# Is There Such A Thing As An Affordable Portable Diesel Generator



## Rollochrome (Apr 9, 2012)

I see cheap ones thru Northern Tool and such.....but the ratings and feedback on them is HORRIBLE...

Looks like you have to spend SEVERAL thousand dollars to even start getting close to something that is nominal quality..

I would just like house backup ability and portable enough to get it in the back of the pickup if I needed to do so.


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## Darren (May 10, 2002)

My choice was the minimal one outlet solution. It won't work for everyone. For me a gasoline powered Honda EU2000 runs every thing needed on a rotating basis. It's also easily carried weighing about 40 lbs. That mean it can also be locked in a truck cab or carried around the place to provide a portable outlet wherever I need to run power tools.

Ballpark price on eBay is $1.000. I've seen them sell locally for $200 to $600. It's small size and super quiet operation makes it great for camping too.

How bog a generator to you need? Depending on size and if diesel is a must, you may want to consider a towed unit.


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## Wintergrower_OH (Sep 21, 2010)

This is the only American made one . I believe their is one from canada . http://www.hardydiesel.com/


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## Nottingham (Dec 5, 2008)

I bought a broken Gillette Gen-Pro 4000 Watt diesel generator off of craigslist earlier this year. It has a Yanmar engine on it with only 75 hours. I mainly bought it for the diesel engine for another project. I contacted Gillette to buy a service manual just to see if I could fix it. Their service department emailed me a PDF of the manual for free the same afternoon. Talking to Gillette's service department I found out that the genny was about 20 years old. I ended up upgrading the generator to one of their newer 5000 watt generators that produces a clean sine wave that is more than good enough for electronics. I could have bought replacement parts to fix the old generator portion for a couple hundred bucks but decided to upgrade due to the age of the generator. I think I have run the genny about 75 hours this year doing construction on the farm. It sips fuel and has worked really well. Gillette's service department was great. They returned my pricing requests quickly and shipped parts arrived to my house in a few days. They use Lombardini diesel engines now and the generator portion and assembly is built in the US.

A buddy of mine went the route of Darren. He is using a tri-fuel 2000 watt Honda generator for backup power at his rural property. It can't run everything at the same time on his bumper pull camper but he can run everything he needs individually. It will even run his small AC unit to keep the camper cool at night. 

Mike


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

Kinda hard to at all dispute Darren's ideas on the Honda EU2000i . . . . . . .
Honda also has the EU3000i . . . .which you could roll up onto the truck.

More of the smaller diesel units are appearing on the market and their track record is short, so hard to tell--yet--the good from the bad........

Even the smaller diesels your going to need 2 men and a boy to lift it on to the truck.........


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## wannabechef (Nov 20, 2012)

I use gasoline...they respond faster to large loads and gasoline is more stable than diesel fuel in my opinion.

I have a 5500/8350peak Briggs and Stratton with the Vanguard...very well made engine (Japanese made).


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## BillHoo (Mar 16, 2005)

Why not an old diesel volkswagon with a beefed up alternator and heavy duty inverter?


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

A lot of places, diesel is more expensive than gas... Why are you looking for diesel over gas?

Do you have natural gas available? If you do a permanent installation you might consider using natural gas... Cheaper to run than a gasoline or diesel generator.


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

I've been wanting to find one of these old Lister engines to run a generator. They will run on diesel, veggie oil or NG... I've heard you can get lucky every now and then and find one for a fair price, but you need to be dedicated to find it, and will probably need to do some work on it..


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## Darren (May 10, 2002)

Lister Petters show up on eBay.. If you want a new complete unit look up Hawkpower. I've suggested the Hawkpower diesel units more times than I can count on HT. You can't beat them for reliability or longevity. The diesels converted to natural gas have a lot of advantages. They used to be converted here. Now they come in from the UK ready to run. They've also upgraded to a better generator head than the ones that were added here.

They are hands down one of the best if not the best unit available for whole house use. Generac doesn't come anywhere close to the quality of a Hawkpower.. The long run version of the Hawkpower units can be operated almost three months continuously 24/7. You'll fry a Generac if you try that along with voiding the warranty.

