I've had a Honda eu3000 generator for years, I got from a friend. He's was needing power at his place while building, and asked about it.
Sure, come get it. I took great care if it all these years, rarely used it, but put a new battery in it last year, new air filter, oil changes, etc. Took care of it.
We are going to rig our sleeper semi up for camping, and beside having shore power, adding a generator for boondocking.
I bought a predator 3500 today.
Bought a quart of Mobil 1 full synthetic 10-30 oil, and have gas on hand.
Waiting for my wife to get home from work to help me get this thing out the back of my dually.
Back is blown, waiting on surgery, and ain't messing it up any more than it is!!!
From all the reviews I've read over the years, it's right up there with a Honda.
Bought the 2 year warranty too, just in case.
It's not a repair, but a replacement warranty. It goes bad, take it back, and you get a new one.
We're thinking of using the truck as just a hard tent/little cabin.
With power, we can string lights in a canopy on the side, plug in appliances, and look into some kind of ac/heating unit for the cab.
Found window screens that get held in by rolling the windows up a bit, and pinching the screens in the openings.
I had a receiver hitch welded to my truck, so we can make camping trips pulling the boat, or SxS, and leaving the 5th wheel home.
I gotta add another bed in the cab, like bunk beds, as the bottom bed, isn't wide enough for the 2 of us, plus dogs, porta potty, and 12v fridge.
Pics later....

Hope your back gets better!

Got the Predator gasoline air compressor for my flatbed to use for equipment and tractors, etc.

It starts with 1-2 pulls every time. Only trouble I've had is with the pull starter. I've had to replace that twice now. Only about $10 for a new hand starter.

I have one, no real test yet.
I do run them regularly with a load, I'm afraid of the chitty gas so I run them dry every time.
A buddy that builds kart race engines with the Chinese predators told me to run it 20 min and change the oil twice. Don't have a clue if that will help the life of the engine or not.
My experience with portable generators has been the power head or electronics dies before any real engine trouble.
Good luck!

Oh, and good luck with the back!

I’ve had the 3500w Predator for about 3 years! It has done everything I needed it to do around the house and on week long camping trips. I feed it non-eth fuel and change the oil every year. Not 1 problem! I do wish the wheels were a little bigger but it’s not much of an issue. It will run our 28’ Jayco and barely get out of eco mode and is super quiet! I run it a couple hours in the morning for the coffee maker and microwave and a couple hours in the evening and a tank of gas lasts 3-4days. It sips fuel on eco mode. I see no need for a $2200 Honda, “the pred” as I call it, has been great and would buy another. I’ve recommended them to a couple friends and they are just as happy with theirs as we are!!

Elk Country

The Chinese small engines run well and seem very well made.

I have the 9500 watt one, powers my whole house, furnace, stove, electric water heater,and all the lights. No issue at all

My back will get better with surgery, coming soon.
My next procedure is on the 12th, to get the remainder of a stuck kidney stone out, then on to fusion.... again...
Anyways,
Guess I gotta call my welder up and get him here to cut angle iron off that was used for a motorcycle carrier behind the cab, and figure out how to mount this thing, and maybe, an opening secure cover to protect it.
Then where to add the plug for power inside the cab.

IDK what those engines call for, but I recommend 5-8 hours run time, then change the oil. It will help with longevity.

Oil is cheap enough, and easy to change.

Are there any, real, small, portable air conditioning units to use in my sleeper truck ?
Thinking, I can use a small heater I have for camping in winter off the Predator like I did a few years ago, in my cargo trailer.
Air will be for summer camping.

I have one and really like it. Runs my camper AC and lights with no issues. Very quite. Only thing I dont like are the wheels. Saw a nice cart with a handle and pneumatic tires but they are out of stock. Working on some kind of mod for that.

I built a 2x4 frame with a 3/4 plywood bottom with 8 in lawnmower wheels. Sit the whole thing in it. Watched some YouTube video of guys changing the wheels and thought a small cart would be easy and there lay some scrap 2x4's. Keeps the thing out of the dirt and mud. We usually need them after hurricanes so there's water to deal with.

Hell just go to Walmart and get their cheapest window mount and roll with it. I'm convinced I could live in a tent, with phone coverage, and make it work indefinitely.. Nice generator.

I'm going to get a predator ghost cart racing motor, did read the cast flywheel needs to be replaced if you plan on revving it past 3500 rpm, but that wouldn't matter on a generator.

A couple years ago some peckerhead dropped an older 3500 Predator off at the local clothes donation place the church ladies run. One of them called her husband to have him come get rid of it and dad and I just happened to be walking by when he was trying to wrestle it into his truck.

When we offered him a hand he said he didn’t know where to get rid of the thing and asked if dad wanted it. So we ran up and got the truck and loaded it up.

