Yea, I use a Generac 4000 watt I bought right before the Y2K thing. (NO, not because of the Y2K BS, but because my little Coleman 1300 decided to give up the ghost while I was building my plane) I purchased it at the time because they were the first to have a 30A 120V outlet, which works perfectly with my RV's 30A 120V service. It also had the option of a spin-on oil filter for the pressurized lubrication system. (which I got) It also runs my 150A MIG welder pretty good.

I really can't recommend a specific model since I haven't used enough models to form an opinion. Hondas are supposedly good, but are very high dollar to watt in cost. I'd think an Onan might be a winner. I'd avoid the mass of no-name copies coming out of China.

As far as gas vs. diesel, and considering the premium price of diesel, I'd compare hours to gallons, then hours to dollars, before making a decision. Just make sure you get one big enough to cover your current and future needs.

I've used high end honda and low end briggs units. Both did their jobs fine.

As far as must have's, many low output models don't offer 220. Be careful, most that do offer a 4-prong 30A twistlok receptacle. I made a converter to a 20A (that's all my genset can put out anyway) 3-prong device by jumping the neutral to ground. The only reason I point this out is that the 30amp twistlok plugs are SPENDY at HD (~$25), and you may want to be able to plug other types of 220 into them. For what it's worth I AM using one of those cheapos from China for my backup generator, but I will likely have a backup backup for my building, since I will be away from power. For the price (~250) I couldn't pass up the 3500Watt unit.

-Peter

http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductDetail.aspx?MfrCode=CPE&MfrPartNumber=C46540&CategoryCode=3483C

We bought this one last year for $299, on sale. It was on sale a month or two ago for that price again. We have a 5th wheel with a/c, tv and microwave and it powers all with no problems. Two Honda eu2000i in tandem would give easier portability, lower decibles and less gas usage, but the price is somewhere around $2000. I figured that if we ever want to sell our Champion we'd be able to get all or most of the cost back on it.

First, I love the pics! Thx for sharing.

I envy you being able to drop it all and live out there. I'm still slaving away at the office job trying to save money and gather materials and tools. Long way to go but I can see progress almost daily and I'm very determined.

Charging your tools on the car battery is simply brilliant. I dont know if you thought of that one or read about it somewhere, but that's a really slick idea. My truck can produce electricy, why didnt I think of that? Hehe.

For my current situation I'm actually trying to get an itemized budgett together so I have an idea how much I need and can really start looking for good deals. I also have cordless stuff and plan to use it as much as I can, but I'm really trying to prep for construction and I dont think I want to try to run a hole hawg on my truck's electrical system :)

After construction I'll be on propane for hot water, fridge, and backup electrical power and the gas generator I buy for construction will be a backup to the propane generator I pick up when I'm further into the electrical phase.

In any event those are great ideas and thx for bringing them up!

And dont worry about the winter! You'll be cold but you're not going to freeze to death or anything :)

Craig

I'm probably not telling you anything you dont already know, but one trick is to put your food and water into a cooler or ice chest. That can at least buy you more time before in insides cool down when your fire is out. It's easy to think of a cooler used to keep your beer cold but it works in reverse too to keep things warmer than ambient temp after a fire goes out.

I'm sure you're already doing that though. What's that other building there, is that yours?

Do you have time to just frame up some kind of 10x10 unibomber-style cabin for the winter? Even if it's salvaged wood and some kind of rust-bucket wood stove, it would keep your water liquid I would think. Even uninsulated it's gotta be better than a house made out of leather or canvas during those long January nights.

How about travel trailer? That's my current plan.

