I am needing to upgrade from my 2000W Craftsman inverter Genny to a 3500W+ inverter genny. Let me know what you have. Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
Had a couple of people I ride Dirt with get deals on Predator Generators… They were swearing by them 2 Months ago… Now both of them are dead….. I have a couple Yamaha 2000’s I pigtail together… If your making the Investment choose wisely…
I had the Honda 3500 key start with wheel kit and hardly used it except when it lived in the trailer for the track . Sold it /well traded it away on a deal and bought 2 2000’s that are easy to use and can be linked together. Now the small Honda’s are 2200 , can find refurbished on eBay and get a deal on multiple purchase
500+ hours on my Predator 3500, clean out the spark arrestor every time you change the oil and you're good to go. Hard to beat a Yamaha/Honda, I have a EU2000 as well, but to buy two EU2000's and the parallel kit, I could buy 2.5 Predator 3500s.
+1 Closer to $900 unless you catch a sale, but for $700 the only way you're getting 3500 watts is in a loud, shitty construction type gen.
There were 2 predator 3500's on FB yesterday....$900 for both. And these champion 4650 are under $800. https://www.lowes.com/pd/Champion-P...C-PcJMyuIEU5RVSul4xoCcWMQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
I went through this charade about 4 months ago, nearly all the 2000 and 3000w class inverter generators are from the same factories out of China. The only ones that aren't are the Honda and Yamaha. Harbor Freight Predators (also sold as the Powerhorse in Northern Tool) is the quietest, the Wen (same look and feel as the Champion and Westinghouse) is cheapest retail and medium loud, and the Firman is the cheapest on sale and the loudest. The Generac I think is closest to the Harbor Freight/Northern Tool? It's possible they spec better components or different QC rules for each brand, but ymmv.
I have the WEN 3100, they are now up to 3800 W ($1100)....It was $450 about 4 yrs ago when i ordered it through Walmart. I find it very quiet. With the 30 amp RV outlet, it ran the AC in my RV at NCM a few weeks ago without issue. I also have a WEN 2000. WEN has been great so far.
Harbor Freight puts the 3800 on sale about once a month. I have one and it has worked flawlessly. Do buy the extended warranty though. As the cashier told me, "come in the day before the warranty runs out and we will replace it for free, no questions asked" I don't think that is ethical, but you can make that decision. Is it a Honda or Yamaha? No. Is it a very good inverter generator that will give you thousands of hours of service? yes. That being said, I feel the most crucial time for these lower end small engines is the pre-initial startup. I will explain. Instead of just pouring the oil in, cranking it up and going to town. I took a more deliberate approach. Step 1: Remove the spark plug and put some Lucas Stabilizer oil in the cylinder and pull the starter string slowly for 1 min. Step 2: Fill the crankcase with a 50/50 mix of Lucas Oil and your oil of choice(15w/40 Rotella for me) Step 3: Crank the engine and run it for 1 min, with no load. Step 4: Drain the oil and be amazed at the amount of metal shavings that come out of the crankcase. It is shocking and these engines to not have oil filters. Step 5: Refill crankcase with oil and run it for 5 min. with no load. There won't be as much metal, but still alarming. Step 6: Refill crankcase with oil and run for 15 min, with a light load(small heater) then drain the oil again. Step 7: Refill crankcase with oil and stick with 50hr oil changes. The Predators(and I assume its clones) have an issue where the oil door has to be modified for the engine to get enough air to run smoothly. A google search will tell you all you need to know on how to fix it.
