Why not a gasoline generator with a propane/NG conversion?

Then you can switch between whatever fuel you can get.

 

I,m looking into propane as well. 100 lb tanks aren't that expensive either.

 

And if it runs on propane, it would run on methane too.

 

Looks like it would be easy to move around, well known brand. Propane is the way to go, just wish it had more output, but for less than 700 bucks its a pretty good deal.

 

You may want to do a search here--this subject comes up regularly and there have been some pretty decent threads on it.

PS: I'm disappointed you're putting the Lister/Listeroid on the back burner. I've always been intrigued by it. I've wanted to do some small engine stuff, seems like the next logical "hobby" for me, but not sure I can do it effectively without compromising OPSEC.

PPS: Was thinking about this some more and I recall a thread someplace recently where there was difficulty doing the tri-fuel thing in...maybe a Honda generator? Can't recall for certain, but there seemed to be some question as to whether the tri-fuel thing was as good as it sounds.

 

You may want to do a search here--this subject comes up regularly and there have been some pretty decent threads on it.

you are absolutely correct here. And I can assure you that I have started at least a couple of them myself. I have spent a great deal of time searching the archives.

I am looking for something that uses fuel with a long storage life. For the longest time I was only exploring diesel options, others have opened my eyes to propane as an option.

Gasoline has never been a fuel that would store for long periods. The addition of alcohol shortens that even further, and has a laundry list of additional problems. Further north of me (Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri) its easy to get ethanol free fuel. Where I am located, not so much.

PS: I'm disappointed you're putting the Lister/Listeroid on the back burner. I've always been intrigued by it. I've wanted to do some small engine stuff, seems like the next logical "hobby" for me, but not sure I can do it effectively without compromising OPSEC.

Please don't be. Without a doubt, I have not given up on the Lister/Listeroid thing. I will have one.

Since you asked, the long of the story is I don't have my rural/bug out property yet. As such, I still live in a large metroplex area. I came very close to buying a working Lister about 9 months ago. It was halfway across Texas. Seller indicated everything that came with it came in at around 2K lbs, and was asking around $1.50 per pound.

There is no doubt in my mind that I will have a slow speed diesel generator at some point, but my current situation isn't it. I'm looking for something that will meet my generator needs in the city that isn't gasoline powered and is not asian built.

PPS: Was thinking about this some more and I recall a thread someplace recently where there was difficulty doing the tri-fuel thing in...maybe a Honda generator? Can't recall for certain, but there seemed to be some question as to whether the tri-fuel thing was as good as it sounds.

I see people on this board rant and rave about honda generators, but I don't ever see myself buying anything from honda.

 

I think a tri fuel conversion would be good. Propane is good for as long as you can keep it in the can. Stabilized diesel should be good for a many years.

If you look at the price of generator electricity it is outrageous, however if you capture and use the heat off the exhaust and engine (2/3 of chemical energy in the fuel) it is a lot more reasonable and perhaps you could get by on a smaller generator.

At the Grayhound Mine they had a real Lister. She was really old but chugged along at 600 rpm. Very fuel efficient. Starting it with the hand crank was little spooky, without the compression release I wouldn't even try.

I have an old corps of engineers 2kw. 2 cylinder 1800 rpm air cooled loose rope start genny. A gallon of gas is 4 to 7 hours.

 

I ahev a 10kw hardwired self operating and plumbed to 500 gallons of propane -- would not go any other way

 

I have an 8KW running off of 500 gallons as well. Auto start when we have an outage. It runs my well along with almost anything else I throw at it. Water was my main concern so if my 5000 gallons runs out i know i can refill it a couple times.

 

Tri-fuel conversion for a gasoline generator runs about $200 - $250 if you buy the kit. I have no price estimates if you are talented and can build the conversion from scratch, we didn't look at that as with the list of projects we have going, "plug and play" was an excellent option for the generator conversion. Of course, you have to have a good generator to start with but it still runs much less money than an equal size propane generator. That also lets you use the generator on gasoline or natural gas.

