Al C. 1,428 #1 Posted December 24, 2022 It was -6 yesterday when the power went out at our place in Northeast Ohio. We were down for two hours. The little Predator kept things running and toasty inside. Paid for itself! There hasn’t been enough snow to really tax the SK-486 - about 3 to 4 inches 12 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ohiofarmer 3,276 #2 Posted December 25, 2022 (edited) I recently bought a predator---the 3500 size. All the sales lined up and it really did not cost much more than the 2000 watt. I haven't really added it all up yet , but the store price was 150 off. then if you signed up for a store credit card ,it was another ten percent off. then if you used the card you just signed up for, it was another 5 percent store credit in harbor Freight merch. Finally,the box it came in was damaged, so the nice lady gave me another 64 dollars off. Guys, this genset is next level quiet. like the level of human conversation quiet. i plugged in a 1500 watt heater and started up my circular saw. It went down to about 115 volts and came back to 123 volts in an instant. i have a hot water boiler that burns pellets and live way out in Deploraville Ohio. It really gave me peace of mind to know that this genset is safe for electronics , battery start, and all that. These generators are gonna be a lot more fussy than the old ones. They haveCalifornia engines on them, so i think it is necessary to use non ethanol gas with treatment and start them every couple of monthsas Harbor Freight requires for warranty. I have found that it is very helpful to run gas out of the float bowl before even pulling the starter. Harbor Freight predators run on E-10 especially like to be bled first for trouble free starting. The old homelite might be OK to keep around for a while, but it is pretty much obsolete.. I am gonna make a cage for the new one that will lock it down to a concrete anchor. The thing is so quiet that someone may steal it in a real emergency when there are more likely to be thieves around. The plow tractor has the Predator 14 Horsepower engine. Tried to start it yesterday and it will need a heater first. The oil might be like molasses. Maybe change it out for some T-6 Rotella Synthetic. The snow is calling and it is all the way up to nine degrees. Cleveland is a lot warmer which never seems to happen. Just about any church you can think of has cancelled services and we have a couple of frozen pipes which has not happened in years. Country life things. The sun is bright, the wind is more normal, and the outside is calling. Merry Christmas Oh, and that 486 is a beauty Edited December 25, 2022 by ohiofarmer 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tuneup 1,433 #3 Posted December 27, 2022 On 12/25/2022 at 9:26 AM, ohiofarmer said: I recently bought a predator---the 3500 size. All the sales lined up and it really did not cost much more than the 2000 watt. I haven't really added it all up yet , but the store price was 150 off. then if you signed up for a store credit card ,it was another ten percent off. then if you used the card you just signed up for, it was another 5 percent store credit in harbor Freight merch. Finally,the box it came in was damaged, so the nice lady gave me another 64 dollars off. Guys, this genset is next level quiet. like the level of human conversation quiet. i plugged in a 1500 watt heater and started up my circular saw. It went down to about 115 volts and came back to 123 volts in an instant. i have a hot water boiler that burns pellets and live way out in Deploraville Ohio. It really gave me peace of mind to know that this genset is safe for electronics , battery start, and all that. These generators are gonna be a lot more fussy than the old ones. They haveCalifornia engines on them, so i think it is necessary to use non ethanol gas with treatment and start them every couple of monthsas Harbor Freight requires for warranty. I have found that it is very helpful to run gas out of the float bowl before even pulling the starter. Harbor Freight predators run on E-10 especially like to be bled first for trouble free starting. My Westinghouse is very quiet as well but still an air-cooled engine. I can hear it running from the other side of the house. I do despise the marketing on these things. The total wattage is based on the sum of all outlets so my breaker is 30Amps. 5500/6500 is useless. What to do with that extra 20A outlet? Already attached to the house. At least I knew this going in but most don't. There's a predator online with 9000 watts - still a 30A breaker so no better. That said, once started in 2° at 4AM this past Saturday, she was flawless. 3 outages later, it's time for an oil change. Looks like Beijing got something right on this one! Hell of a fun weekend and nice to be needed inspecting attic blowers and 'edumacating' the masses on how heat pumps work (or don't in this cold). Nice coating of snow outside here in N Georgia. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites