Predator generator, cheap backup

Hi, survival forum seems a good place for this, maybe "off the grid" would have been better. Oh well I chose here.

Bought a genny recently for power outage use, as well as a drag strip pits unit. My old one, a multiquip which was a nice piece running an 11 horse honda was seeing better days.

My new generator is a predator 8750. With 7000 watt running. Here's a link

Harbor freight

Now, I know what you're thinking, some off name brand at a discount cheap tool vendor, CRAP! I was Leary of it too, but took a chance on it.

I must say, I am impressed with it. Puts out the power nicely, very quiet for its size, and pretty decent on gas. I plan to convert it to propane in the near future, so it's allways ready to go. It looks to be a copy of a honda motor wise, and starts just as nice, 1pull every time. Overall so far I'm very happy with it, and for 600 bucks for a 7000 watt hondaish genset the price can hardly be beat.

The biggest con I have is weight, like 230 pounds, it's a tank. It has a hell of a roll cage though, so its durable to drag around, but needs the wheel kit, or better yet make your own wheel kit, as the harbor freight set looks kinda light duty. That's my plan anyway.

This unit has a pretty decent muffler on it, I use it on an enclosed back porch sitting at the door with the exhaust pointed outside. I lock the door open to ventilate, so the fumes aren't an issue. not a good idea to have one in an attached room of the house I know, but this way it reaches my dryer outlet, and I can power the whole house with it.

Anyway, I can stand at the side of my house and the noise level is about that of a small lawn mower a couple houses away, if that is any kind of a description to you. I live in the country and I doubt very much if my neighbor can hear is very much if at all.

If your looking for a new generator, check these out. Also if anyone on here has a predator I would appreciate your thoughts. Thanks!

Mix DuraLube in the oil.
duralube.com...

Change the oil at about 1/2 the normal running time.

Drain or run it out of gas every use unless you plan to use it within a week,

Very good timing. I was recently looking into this genny myself and have heard good reviews.

Youtube review:


Seems like a pretty good unit overall, but like you I have reservations with some HF tools/equipment. You get what you pay for and all that. I'm also interested if anyone here has experience with these gennys.

It reminds me a lot of my Generac 6500 watt generator. Ive had mine for about 5 years, with absolutley no problems and ive probably put about 100 hours of running time, which isnt much. Honestly as long as you have any type of generator you really cant go wrong in an emergency. Its not like your going to be running it for a year straight, so I say good purchase. I really want to switch mine to LP and modify it to hook up to my fireplace gas outlet.

i have a 6500 for 6 years now i got at harbor and its still a beast i hook it directly to my panel i have a permenate connection on both rails i just turn off the main so it doesnt back feed and kill a line man and flip 2 breakers i installed on the bottom of the panel plug this 220 line into the generator and give it a pull mine is hooked to my 500 gallon propane tank so if the power goes out its flip 3 breakers and 1 pull i live in tornado alley we lose power alot and its awesome

originally posted by: ANNED
Mix DuraLube in the oil.
duralube.com...

Change the oil at about 1/2 the normal running time.

Drain or run it out of gas every use unless you plan to use it within a week,

Thanks for the recommendations I'll take a good look at duralube, I've seen it on the shelf at the parts store but never really checked it out.

a reply to: thov420

Yeah harbor freight has some gems and quite a few duds, hopefully, and it's looking good for me anyway that this one is a gem. Time will tell.

originally posted by: Glassbender777
It reminds me a lot of my Generac 6500 watt generator. Ive had mine for about 5 years, with absolutley no problems and ive probably put about 100 hours of running time, which isnt much. Honestly as long as you have any type of generator you really cant go wrong in an emergency. Its not like your going to be running it for a year straight, so I say good purchase. I really want to switch mine to LP and modify it to hook up to my fireplace gas outlet.