Midatlantic Engines often has used units with the Lister Petter diesels. The new water cooled units meet all of the EPA requirements.


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## fordy (Sep 13, 2003)

..............These folks have some small diesel gensets at relatively reasonable prices ! 
http://www.generatorsales.com/


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## uhcrandy (Sep 16, 2010)

Diesel is always more stable than gasoline. Units tend to be more heavy duty, and weigh more. Most run at 1800 RPM, not the 3600 RPM of gas units. Diesel will store for years, gas really isn't stable for even a year. Also some Diesel units can run on oil. I have gasoline units, but if I had a choice, I would want a Diesel unit.


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## Darren (May 10, 2002)

fordy said:


> ..............These folks have some small diesel gensets at relatively reasonable prices !
> http://www.generatorsales.com/


That's quite a selection. Prices look reasonable.


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## Annsni (Oct 27, 2006)

simi-steading said:


> A lot of places, diesel is more expensive than gas... Why are you looking for diesel over gas?


Having just gone through Sandy on Long Island I can safely say diesel was easy to get - walk or drive right to the pump. Want gas? You can wait on line for 4 hours. I would go diesel as well.


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## Darren (May 10, 2002)

In this area off-road diesel is easily found locally..


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## Allen W (Aug 2, 2008)

I found one of these Ramsound diesel generators on craigslist http://www.ramsond.com/proddetail.php?prod=elite6500&cat=Diesel Generators. Look interesting especially with a 1 year 1,000 hour warranty.


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## fordy (Sep 13, 2003)

Allen W said:


> I found one of these Ramsound diesel generators on craigslist http://www.ramsond.com/proddetail.php?prod=elite6500&cat=Diesel Generators. Look interesting especially with a 1 year 1,000 hour warranty.


..................I've seen lots of these diesel gensets with the same exact metal cover being sold with a variety of different names on the case , but it's the same genset under the cover ! I don't know about the quality or longivity , OR WHERE you could get them worked , ON , IF the unit needed a Warranty repair . 
..................I would ASK them for (2) pieces of INFO , A list of repair shops that they do business with , and the Name of an OWner close to me who I could contact and see one of their units , actually , RUN ! Absent these items I would not buy one of these particular Chinese gensets ! , fordy


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## Darren (May 10, 2002)

Did you look at the run times in the specs for the Ramsound?


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## wannabechef (Nov 20, 2012)

uhcrandy said:


> Diesel is always more stable than gasoline. Units tend to be more heavy duty, and weigh more. Most run at 1800 RPM, not the 3600 RPM of gas units. Diesel will store for years, gas really isn't stable for even a year. Also some Diesel units can run on oil. I have gasoline units, but if I had a choice, I would want a Diesel unit.


I read 3-6 months for diesel stability...diesel gels. Hard to start a non glow engine when cold.


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## Darren (May 10, 2002)

Diesel is an oil. It only gels when the temp fall below a certain point. When warmed it liquifies again. Diesel can be stored for years. I've used home heating oil that was stored for several years to fuel a diesel engine. Home heating oil is the virtually the same as diesel.

Some diesels use glow plugs. Some don't. Generally in the summer the glow plugs aren't needed.. The trick to starting a diesel to to spin it fast. Slow spinning (weak battery/batteries), doesn't create enough heat from compression to ignite the fuel.


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## Allen W (Aug 2, 2008)

Darren said:


> Did you look at the run times in the specs for the Ramsound?


Looking closer I don't see any where they say what brand of motor they use. I like to know a little more about what I am getting then they tell.


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## solidwoods (Dec 23, 2005)

wannabechef said:


> gasoline is more stable than diesel fuel in my opinion.


what?


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## Darren (May 10, 2002)

Allen W said:


> Looking closer I don't see any where they say what brand of motor they use. I like to know a little more about what I am getting then they tell.


I didn't either plus the specs seem to indicate a limited continuous run time.


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## Allen W (Aug 2, 2008)

If I ever get the money together I will buy a portable welder/generator, It would be a better investment for me. Barring a huge ice storm we are seldom with out electricity for long.


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