First, we were lucky. I sat up through the passage of the squall line. I thought it was rather mild. Just across the pond, and unbeknownst to me, a bunch of trees went down. The people who live there, maybe 1/4 mile as the gnat flies, are still without power. They are on Flint EMC, and I am on Georgia Power. In Reynolds, GA, about 8 miles east, there was extensive damage. Trees down on houses, in yards, and I saw at least one totaled vehicle with a huge oak across it. I had no damage on any of my meager holdings. For that I'm thankful.

I have wanted an emergency generator for a long time. My wife would always roll her eyes, and name a dozen other things we could do with that money. I have had my eye on one of the Black Max generators at Sam's Club for several years. They are rated at 8750 starting watts and 7000 running watts. Taking into account marketing exaggerations and best-case scenario testing methods, I figure they are good for a solid 6000 starting and 5000 running watts. Anyhow, I bit the bullet and bought one about two months ago. They have gone up about $100 every 24 months, and I bought mine for $999 plus tax.

Here is where I almost got in trouble. I bought the thing, brought it home and unpacked it, put it together, and locked it away. I didn't even start it up, never put gas in it. I don't have but one extension cord I could use with it, much less a transfer switch. Our lights just flickered once or twice. While that was happening, I got to thinking . . . . what if the lights go out and that generator is 10 miles from here, locked in a building, no gas in it, never even tried out, and basically inaccessible? Can you imagine the grief I would have had to endure from my wife? "You spent a thousand dollars on that thing, and here we are in the dark! What good is it if you don't even know how to use it? Whaddayou mean you don't have a switch? What switch? Looks like for a thousand dollars, it would have all the switches you need!"

You get the idea. You can bet I'll have it out of the barn, fired up and wired up before the next squall line comes through.

The genset is powered by a Honda 13 hp engine, and has a self starter. I am 62 years old, had back surgery and shoulder surgery, and can just see myself trying to start it with a pull cord during a thunderstorm, or in 15 degree weather and an ice storm. Everybody says, "Buy a Honda brand generator." Well, I can buy three of these and keep two in reserve for a good deal less than a Honda with 5000 watts of running capacity would cost, and after all, this one is Honda powered. The Honda brand sets are supposed to be much quieter, but that isn't an issue with me. My intentions were to have already used the generator. I am going to rebuild an out building, and am going to use the generator to run the power tools. I haven't gotten around to that yet, but I will soon. Meanwhile, I'm going to get it running.

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Georgia On My Mind

Don't forget to put oil in it! Sometimes they do from the factory, and sometimes they don't. I found out at a very young age the hard way about such things.

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Lost it all in a boat accident

redlevel,

I bought a similar model with the North Star label some years ago, with a 13hp Honda engine also. Mine is 8kw start, 6.5kw run. One thing about the Honda engine is that they designed it with a nifty reduced compression starting feature that makes the recoil start cord easy to pull. I would think yours has that also, since it's newer. But since you have electric starting, I'm sure you're aware of the importance of keeping the battery up.

Andy

We didn't get so lucky. Power was out for about 12 hours (Walton EMC). Pine trees are everywhere, including on my fences . I was out with the chainsaw all morning and then couldn't take a shower without the well pump being powered. I have my house wired for the generator, transfer switch and all. Just haven't gotten around to buying one. That and a bigger chainsaw.

Good news is all the animals are ok. I don't think they ever figured the electric fence was unpowered, so they're all still here.

Munster

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GO NAVY!

Glad you missed the damage part. Yes, for sure, get that thing running.
Mine is a 6500 start and 5000 run and it got us through four days in an ice storm. It ran our central heat all the time and freezer, refrigerator, microwave and lights by kind of watching what we were doing. Mine started it's life as a manual start but I got smart real quick and installed a new flywheel and electric starter.

We lucked out in Tupelo, MS, as well. The storm passed both above and below us. We got some heavy rain for a time, but were spared the straight line winds that others received. I kind of think we deserved it. We just celebrated, if that's the word to use, the anniversay of our 1936 tornado that just about wiped out the town, killing over 200 and over 300 injured. Today, they have rated it a Force 5, which of course that scale did not exist back in 36.

Mine is electric start. It takes a lawn and garden battery that I change every two years even though it has an emergency crank rope. I make sure I run it every 90 days and keep stabill in a full tank of gas. I've got a gas grill and four bottles of gas I keep full. If that runs out I've got a chain saw and lots of hickory trees around. I keep at least a 60 day supply of rice and beans (easy to store) and the creek ain't far away so water isn't a problem. I keep a large supply of tasty adult beverages, a lesson learned from the great bourbon shortage of Hurricane Katrina. Somehow Max and the little brown truck helped me out on that one. I also keep 36 gallons of non ethanol gas that I rotate during grass mowing season. Short of a nuclear war I think I'm OK. Ammo will be worth more than gold if the SHTF. I've got some of that too.

Buy a small battery tender and keep it hooked up. They really work and it won't overcharge and burn up the battery.