$79 Harbor Freight Generator Review

[Adluginb]

Got mine today locally for $84 out the door. Its a 2HP 800watt/900watt max generator. Hold 1 gallon of gas that must be mixed 50:1 with oil. It was marked $129 in the store but they had a flyer hanging with it for $99.00, so they marked it to $99 then I used the 20% off coupon. Got it home and gassed it up and started on 3rd pull. I ran several things with it and was surprised what it ran. It does say to break it in with no more than 60% load for several hours but I couldn't resist testing it. In the pic running a battery charger at 312 watts plus fan at 60 watts and tumbler at 186 watts plus hair straightener at 200 watts = total of 758 watts.and couldnt even tell it was pulling the motor down. Next was the jig saw at 720 watts no problem at all. Moved on to the shop vac which if I figure right (120v x 12A) is pulling 1440 watts. I could tell it was dragging motor but still ran fine and didn't through the trip. Got the wifes haird dryer which states 1875 watts. On cool no problems on medium could tell the gen was working so I flipped the hair dryer to high heat. Dogged down the gen but it still ran and didn't through the trip. The hair dryer didn't blow at full power but it was running! Generator it not very loud for those wondering. All in all I say a hell of a deal for $84!



Harbor Freight Coupon link

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=66619

I have a gen for the whole house but I thought why not get this thing and just put it in the toolbox of the truck!

[uncleben03]

Perfect! This thing could really be a lifesaver, if only to keep your refrigerator operating, or some other appliance that you might have to leave home if it didn't work.

[Diddy]

I have the same one, got it on sale for $80 or $85 last fall.
Thanks for the review since I have yet to try mine out. Good to know that it works well.
I've been considering getting it's big brother.

[Chin]

Originally Posted by uncleben03

Perfect! This thing could really be a lifesaver, if only to keep your refrigerator operating, or some other appliance that you might have to leave home if it didn't work.

Nice deal! think I may pick up 2. One for the truck and one for home. That little sucker wood be nice for camping. Could run a lot of little convenience items. Plus, igloo does make that plug in cooler/fridge combo.

All in all, seems like a good buy!

[Diddy]

I used to have a small Honda generator about the same size as this one. It was great for camping and other odd jobs where I didn't have several hundred feet of extension cord.

I plan to run my small (3 cubic foot) fridge off of this if/when needed.

[OhioMan]

Nice job

[trixie]

you cant impress anyone on this forum unless you have a 75kw diesel built in generator and 5000 gallon tank for it.

[pearlselby]

Wow, looks really nice. Portable..I love it!

[madcritter]

How long did it run on a tank of gas ?

[Wombat]

It says 5 hours but i never let it get to empty.

[surviver94]

thank you so much for this! i think i will be on my way to harbor freight in the next couple of days. one question though, would this be able to run a chest freezer???

sorry for being a noob, i have no experience with this kind of stuff

[Roaring Survival]

Nice find! Pity I have no H.F. close by here.

[dylanM]

I have the same generater from HF. Use it for running the drill out at the pig pens. It is also good for running the sump pump out at the garden when watering out of the garden holding tank. It is light enough I can carry it out . I dont need the boys to put the big generater on the 4 wheeler trailer for me any more. I have hooked the impact gun up to it to remove lug nuts with no problems.

[OLDWarrior64]

That is a good find. I do question, like madcritter, how long the tank would last. I think it would be a great back-up to use as a dedicated back-up for the fridge since storm season is upon us in tornado alley.

Thanks again for the review.

[BigFootDriver]

I had one a while back. It ran ok but uses a huge amount of fuel. My honda eu-1000i runs 14 hours on .6 gallons, compared to 5 hours on one gallon plus 2 stroke oil for the little chinese genny.

For $89 a bargain, just mind the two stroke sound/smell and high fuel consumption.

bubba

[hawkbern]

Great deal!


I have a small 1000w gen from HF...looks like they don't carry it anymore *mine wasn't a two-stroke). I bought it to run a recip and circular saw in one of my flooded properties. Great to throw in the truck for work with no power lines. No issues at all with it!

[TMcArthur]

Got the same two stroke gennie. My 8 inch circular saw will blow the fuse if I push it too hard.

[contact00]

At that price you could stock a bunch of them for barter if you have the room.

[53convert]

got one like it from Cabelas, and I tell ya, it will run my remington electric chain saw no problem.
Use it all over my acreage when I dont wanna to string hundreds of feet of electric cord or wann take my heavy gas driven chain saw out.

[Wombat]

Originally Posted by contact00

At that price you could stock a bunch of them for barter if you have the room.

Ding Ding Ding!