I fiddled with it a little and found the plug wire coming off the mag was dry rotted and broken in half. A quick check produced one for $12 on EBay. Got it put on and no start, looked a little closer and the carb was full of oil. Guess it had been upside down or on it’s side so I pulled it off and rinsed it out with some brake cleaner. Still no start. Checked the plug and it was fine but when I put my thumb over the hole and pulled the rope I found no compression.

Pulled the valve cover and Bingo! Broken valve keeper. Another quick shopping trip on EBay turned up a pair of keepers and springs for $8. Got them in and installed and the thing busted off on the first pull. Smoked like dammit when it warmed up, turned out the muffler was full of oil too from it’s upside down ride but once it burned off it was fine.

That was 4 years or more ago and it is still the most reliable small engine on the place. We always run the carb dry and use pure gas but it never takes more than 2 pulls to start no matter the weather. And since my labor is free dad has about $24 in the whole thing for parts, shipping, and oil. Pretty good deal

I'd suggest getting a magnetic dipstick / oil drain plug and replace the OEM one. Best if done before first startup. Surprising how much metal dust an debris can be inside small engines, especially when new.


https://www.amazon.com/Motoparty-Magnetic-Predator-Inverter-Generator/dp/B07VK1H6HG

Ordered !
8.99 !!!
Thank you.

I changed the oil at 6 and 20 hrs. Now it’s once a year or 30 hrs, whichever comes first.

Out of the trucking sphere now, no idea on your budget, have you
looked into an APU?

If you can swing the expense, you get power, battery charging, heat/A/C.
Integrated into the truck, fueling through the fuel tanks.


Always thought that a truck otter would be a dam fine way to go
for a traveling/camping setup. Way more comfortable to drive
than any P/U. Not anymore more expensive (used) than a new
pick up, more power, more reliable, strong components that will
not wear out in that application.

Plus, as you plan, the truck makes a dam fine base camp on its own.
Having lived in one for several years, you can do much worse.

5 years driving for a company that impeded idling, without any
accomadations for heat/ac. (Sleeping in a truck, in the summer
during the day sucks!)
When I was able to idle, it was heaven!

Let's hear about the truck.
Engine, rating, tranny...?

A little ductless mini split AC would offer both heating and cooling.
You'd only have to drill a couple small holes for the install.

You'd need about 30"L X 9"H X 7"W of interior wall space.
It'd be a class act, match up perfectly with the rest of your setup.

The Harbor Freight Gen I have is the 2000 watt. It works great.

Lots of Harbor Freight Generators the size you bought and larger here on the Texas Coast, I mean a lot of them. They must do really good, lots of them sell and everybody you talk to say they hold up really good. I think the Chicoms copied the Honda engine really well. I have even heard they made improvments to some

I have a Troybuilt 9000 or something like that and a Powermate with a 10 HP Yamaha at my lake house. I think they all do good if you take care of them. What gets anything that sets a lot is getting mosture in fuel. I must have bought gas and put in my ATV that had water it it. I rusted the fuel pump, fuel level sending unit and made a difficult mess to fix.

The Chinese did a good job coping Honda and others.

Thanks Billy

Mistake. No parts will be available when you need them. Take it from someone who just spent 6 weeks tracking down a part for a HF air compressor. Never DID find it; had to Mcgyver a fix using parts from an old compressor I’d saved the controls from.

In anything small engine*, there’s just 3 words to know: Honda, Honda, Honda. Yes I have a big Honda (13 hp) on my generator.

*For chainsaws, Husqvarna. For outboards, Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki.

go get your pecker juice. there are several places that sell parts and upgrades

LMAO.

It's a 2000 Volvo 610 VNL mid roof.
No def, no regen.
517,000 on a Detroit Diesel 12.7L series 60, bolted to an Eaton manual 10 speed.
Runs great. Going to take it in for a preemptive overhead, and check over. Then to the frame and alignment shop to check. 2 new steers, just cuz, and ready to roll !!
So far, since we've bought it, we put about 6k miles on it, and pulling our Momentum toy hauler, get about 10 mpg. It does very well. Holds 200 gallons of fuel.
Top of Wolf Creek Pass, Hwy 160, east of Pagosa Springs.

Im in the process of installing a mini split now in the cargo trailer/camper. Pioneer 12000BTU. I cant stand the sound of the Dometic roof top unit. Should save a few KW's on the Predator too.

You can't beat them, quietest and most economical ACs built today.
I sized the indoor half based on a 9,000 BTU unit for Splattermatic's truck, not sure if you can get a smaller one than that.

The 12,000 should work out well in the camper you've built.

Splattermatic would have to jerry-rig that window to install a regular window shaker, the min-split would be a far cleaner install.

