Can anyone recommend a good sturdy diesel generator?

originally posted by: PhoenixFreeman

originally posted by: Psynic
Get a Honda.

They're not diesels, but they are red.

Lol no: red diesel not the colour red, its cheap diesel i can get gallons of it for pennys haha

I think the word you're looking for is 'fuel', as in 'diesel fuel'.

Anyways, the Honda generators are reliable, efficient, quiet and cheap.

The rental companies use them for those reasons.

originally posted by: AnteBellum
a reply to: rickymouse

What a cool place to live! Forget shtf, I would love to restore a lighthouse and it's so cheap. I wonder how badly the condition is. . .

As for shtf this is more my speed: Today Money
With 2-3 families making one investment in it, it could be a very easily achievable goal.

Just because I am a mouse doesn't mean I want to live under ground I don't actually like the high taxes on waterfront property either.

The silo is probably still listed on Russia's target chart, they are probably as good at keeping records as our government is.

a reply to: Psynic

Sorry round ea i just know it as red diesel its diesel thats red lol n ye them hondas the first ones I was lookin at cant remember website think one of them will do for now do you just plug a regular extention into them?

a reply to: rickymouse

That would be coool 25 grand is well cheap for that aswell! Im not feeling a tsunami tho...

a reply to: AnteBellum

Ye that is defo the kind of place to be...

a reply to: PhoenixFreeman


I don't think you have to worry about a Tsunami on Lake Michigan though. You might have to worry about eating too many Johnsonville brats with Fox Deluxe beer though. That could create a tsunami in the toilet.

I lived in Sheboygan WI. for a while, that is about forty miles away.

There is still a while on the bidding, I doubt if it will go for under seventy five. It appears there is some sort of weird lease going on, I am not sure what is going on with the land.

a reply to: rickymouse

Lol I just presumed it was on the sea with it being a light house haha

a reply to: visitedbythem
Did you go with Diesel fuel?
I bought and put up 4 100 watt solar panels and 2 250 amp hour UB8D batterys for back up. I also bout a $3100 electric bike that goes 29 miles an hour with out pedaling, 38 if you pedal hard. I has a 25 mile range and I recharge the lithium iron battery off my battery bank powered by solar. If the grid goes down I will run the small pure sine wave Earthquake gasoline generator to recharge the battery bank. It puts out 700 watts constant and runs 13 hours on a gallon of gas. It is real quiet, and doesnt stink

a reply to: PhoenixFreeman

Freeman, I'm a long time lurker but just joined so I could try to point you in the right direction as I don't think you're getting an answer. I'm a civilian employed by the Dept of the AF working on emergency/standby generators and associated switchgear. I work on everything from 5 kw to 750 kw generators (99% diesels and predominately Onan, but a few Caterpillars and Kohlers and even a Generac thrown in for good measure) as well as transfer switches from simple manual types up to fully automatic switches with electronically controlled options to 1200 amps. First, I'm a little surprised that you have solar panels but don't know about what frequency or phase you need? We don't work on any solar panels but I assume what you have provides electricity to circuit(s) in your home? If so, is this for some type of battery bank? There should be some form of isolator/inverter/battery charger? Whatever you have should have some sort of rating specified on a permanently affixed plate. It should specify the volts (going by your Phoenix name I assume you're in the US so it should be either 120 or 240 volts and 60 hertz) and amps. It may also state the watts which is what you need to know (if it just gives volts and amps then multiply the volts times the amps and that will give you the watts). Generators are sized in watts. This will provide you with what size generator you need to look at. Now you need to look at expected usage. A few hours a month? Many days a month? SHTF long term? Reason I ask is having a diesel (or a gasoline engine) generator requires a commitment. Gasoline doesn't store well so you have to maintain a stock on hand (based on your expected usage) and a rotation plan to keep it 'fresh'. We run nothing but winter-grade diesel in ours and it keeps for years in our underground tanks (you say 'red diesel' in your OP . I assume you mean dyed red? That just pertains to taxes). Would a propane or natural gas generator be better(assuming you have propane or NG at your home)? Are you mechanically inclined, do your own maintenance/oil and filter changes, etc? When you say portable, do you mean move by hand or on a trailer? Even a 5000 watt 3600 rpm diesel is going to be more than you can lift by yourself. Speaking of rpms, that is the real difference or dividing line concerning generators. Your average Home Depot or whatever generator is going to run at 3600 rpm. Your commercial duty rated generator is going to run at 1800 rpm (this is assuming a 60 hertz output of course). Lower rpms equals less wear, etc. Answering these questions should get you started on what it is you need. Hope this helps