 

Is that generator purchased at the store, or ordered through the mail to be delivered to you home?

I made the mistake of buying from Home Depot, but through the mail. As soon as my generator was delivered, I noted the statement that if there's ever a problem, it can't be returned to Home Depot, it MUST be returned to the manufacturer.

Well, guess what? The starter failed, and I would have had to freight it back to Michigan for a warranty repair, which would have cost 200$. After working out the details over the phone, I had the manufacturer mail me the parts and made the warranty repair myself. Luckily, it worked, but I will never again purchase any big-ticket item that isn't returnable to the store I bought it from.

 

Is that generator purchased at the store, or ordered through the mail to be delivered to you home?

to be honest, I had followed a link on one of the other generator threads that was in the archives. And that lead to some others and this gem popped up.

I made the mistake of buying from Home Depot, but through the mail. As soon as my generator was delivered, I noted the statement that if there's ever a problem, it can't be returned to Home Depot, it MUST be returned to the manufacturer.

Well, guess what? The starter failed, and I would have had to freight it back to Michigan for a warranty repair, which would have cost 200$. After working out the details over the phone, I had the manufacturer mail me the parts and made the warranty repair myself. Luckily, it worked, but I will never again purchase any big-ticket item that isn't returnable to the store I bought it from.

Thank you.

I will keep that in mind. I ran into a weird, similar but completely different situation with getting Craftsman tools replaced when they broke, when I was stationed overseas during my time in the military.

 

I bought a gen from HD online. Had buyers remorse and returned to my local store. No problems.

 

I'm almost ready to pull the trigger on this one:
http://yamaha-propane-natural-gas-generators.com/ef6600dec.htm

The things I like about it are that it runs on propane, natural gas, or gasoline. It's got a reliable Yamaha engine and the conversion they do doesn't void the warranty; and you can get service for them. The problem is it's $2,600. For under $800, you can now get a tri-fuel at Costco. My fear is that some of the Home Depot, Costco cheapies have crappy Chinese built engines and they'll be for crap when I need them.

Anyone out there get the Costco Champion model or that other one they're selling with gas or propane???

 

I am in the process of finalizing a buy of a 20 kw Generic generator powered from a 1000 gal underground propane tank.

 

If you want to be well prepared, then I would recommend getting the propane generator. A tri-fuel conversion kit is good, but remember: two is one, one is none, and three is a guarantee. Having two separate generators gives you a backup, whereas if you have only a single generator, if it breaks down, then you're hosed. Given the substantial cost of the tri-fuel conversion kits, nevermind the time spent installing them, it's not much of a price premium to get the propane generator.

 

Quality gasoline generator #1 220v output - $1300 new, $350 off Craigslist, never out of the box plus tri-fuel conversion kit $200 including shipping plus one hour to convert. Total $550 plus one hour labor.

Equivalent tri-fuel generator - $2600

For a decent generator you are looking at substantially more expense to buy a tri-fuel new. We converted two and it was a huge savings for us. We left the other two gasoline for now...

 

For a 4kw genset, a 20lb propane tank will last about 10 hours.

Not much run time.. A 100lb tank will last just over two days continuous run time.

Need to give this much thought....

Just wanted to point this out...
EB

 

Like someone else on here we are hooked up to a 500 gal propane tank.

Ditto on Homedepot........... stay away from them. We actually tried to buy our generator through them to begin with and it was such a screw up we cancelled and bought from a more reliable business that stands behind what they sell. Big box stores love to sell you things, but they then want to shift any problems onto the manufacturer so they can avoid dealing with customer problems.

I will never deal with Homedepot again.

 

Got the propane conversion for my small 5000 gen.
It works great as a conversion bi fuel.
Glad I did this

 

Costco has a 6k Tri-fuel now $469

 

I'd have to see a link to believe that price. If that is the actual price on a 6K tri-fuel, I would tell everyone on this website to RUN and buy one NOW!