Nice setup.

Cummins, Cat, Mack, 2-Stroke Detroit's, 11.1 and 12.7, I've run a bit of
everything from about 2010 and older. Partial to Cummins, but a 12.7
is really my favorite engine. Run nice, nice rpm drop to work with,
fantastic Jake. With that setup, a travel trailer is a toy. Uphill or down.

Super 10 or conventional transmission?

Conventional.
Just a nice common Eaton manual shifting, 10 speed.

Harbor Freight:

Going tomorrow to pick up a 12,000 lbs rated Badlands winch for the 1992 Jeep Wrangler YJ that I just recently picked up.

Normally 350$ but 4th of July sale gives another 20% off (70$) by using the coupon code on your phone. So, 280$ plus tax.

Hard to pass that up although it is a bit much for a Jeep.

Man that is one fine rig !!

You are full of nonsense. Parts are easily obtainable if one knows how to research.

On the recommendations from a road test in Popular Mechanic's I bought a Predator 2200. I have 2 Honda 2200's already and the predator isn't a pimple on the Honda's ass. Hard (weird) starting and it won't run a 7 1/4" Skil Saw. I just use it for lights out in the shop and minor duties. A true POS,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

I always run regular unleaded non ethanol in all my small engines, generators, boat motors, chainsaws and weedeater etc. Trouble is you don,t allways get what you pay for at the pump. Select reg unleaded run the first 2-3 gallons in your vehicle then fill your gas can or small engine tank in the back of the truck. The gas forward of the pump line and in the pump as well as hose don't drain back. You get what the last guy selected. Really fugging simple if you think about it..mb

Several manufacturers now make 7000 btu units but the best part of these is that they modulate their output.

That really not how it works.
Fuel stops at the 'blend valve' right in the pumping station.
Most of the hose's today are elevated so you don't even have a hose full of the last mix of fuel.
The blend valve ratches back and forth creating different fuel mixes from two grades of gas held in the storage tanks or to the tank holding the non-ethanol grade.

That's my understanding anyway.

Nice, did a little search and see Mitsubishi has a 6000 BTU mini split, but the air handler that mounts inside was of similar size of the next size up units.

For the AC pros out there, explain 'seer rating' and it's effect.
I use to understand it and have forgotten.
Too much Alaska/Montana time where air-conditioning isn't required.

FYI Harbor freight has a 20% off coupon for the 4th. 25% if you are an inside track member, what ever that is. Good on any one item.

Too late.
I bought, and we looked for any coupons that worked for a predator.
Most coupons excluded them.
This is all I got.

WEN builds inexpensive Gen/Inverters too

Buy direct.....free ship/no tax


https://wenproducts.com/collections/generators

WE have a 3500 Predator that we use when boondocking. Has run flawlessly. Lot of bang for the buck.

Just got two coupons from Harbor Freight through email yesterday for 20% off and 25% off.

Sorry. Didn't see this before I posted above

You might be right on some pump setups Jeff A but my way gets no leftovers of a grade you don't want...mb

Generators are excluded. Gotta read their fine print for sure. They seem to exclude more than they allow.

WEN for $700

I bought the Wen 3800 last year. Great generator for camping.

They make a good unit, too.

We have a Firman 3650 and like it quite well. Found it on sale for the ~$700 price. The market has a great number of quality units for that price, it seems.

Geez. What a buzz kill.

Have two Wen's

This small 2000 watt inverter

Light at 40#...

Quiet

First pull start

Bigger 3800I on wheels for $700 ish

Put Mobil 1 10-30 in it, put about 2 gallons of 86 octane, 10% ethanol gas in the tank, (non is not around here), turned knob to start, pushed start, and 3 cranks, and it fired right up.
Let it run for about 15 minutes on eco, shut it off, and checked the oil, put my old Honda's fitted cover over it, and said good night.
Now to figure out how to mount it on my semi !

I bought a 3500 Pred at HF last year. I keep it at deer camp. So far so good. Its quiet and good on fuel. It runs 2 window shaker AC's in the summer, a microwave, coffee maker, toaster oven, TV and heater in the winter. only complaint is it could have better wheels, but not a big problem.

Splat, the Sinclair station on Main between San Juan and Browing Pkwy has ethanol-free gas. Center pump just south of the propane tanks. 91 octane. It's all I run in my boat and small engines.

Cool.
Their high prices have always kept me from going in that station.
Never knew...

bought some eth free stuff for my jerry cans recently

Not available everywhere

$5.15 gallon & 88 octane

Indeed. They're copy of Honda engines and many parts are direct swap. They have a cult-like following among go-carters.

I have a Harbor Freight wood chipper with a Predator engine. It runs like a champ and starts every time.