Planning on using on my farm to run power tools and at home to run appliances for a few days as needed. In 5 years, my power has been out maybe 8 hours lol. But need it for the farm and being able to run a freezer if power was off for a few days would be nice. So throwing this out to the campfire experts. Which one is best in this size range?
Kurt, I bought a Generac GP 3300 last fall for my camp trailer use it isn't as quiet as those honda 2k-2.2k units but it didn't cost $ 1000+ either. I think I paid $379 at Menaeds for it. Mb
Honda, I have two of the 3000is and you can get a cord that allows you to link them, so that one just idles until the load increases and it is needed. The same setup is available for the 2000is, you may later decide to get another 2000, and link them up for 4k amps.
I have the Honda 2000 red suitcase generator and a Honda 3500 for bigger loads. I've run a refrigerator on the 2000 but it wont start a circular saw or other heavy power tools.
I woudnt buy any other unless the price was 1/2 of the Honda, then you could buy 2 for when the first one quits an you.
Mine runs a circular saw no problem. Sometimes if there's other stuff running I have to feather the trigger on startup. Runs a Makita 10" chop saw no problem too.
My cabin is 100% off grid, and the Honda 2000 is what I've run on for 10 years for about 6-8 weeks per year. Temps from -35 F to +85 ish. Usually runs 10-12 hours a day, with an oil change every 50 hours. I think I'm over 700 hours or so now- lost track of counting the blinking light on startup (counts one blink for every 50 hours).
The only think I couldn't run was a POS Craftsman air compressor that would spike on startup... about 50% of the time, it would run, the other half, it would pop the breaker.
Heck I even run a little Lincoln buzz box welder on it, and no issues whatsoever.
FYI P=V x I Watts = Volts times current (amps). Therefore, 20 amps on a 110V circuit equals 2200 watts. So, a generator with 2200 starting watts will power anything that can be plugged into a standard 20A household outlet as long as everything is operating properly.
I went with the Honda EU2200i (newer version). You can couple with a 2nd one down the road for more power if you wish and they're easy to move around compared to the larger ones. Also, if one breaks down, you're not chit outta luck!
Planning on using on my farm to run power tools and at home to run appliances for a few days as needed. In 5 years, my power has been out maybe 8 hours lol. But need it for the farm and being able to run a freezer if power was off for a few days would be nice. So throwing this out to the campfire experts. Which one is best in this size range?
Btw kurt, it’ll run my microwave, air conditioner etc in my camp trailer
I went with a Predator 3500 based on input from a lot of people that use them for their living - BBQ Competitors/Vendors/Caterers......one of those quiet little secrets.
I bought it to run my whole Toyhauler Camper when I'm off the grid in the Mountains.
A lot of features for the money (less than Honda) and a good reputation as well.
I've had good luck with a Yamaha EF2400iSHC. Very quiet. Ran 2 refrigerators a small freezer and a 5k btu window ac for 4 days a couple years ago, I did drop the small freezer overnight. My wife can't sleep without her cpap. It would run 8hrs on one tank with that load.
I've since bought 2 more freezers. Might need to get another generator. Two might be a good thing anyway if one were to give trouble.
Might give the china freight ones a try, a friend uses one of the 3500 inverters and says its done well. They have a off grid cabin and like to stay over in the summer running a good size AC.
I bought the Champion 7500W. Had the 2500W but got tired of screwing around with which things get unplugged .Cost differential not very big.Certainly not worth the aggravation
I have to agree with this, I have a EU 2000, EU 3000, was going to pick up a 7000 but I think I just might bite the bullet and pick up an EB 10,000, run the whole house and sell the 3000. I’ve never had an issue with either one. Change the oil good fuel and you’re good to go.
I have 3500watt generators on my fleet of work trucks and we used to use Honda’s because they were the best and that may be but these get abused and were always needing to go to a repair shop which isn’t cheap. I started replacing them with champions from tractor supply for about the cost of a repair shop bill thinking I’d I could get a year out of them I got my money’s worth and just toss it instead of paying to fix it. Those champions are running about three to four years before breaking and the Honda while a nicer generator would only go a year or so before needed to go to the shop. These weren’t the EU model’s. Also if your running power tools who cares if it’s a loud generator. Different situation if it’s for the ac on a trailer or cabin or to run a freezer. Tractor supply usually runs a big sale about now or on the 4th of July on champion generators.
I see that Champion now has a 2400W inverter. That extra 400 could be useful. It only weighs about 2lb more than the 2000 and runs on dual fuel. It has slightly less power on propane but that's normal.
Thanks all. Got a lot of good info here. Worst case since I have never used one, I can rent a Honda 2000 it looks like for $50 for a day. Will watch Craigslist a bit too to see what pops up there. Sort of leaning Honda at this point but several others are interesting too. Thanks again.