LP is the way to go, just gotta learn a bit more about it myself, then that's my plan

originally posted by: pez1975
i have a 6500 for 6 years now i got at harbor and its still a beast i hook it directly to my panel i have a permenate connection on both rails i just turn off the main so it doesnt back feed and kill a line man and flip 2 breakers i installed on the bottom of the panel plug this 220 line into the generator and give it a pull mine is hooked to my 500 gallon propane tank so if the power goes out its flip 3 breakers and 1 pull i live in tornado alley we lose power alot and its awesome

Awesome! Glad to hear it's doing you a good job, I'm liking it so far, gonna love it when it's running propane I think

I have to say, I've been teetering, but after more research, I'm convinced propane is the way to go, just going to be a fairly costly one-time investment, but certainly the most stable and long-lasting backup solution. I'm going to go with a more home-based generator though, that has more output.

Found a great article on it here:
www.handymanhowto.com...

Just that so far, cost seems to be about $15 K for what I want to do, so a pretty big expense. Plus, I'm going to want a larger propane tank than this guy did ( I want a 1000 gallon vs. a 300 gallon). Maybe split the difference and do a 500 gallon, as with some power rationing, could provide a month or so worth of straight backup power with full functionality (AC, appliances, etc.)

a reply to: Gazrok

That's a nice setup there, I would love to do something like that. Bit out of my current budget though.

I have been reading up on the propane conversions for my small gen and getting a couple thirty pounders to run it. Definitely preferable over gas.

I may have to go with a smaller version first, one that doesn't fully sub out, where we'd have to really monitor what all was on at the same time.

To that end, we've been looking for ways to reduce power consumption all over the house (easiest way is changing out to LED bulbs, but pricey.)

Go to vpowerequipment.com and u can get a three way carb to run gas propane and natural gas for 45.99 on sale right now been looking for parts and came across there site and they many other parts

I had the 2500 and it did not fare well on a boat with the salt air. Im saving up for a honda or yamaha.

I got it because my ex girlfriend wanted to run an AC on the boat. I do well on solar and may consider going with a good inverter that will power an ac when my inboard diesel is running.

those are Chinese Honda knock-offs and will fail in the electrical department.....then the other departments.....that's why we cant buy the 4 wheelers from china....the electric quits really soon.....

We were actually looking at this model the other day (wife and I) when in a Harbor Freight store. I know the rep, but honestly, I've had pretty good luck with the things I've gotten at HF.

For the money, it just may be our solution for right now. Even $600 isn't easy to justify though, but if we do, we'll likely put it on a poured concrete base outside (chained to it for anti-theft) and connect it into our panel. I'll have a weather-proof housing for it when not in use. Like you, I'd be looking to convert it to propane eventually though.

a reply to: Gazrok

Well, a year and a half old and it still starts and runs like new. I use amsoil in it, and it's used quite a bit. Doesn't have an hour meter but I'd guess I have around 500 hours on it.

Also I put a battery in it, just a 12 volt lawn mower one, it was a squeeze getting it in place, but it was cheaper than a smaller generator battery. The starter and wiring are allready there. Just add battery.

Very happy with it overall. It may be a cheap Chinese knock off, but it's well made.

Of course, now that I heaped praise on it, the thing probably won't start next time I use it

a reply to: denelson210

Thanks! I'll check that out.

And an open question to anyone using propane on a genset, is there any difference in how it runs? Like, same noise level, run cooler, anything of note?

a reply to: caterpillage

I'm running propane no a genset. So far it seems pretty similar in terms of noise. You do get a bit of propane smell. This is because propane is a naturally odorless gas, and they add something to it so you can detect gas leaks. This doesn't combust very well, so while it's running you will get a bit of propane smell, but it's nothing really to worry about.

propane also burns hotter. When you're doing a propane vehicle conversion, you should use hardened heads. So it can reduce the overall life of your genny. That being said, it also burns a lot cleaner, so you won't have to change the oil quite as much.

I actually came here to post some notes on the predator generator. The one thing worth mentioning is that the 120V outlets are actually just centertapped off the 240V supply. this means that 120V equipment has half of the available power of the rating.

this is where I got the info on the electrical system, it's worth knowing how it works so you can tell if it's right for your application.

shedheads.net...

Although it's a honda replica, it's still not on quite the same level as a honda.