Generator Discussion – Powerhouse, Predator, Honda, Yamaha?

I’ve read through generator discussions in previous years, I haven’t seen one this year and most don’t mention the Powerhouse by Northern Tool.

I’m considering an occasional use generator for my wheelhouse. It’s currently setup with 12V and we are fine running everything off the batteries. However, a generator would be nice for charging batteries, pizza oven, crock pot, TV, small AC unit, etc.

For something I don’t plan on using that often, I’m struggling spending $1,000 on the name brand Honda/Yamaha. I see the Powerhouse generator at Northern Tool is currently on sale for $480, Predator and others are in the same price range. I’ve owned two Predator engines (420cc), they do the trick and I run them very hard for duck hunting. The first engine did cease up after about 5-6yrs but I can basically purchase 3-4 of these engines before I come to the price of a comparable Honda.

Looking for feedback on generators used in the Minnesota cold, for ice fishing and/or hunting.

Whatever you decide on make sure it can handle a 1,000,000,000,000
watt strobe light.

You answered your own question.

If you only want to buy one more generator in your life buy Honda. If you don’t mind shopping & buying more often buy a cheaper brand.

Like any mechanical item, their lifetime is often dictated by how they are treated and maintained.

I’ve got a Yamaha, a Ryobi, and a Champion. And any of them work and they are all quiet as long as it’s an inverter. I spent like 14$ or something on a new carb for my champion after 5 years, and it runs like new. I love the Ryobi also. I tend to use the Yamaha more because it’s a 3200 watt generator and I run it in my bowfishing boat to power lights and troller. Any of them work just as good as the rest. If I had to buy one, I would go the cheaper route and just keep up on the maintenance. They are all good and in my opinion, the more you run it the better it’s going to work. If you only use it once or twice a year, you’re going to have more problems with it.

Eelpoutguy wrote:

Whatever you decide on make sure it can handle a 1,000,000,000,000
watt strobe light.

This is a must!!

To run the ac you will need at least 2200 watt generator, a 2000 will run one but won’t get it started. This is why Hondas 2000 is now a 2200.

I am curious on the reviews as well as I would like to have a generator so I can stop borrowing my Dads when going out to the wheel house.

When my old, loud Briggs powered construction generator finally packs it in, I’ll be buying one of the Predator inverter generators, no doubt. Read the reviews online and on YouTube, thousands of people saying they do the job.

I just don’t think an inverter generator is something that needs to be designed by NASA and cost $1-$3k in this day and age. It’s also not true that you can’t get parts for the Predator engines, there are so many of them out there now that parts are available.

As you point out, for less than half the price of a Honda, how much of a risk can it be? It’s not your only source of power out there. If really worried, a lot of guys buy the extended warranty and then if it breaks they hand you a new one.

My kids just got a Predator powered mini bike for Christmas. Out of the box we added gas, oil, fogged the cylinder, and my 10 year old started it in 3 pulls. Runs like a top, smooth idle, lots of power. Not bad for bike powered by an $99 engine, again can’t see the downside even if I had to replace the engine at some point down the road.

Grouse

I recently purchased the Powerhorse from Northern Tool and used it for the first time this weekend. Was quiet and ran well.

Eelpoutguy wrote:

Whatever you decide on make sure it can handle a 1,000,000,000,000
watt strobe light.

Aint that the truth. Guy on Waconia has like 20ft flag poles with strobe lights on top of them. Whats the point except to bother everyone else fishing after sunset.

Most generators die from neglect, not overuse. Look at the rating plates and warranty. Get the best quality you can afford and take care of it.

I’d recommend biting the bullet and going with a Honda. Had mine getting close to 10 years, started on the first pull this weekend. I’ve had buddies buy some cheaper models only to regret either how loud they were or had issues within a year or two and ended up getting a Honda. I’ve heard good things about Yahama’s as well, I just preferred the Honda.