Does the EU2000 still use a plastic camshaft? How does it hold up in terms of durability? That used to be a knock against the Honda from the Yamaha marketing group. I don't have a dog in that fight, and know there's a fair amount of plastic used in chainsaw engines these days so "plastic" isn't always a negative.
Anyway, I have a 2-smoke for a portable, but am looking for a replacement. Probably Yamaha 2400, but maybe a red or blue 2000. But I'm having a hard time going with anything other than the 2400 based on price, specs, and reputation.
Does the EU2000 still use a plastic camshaft? How does it hold up in terms of durability? That used to be a knock against the Honda from the Yamaha marketing group. I don't have a dog in that fight, and know there's a fair amount of plastic used in chainsaw engines these days so "plastic" isn't always a negative.
Anyway, I have a 2-smoke for a portable, but am looking for a replacement. Probably Yamaha 2400, but maybe a red or blue 2000. But I'm having a hard time going with anything other than the 2400 based on price, specs, and reputation.
Purely anecdotal, but in reference to my earlier post, I run one almost a 100 hours a year (come to think of it, I have guests stay at my cabin a lot too when I'm not there, so probably more than that) for 10 years now- no problems.
Does the EU2000 still use a plastic camshaft? How does it hold up in terms of durability? That used to be a knock against the Honda from the Yamaha marketing group. I don't have a dog in that fight, and know there's a fair amount of plastic used in chainsaw engines these days so "plastic" isn't always a negative.
Anyway, I have a 2-smoke for a portable, but am looking for a replacement. Probably Yamaha 2400, but maybe a red or blue 2000. But I'm having a hard time going with anything other than the 2400 based on price, specs, and reputation.
Purely anecdotal, but in reference to my earlier post, I run one almost a 100 hours a year (come to think of it, I have guests stay at my cabin a lot too when I'm not there, so probably more than that) for 10 years now- no problems.
Thanks for the report.
I don't know what Honda states for the service life of their generators, but 10 x 100 = 1000 doesn't seem like a lot of hours. Roughly two hours per week. Are these high duty cycle, or closer to idle?
I bought the Honda 2200 this winter. I have a big loud heavy one that is too hard for my wife to take outside. The honda weighs 46 pounds. It is easy to start, sips fuel, and we can barely hear it running. My wife has already had to use it several times while I was at work. We are glad we spent the.price for it. The people I know that have them say they are rel iable for many years.
The honda is the reference standard in 2000watt.....but can't hold a candle to the yamaha 2400ishc in terms of performance if you ever have a big FLA draw. Variable governor is awesome too.
I have two Powerhorse generators I got from Northern Tool.I can hook them up parallel if I need to.After dealing with extended power outages during Harvey and the more recent February freeze,I felt I'd be really screwed without one.I was able to supply my basic electrical needs as well as saving the contents of three freezers and two refrigerators.I picked up my second one after the February freeze.I changed the oil and drained the gas on my older one and have it stored as a backup since my new one has a two year warranty,I'm using it as my primary now since my older one now has around 700hrs on it.They are well made generators and run around 8hrs on a gallon of gas.I've used the Honda's at work and all honesty,I cannot say they are any better.Those small inverter generators all seem to be very good generators.The main thing is keep good fuel with fuel stabilizer and clean oil in them and they will give you flawless service when you need them.
Decided that supplies weren't going to get better so made the purchase. Bumped size up to the Honda EU3000iS. Lot of good ones out there it seems. This one runs very quiet and had some features I liked.
My Honda 2000 is over a decade old, runs intermittently through the year for 70-100 hrs depending on year and it starts second or third pull every time.
For camp trailers, I'd always been told 2 Honda 2000's When we bought our 5th wheel 4 years ago, it seemed the dealers were pushing Yamaha so we went that route. Now I'm hearing those dealers are going back to Honda due to capacity issues with the Yamaha.
The Yamaha 2000's we have are barely adequate for running the AC and don't always work, and we've actually had a Kuerig coffee maker bog down and kill a single Yamaha 2000. I now wish I'd gone Honda...
I have an old Honda EU 2000. I bought it in July 2004. Sometimes I dont run it for months but I likely have well over 1,000 hrs on it. It does not use oil, it is quiet and easy on gas. The only thing is , when not in use for a few months , it can take about 15 pulls , however, it always starts. My only regret is that I didnt put on an hour meter.
Planning on using on my farm to run power tools and at home to run appliances for a few days as needed. In 5 years, my power has been out maybe 8 hours lol. But need it for the farm and being able to run a freezer if power was off for a few days would be nice. So throwing this out to the campfire experts. Which one is best in this size range?
I don’t know if it’s the best but it has taken a beating over the past 3 yrs and that’s the Harbor Freight Predator 2000.
My fishing buddy carries this in his crabbing boat and in his crawfishing skiff when doing either on hot days and there are many. He uses it to power a compact but very high cfm fan to keep his catch cool and prevent spoilage.