Craig said: I'm probably not telling you anything you dont already know, but one trick is to put your food and water into a cooler or ice chest. That can at least buy you more time before in insides cool down when your fire is out. It's easy to think of a cooler used to keep your beer cold but it works in reverse too to keep things warmer than ambient temp after a fire goes out.=================
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I had my stuff inside an old fridge and freezer and it still froze. In winter, some night temps go into -20 and then add the wind chill. I am at approx 9500 ft above sea level. I am not sure how it is in Montana but it prolly could get just as cold. Maybe newer style fridges would work better and I thought of encasing them in insulation as well. Heck even my contact lens case froze with my damn contacts in there!
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Craig says : What's that other building there, is that yours?
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Thats my run-in horse shelter and storage shed I started building last year. I finshed er up this year and just about have my corrals done. It was built with old utility poles and mostly used lumbar from CraigsList and scrap. wood from a local lumbar mill. It cost me approx 2500 clams and most of the expense was for the dang roof. Its 20x20 in size. Half of it is for my horses and the other half is for tools and hay (and for now my shower room). Theres nothing goofier than a cold nose of a horse touching ya when your shampooing your hair and ya got your eyes closed! My little filly snuck in while I was showering. She scared me then I scared her.
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Craig said: Do you have time to just frame up some kind of 10x10 unibomber-style cabin for the winter? Even if it's salvaged wood and some kind of rust-bucket wood stove, it would keep your water liquid I would think. Even uninsulated it's gotta be better than a house made out of leather or canvas during those long January nights.
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I did think of using a 10x10 area for winter living quarters and it would have be cozy and doable for me, my dog and cat. But I have decided to frame the inside of my tipi with 2x4's or 6's, insulate them and add a insulated ceiling as well. Since the framed walls will lean inwards (following the contour of the tipi poles I will attach crossbraces in the ceiling to strengthen it up. I can then cover them with drywall or wood. I will just run my wood stove piping up thru the top of the ceiling at out the smoke flaps. I failed terribly last winter and I am not giving up yet.
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Craig said :How about travel trailer? That's my current plan.
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Yup, thats what I recommend to most folks. Sometimes I wonder why I always have to try doing the hardest stuff. Travel trailer/RV is the easiest way but you still have to address winter freeze ups unless your trailer is souped up with insulation. Some RV's and trailers come from the factory ready for winter weather and many RV places can alter your trailer for those accomodations (at a chunky price). Some trailers have lots of goodies too like stove, oven, pooper, shower, TV and even some basic solar set up. Get yourself an old RV motorhome with a generator and all the goodies and you be da man. Now coming from me (a dumb@ss hick in a tipi), those trailers and motorhomes are like a 5 star motel.
I guess I like challenges (always have). I do like to push myself and even if I fail, I keep trying. In the event I give it everything I have and still don't succeed, I chalk it up as a lesson learned and file it in the "wisdom" drawer of life. Anyway, that all sounds like a good excuse to cover up my stupidity. LOL. I guess its just the adventurous stuff that attracts me. I like the "raw" side of life and living but it sure ain;t easy. Not yet anyway but I'll get there. And when I do, thats prolly where they will bury me..with a silly looking smile on my face. But while I am still here I got some living to do. REAL living. FREE. Like a bird.

Freebird Kola

www.utterpower.com (I know it's probably been mentioned on this site before), probably has the best info on getting set up permanently with power.

That said I have a cheapy Champion, but as a construction gernerator, that or pretty much any unit that has enough power to run your loads while you build will suffice, and should last if you do routine maintenance and run synthetic oil.

J.

I have a nothstar 5500 gen. with honda engine for 6 years and oct last year bought a honda eu3000is the best buy I have made yet! It is very quiet and very good on fuel and can run my 12 chop saw and compressor. I just got tired of my ears ringing ( i paid 1600 and free shipping)

Ok after doing some homework (lots more to do) and talking to quite a few folks I'm considering this plan:

(First remember my house is going to be off grid)

1. Buy a big propane tank before building.
2. Build a small shed to house a propane generator
3. Buy a propane generator that will run backup for my house as well as run my build tools
4. Install

The idea is that I dont have to do temporary gas generator to run tools while I build only to replace with something else.

Am I missing something here? I have a feeling there is a flaw in this plan but I'm not sure what it is. I know I'll need a lot of propane since I'm planning to run on-demand hot water, fridge, furnace, and backup electric all on propane. So if I'm going to all that expense might as well use it during the build too, right?

Can I use the same generator for building that I run my house on afterward?

I can't say I've ever been involved in an LP generator conversion, but it looks pretty straight forward. Anyone capable of changing their own brakes on their car should have enough smarts to do the carb mods. Watts "should" remain fairly consistent on LP, but will likely loose some on NG. Safe? As in, "will my generator/LP tank explode", safe? I guess there could be a remote possibility of the LP cut-off not closing when the generator is shut down, filling whatever space you have your genny in, with LP gas. Or, "will it ruin my generator engine via over-revving/ungoverned throttle?" Emmm, could happen too. Depends on exactly how they handle governing the LP flow rate.

I got to say though, I sure like the idea of it. No fuel to go bad, no gummed up carbs. What's a 20 lb. bottle of LP (comparable to 5 gal of gasoline) go for these days?

We have been using a couple of the Honda EU2000i generators on our project. I love them because they are portable and super quiet, especially when the eco-throttle kicks in. One is enough to run my Hole Hawg, and I can couple two of them together to run most other power tools. They are expensive new but I picked mine up just slightly used on Craigs List.

Yuhjn, you starting to build soon? You get your logs priced yet?