The above is right on the money. (and a ton of specifics...nice)

I'm on a prepper-specific forum regularly, and I can tell you without question, a propane powered backup generator is bar none the de facto choice for SHTF power for your home come SHTF. A lot of us looked into all the options...solar, diesel generators, wind, etc., but it always came back to propane.

Propane doesn't go bad like fuel (though there are products like Stabil etc. to refresh gas and diesel).

These Aurora diesel units with Perkins engines are very nice, maybe a bit pricey for many. The 4000W unit gets 0.26 gallons per hour turning 1800 RPM. Standard 38 liter capacity - that's 38 hours run on a tank.

4000W Generator

I am in no way affiliated with this company

originally posted by: Gazrok
The above is right on the money. (and a ton of specifics...nice)

I'm on a prepper-specific forum regularly, and I can tell you without question, a propane powered backup generator is bar none the de facto choice for SHTF power for your home come SHTF. A lot of us looked into all the options...solar, diesel generators, wind, etc., but it always came back to propane.

Propane doesn't go bad like fuel (though there are products like Stabil etc. to refresh gas and diesel).

Gaz, love properties of propane storage but in grid down how does one go about filling pressurized tanks? I still like diesel because in extremis it can be made.

Yeah true.

While you can treat old gas (Stabil, etc.), after looking at ALL the options, I keep coming back to propane.

Downside is it will be expensive. But the upsides:

Can have a HUGE tank.
Propane doesn't go bad.
Can ration it out to last a long time.
Can forage for more propane.
Can provide enough power for a full home.

a reply to: PhoenixFreeman

Hello, I am willing to help you find a high good quality diesel generator. I don't know whether you have found your satisfied diesel generator. But I would like to recommend a website that sales good diesel generators of all brands including Cummins, Volvo, Yuchai, Perkins, Licardo, Daewoo, etc. Also. it supplies the portable diesel generator, low noise diesel generator, gasoline generator as well as the controllers. If you are interested, you can take a few time to know about. No matter you want to buy the diesel generator from which country, everyone hopes that the generator they buy is good and has quality assurance. As long as it is a good generator, it is worth buying no matter it comes from which country. I hope it can help you.

originally posted by: visitedbythem
That said, there is something else I have been thinking about. What happens when the 45 gallons of fuel is gone and the store are all closed? No more power. What fuel do I have still? A whole bunch of fire wood or coal?
How about a steam generator that runs on cord wood and coal, and runs an alternator? Steal engines can put out a lot of power. If you have an electric motorcycle, you could charge it off the steam generator, and keep the power on in your house for a very long time! Run the generator during the day, and run off the battery bank at night.

Grow and make your own bio diesel.

There are many famous generators all around. Do you want to use it for home or land use? If only for home, you can google some portable generator. If for land use, the big one like cummins, volvo and perkins. Besides, you can only find some famous brand like Yuchaiand Wuxi.

originally posted by: PhoenixFreeman

originally posted by: AnteBellum
a reply to: PhoenixFreeman

Obviously, I will be a female version of Mad Max.
I'll post pictures when it happens!

If the nets not down lol

There is always radio waves.

originally posted by: kamatty

originally posted by: visitedbythem
That said, there is something else I have been thinking about. What happens when the 45 gallons of fuel is gone and the store are all closed? No more power. What fuel do I have still? A whole bunch of fire wood or coal?
How about a steam generator that runs on cord wood and coal, and runs an alternator? Steal engines can put out a lot of power. If you have an electric motorcycle, you could charge it off the steam generator, and keep the power on in your house for a very long time! Run the generator during the day, and run off the battery bank at night.

Grow and make your own bio diesel.

Interesting, tell us more.