 pm was back up by 5 pm.....Not bad. The issue (AT LEAST HERE) was an insulator on a cross bar on a pole ripped out and the line fell to the ground....PLOP.... As soon as the power went out we jumped in the rig and went looking. Took less than 10 minutes to locate the downed wire.....Called the power co outage line and gave them the exact location of the break......Saved them having to send out a scout.....Within a couple hours a crew was on site and GITTERNERDONE.... We have several common spots that see failures during snow/ice and others that are more prone to wind damage.... This did not appear to be damage....but likely a failure due to time, wear and tear from the elements....... Easy fix.... There were other outages in the area due to the wind......The Pwr Co does a lot of tree trimming and other maintenance....It is still not nearly enough. The amount of useless brush and junk trees that have been allowed to grow up way too close to the power lines is the cause...and far too many property owners scream to high heaven when the Pwr Co wants to clean the crap out......I had the guys clear all the crap away to 50 feet from the lines...... My neighbors complained that it looked terrible.....But the lines in my area never get damaged.....The neighbors crap trees are always the cause and they are the first to bitch at the Pwr co when the lights go out.. Would be great if this area had underground power.. $1000,000.00 per mile to do it....Or more Too rural with minimal chance of any serious building due to land use laws... Late yesterday afternoon we had just gotten home from grabbing dinner out....Filled the generator up figuring it would need to run several more hours..... Got upstairs, grabbed one of the propane lanterns to get things a bit more lit up..... Sat the light on the Dinning table, turned on the gas and pressed the piezo start button....Exactly at that moment the power came back on...... Turn off the lantern, head back down and turn off the fuel on the Genny....run it dry and roll it back into the shop....... Wind died out fairly quick last night....Got the Nut burners fired back up....All is well....FOR NOW Winter is just getting started...... It was so nasty yesterday that I did not get any shells done either. Hopefully we can gitterdone today....
I have one of the Harbor Fright Predator 2000W Inverter Super Quiet Generators. Bought it 4 years ago. A Chinese Honda Clone . AKA Chonda I love this thing. If it died tomorrow I'd grab another one ASAP. I live where winter storms will knock out the power 2-3X a year for 12 hours or more. Its 2000 Watt start up ~ 1600 Watt running. I run the pellet stove, the refrigerator a couple of LED light strips and a radio/ battery charger all at the same time. I do have to to do a bit of load managing like take off the fridge when the stove is starting up or when I fire up the Keurig coffee maker . I also use it occasionally on Job sites if I need to run a small compressor or charge batteries The 2000W genny runs super quiet. Almost cant hear it run just outside the basement door. It has a "Eco" mode that manages fuel usage based off needed load. I can run it at least 5-6 hours before it needs a re-fill. Its been super handy. Big thumbs up from me. While not a Honda its also less than 1/2 the cost. Starts on 2nd pull and easy to operate. Mine has been flawless If you are on the fence about getting one......Jump off and pick one up. ----Nailer---
I have the same unit you do, and I love it except for one thing. the CO minder. You're going to have trouble with it at one point. It can be in the middle of a field and the wind blows just right and its off. "solving" the issue was a really easy 10 minute deal.