I purchased a Predator 2000 Generator a few weeks ago for $449 + tax @ harbor freight. Got the 2 year extended warranty for $100 total came to around $590. after breaking it in i ran it almost 24/7 for 3 straight days up on lake of the woods and it ran perfect. with just the TV and a few chargers going i got around 8 hours of run time from 1 gal of gas. Was told by harbor freight if any issues during warranty period bring it back and will be given a new one no questions asked. Was also told if i would want to upgrade to the Predator 3500 i can return the 2000 and they would give me full credit toward the 3500!

Time will tell if its the right decision but I’m not losing any sleep over going with the Predator. I also agree with previous poster that generators die from lack of being used not from being over used.

I have a honda in my work truck that gets abused like no other. 2 pulls starts any time. -20 or 120.
But for the wheel house we run a wen and that’s been a great machine for 4 years now. Never a issue. Run it out of gas at let her freeze all night by accident. Top it off and 1 crank itll fire right up.

I had a Yamaha and did not like it

You get what you pay for!

To heck with those strobes, if I get a wheelhouse, its a couple of those big lighted palm trees.

Not all generators are created equal…..

How do those Predators start when it’s -20 or -30 outside?

A buddy of mine runs Ryobis. When it’s cold outside you can hear him say every cuss word known to man lol They WON’T start…..(he has to bring them inside the shack to thaw)

He’s also grenaded one…..I personally don’t know a single guy who has blown a Honda up.

The only issue with Honda’s is they have a vent line that can freeze up while running in EXTREME cold. The issue is easily resolved by running it in a vented Rubbermaid tote or by buying the vent line heater coil (I run mine in a tote when it’s ass cold out).

I’d rather take the chance on a nice condition used Honda eu2000i ($600-$700) than a new anything else.

Outdoorsmn,
My 2 cents is, look past the ice fishing/hunting aspect of a generator. Thanks to a storm that hit N IL just after Thanksgiving, we lost power for 32 hours. My Yamaha EF2800i kept our sump/ejector pumps, fridge, freezer and basic lights powered-up, so we lost no food or had any flood damage.

HRG

I bought a champion last spring to run the AC on my camper and so far it has done everything I need it to do. I could not justify the Honda price tag for the amount of hours I will be putting on it.

I have a Honda 2000W unit, works great, reason I went with Honda though was because I am a HAM radio operator and the Honda has the cleanest sine wave and does not cause RF interference with other devices.

10 years later it still runs great, but if I dont run it at least for 15 minutes every 3 months or so it is a B!+CH to get started. I should just set up a calendar reminder to go run and put some gas through all of the small engines every couple months.

I sell larger generators for living for my hard earned money it would only be a Honda or Yamaha. As someone mentioned they produce the cleanest power so you are less likely to damage what your trying to power.

Most people think the electricity coming out of a generator is all the same.It is not. I would not plug in anything I own into anything other than a Honda or Yamaha.

benelli-bob wrote:

I sell larger generators for living for my hard earned money it would only be a Honda or Yamaha. As someone mentioned they produce the cleanest power so you are less likely to damage what your trying to power.

Most people think the electricity coming out of a generator is all the same.It is not. I would not plug in anything I own into anything other than a Honda or Yamaha.

this is interesting. I did not know they produce different power. I currently run 2 group 27 batteries in my wheelhouse and charge them with a 2 bank marine charger by generator either at night or mid day. I have the powerhorse so it could possibly damage my charger?

Read through all these replies. Sounds like the answer is clear as day. As others have said as long as you can power a strobe light and LED light strip that’s all that matters

benelli-bob wrote:

I sell larger generators for living for my hard earned money it would only be a Honda or Yamaha. As someone mentioned they produce the cleanest power so you are less likely to damage what your trying to power.

Most people think the electricity coming out of a generator is all the same.It is not. I would not plug in anything I own into anything other than a Honda or Yamaha.

This makes sense and is a good point, if you look at the audio industry an amp that barely meets power requirements and is cheaper will do all it can to keep up with power demand and feed the speaker “dirty power” which in the end can ruin your speakers. So I do not see why it would be any different with a generator, I have just never thought of it that way.