 

I'd choose a different Generac. According to the FAQ on the LP3250 on Generacs website this model is made overseas.

"The LP3250 is manufactured to our specifications by a partner overseas.
1 year, 2 months ago
GeneracPowerSystems"

 

Good point, I wonder if there is a model manufactured in the US?

 

These are the two propane generators that I own. This is just slightly more than I paid for mine and is a pretty good deal delivered. Mine ran me $354 to my door.

Amazon.com: Sportsman GEN4000LP 4000-Watt 7 HP OHV Propane Powered Portable Generator: Patio, Lawn & Garden

I got this one from someone on CL, it was new but refurbished, I paid $240 for this one.
Amazon.com: ETQ PG30P11 3000 Watt 7 HP 208cc 4-Cycle OHV Propane Powered Portable Generator: Patio, Lawn & Garden

 

A lot of their models are designed and produced in the US. Check their site FAQ I do not know about their propane models though.

 

We've had some experience with this portable generator. We purchase this unit from www.norwall.com and have had some gfreat use out of it. Though, not everyone can start this machine with ease as the pull start needs some strength. It is very easy to use with propane, and is a tad heavy but very easy to move around. Though you will need a hand if you are going to be putting this in your truck or something of the sort.

Hope this helps you with your decision

 

Hello saunD,

Thank you for your comment.

Was there a generator in specific you purchased from them?

Unless I am missing something, the link you provided just takes us to the Norwall home page.

 

lIf U have natural gas..it is even better. No tank, hard hookup to the source, etc.

 

I agree, convert a gas one...

 

So I have been looking into wood gas and home made methanol as fuel sorces in a SHTF scenario. I have also been looking into turning waste plastics into diesel. I am trying to figure out what the best motor would be for a small generator. I am looking into spark driven engines rather than diesel as I am more interested in burning the plastic or wood vapors directly out of the dry distiller rather than converting them to a liquid fuel for storage (although I would still like to create a small amount of liquid fuel each time for the purposes of starting the machine and getting it into full production for the next time) my main source of info regarding waste plastic to diesel is this website http://www.scribd.com/doc/72140818/How-to-Turn-Plastic-Waste-Into-Diesel-Fuel-Cheaply. I have used other forums and my own research over the years to learn a lot about wood gas but this is probably the best info I have found, (I know we all hate the UN but sometimes they have some good advice) http://www.fao.org/docrep/T0512E/T0512e00.htm
I was also thinking that these devices would be handy not only for us in a SHTF scenario but could also be used around the world in 3rd world nations where I guess you could say the SHTF a long time ago.
I saw a VICE special on E-waste in Ghana, and I see these kids burning all the plastic off of E-waste for the copper and other metals they can sell for pennies. From the 1st link I posted they mention that the plastic used for most computers is flimsy and perfect for the process, so I was thinking if you had tons of generators like this working in an E-waste dump you could not only provide transport and electricity for the poor, and prevent the kids from getting cancer or whatever from burning plastics, but also help to power a small independent grid in the shops around the dump where working computer parts are taken and actually recycled into working machines.

 

I've noticed lots of big box products coming with a notice inside the box that says "do not return to store, call manufacturer".

FYI, this is not mandatory. The hourly employees at a big box store could care less about the item and they will take it back within the store guidelines and with a receipts.

The one who does not want you to take it back to the store is the manufacturer! What happens is Home Depot deducts that item from their accounts payable and tells the manufacturer to come pick it up at their expense. The manufacture has no choice in the matter if they want to keep selling their products at Home Depot.

So naturally, the manufacture would rather have you call them and deal with them directly. But you don't have to.

 

Lots of options for DIY. You can buy Generac and find a better motor, for instance. It is an air cooled v-twin that has OEM and clone versions, Honda, Subaru and more.

Other alternatives: buy generator and your favourite motor, e.g. Deutz, CAT, Lister... Match gen speed and motor, then buy an AVR, controller and you can have it all.