Dirty power can and will wreck sensitive electronics, sump pumps not so much. Control panels in boilers, computers, high tech gadgets can get damaged by dirty power . I would be looking at THD {Total Harmonic Distortion} Don,t know of any cheap generator,s that produce clean power. That,s why they are cheap .

I know guys always say, buy the best, Honda, never break down, always dependable. And actually, my father in law would be one of those guys. In 5 years, I have seen him have issues with 2 – 2000W, that had to be serviced, and he is not a hard user, abuse of them, just uses them with an RV. He now has the 2200 and will not use the 2000’s cuz he is afraid of them. But he will still say they are the best, by far.

I just did a sleeper house week up north with a guide that had 12 sleeper houses, and he hooked us up with a Honda generator, so I asked him, with heavy use, all the time, all day long, why was he using Honda. He said this was his last Honda, he didn’t have any issues with it, worked great, but he said he could buy Champions for half the price, and he had 10 of them, with no issues. So he was only buying Champions from now on.

I will agree with an earlier post, neglect is what gets most generators. If they are used all the time, maintained, they all seem to be good, within reason and price. But lightly, occasionally used generators not well maintained, generally have problems, regardless of manufacturer.

Check out the following about 3/4 way down:
selecting-a-generator

Hondas have a real clean sine wave output, beware that not all inverters are the same:
pure-sine-wave-vs-modified-sine-wave-whats-the-difference

pure-sine-wave-vs-modified-sine-wave-inverters

Some also use a square wave, some use a stepped square, some even use a jacked up triangle wave (not common) and then there is the sawtooth wave…

Pure Sine Wave costs 4x as much, but is 100% worth it.

Savage Brewer wrote:

Pure Sine Wave costs 4x as much, but is 100% worth it.

Would have to dispute that it’s 100% worth an extra $500 and also compared to which other generator? This is making a mountain out of a molehill. For most fish house guys, the only thing they’re running that would be in the “sensitive” category is a TV. And that would depend on the TV. I’ve run a flat screen LCD TV off of my crappy old construction generator at my camp with zero issues.

I’ve never had an issue with anything I’ve run, power tools, charger, laptop, TV, fans, AC, fridge. It all works great.

Use non-ox gas, shut off fuel and run the unit dry after each use, use synthetic oil, change oil as recommended, and they’re all good enough for ice fishing. We’re not running a science lab here.

Grouse

I’m a fan of hondas and also own a wen.
That wen is a great unit. Half the cost of my honda. Runs just as great. Get beat up and used in extreme temps.
These frequencys you guys are saying are kind of a load for most of our use. Are we powering a surgery table with a child on it. Doubtful.
I power a wheel house with a new TV in it, microwave and battery charger. The wen does it just fine. My neighbors champion does it just fine. He paired 2 champions together and powers his shack and ac in the summer time.
I run jack hammers, 110v small welders, radios, battery chargers and tons off both the honda and the wen. Difference? Price point. Honda was double

Don Meier wrote:

Dirty power can and will wreck sensitive electronics, sump pumps not so much. Control panels in boilers, computers, high tech gadgets can get damaged by dirty power . I would be looking at THD {Total Harmonic Distortion} Don,t know of any cheap generator,s that produce clean power. That,s why they are cheap .

Thanks for the information. I’ve been looking at the THD for the generators I’m considering. I found an article stating less than 3 – 5% THD is considered safe for sensitive electronics.

I’ve been unable to locate the THD on Honda and Predator generators however, I did find THD for the following generators:

– Powerhouse indicates less than 1.5% THD.
– Wen indicates 0.3% at no load and 1.2% at full load.

Anyone able to locate the THD on Honda or Predator generators?

unless your doing heart surgery on the ice,or running computers,i would just buy one that you can afford and just run it. imo

gregory wrote:

unless your doing heart surgery on the ice,or running computers,i would just buy one that you can afford and just run it. imo

Yup