Trailer generator?

[Wheelman33]

Got the new enclosed ready to go except for the generator. What size are you guys using to power lights, compressor, a/c, etc? Also, it is gonna be under these factory aluminum cabinets so any recommendations on a quiet one? And no, a Honda is not in the budget lol. Thanks in advance

[collateralDamage]

we've owned 2 of these. the first ran great through 6 seasons, sold it with the trailer before last season. got a new trailer for last year and bought another one to go in it. starts 1st or 2nd pull every time and is relatively quiet.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/champion-power-equipment-3500w-4000w-portable-generator?cm_vc=IOPDP1

[Krooser]

Yamaha builds a pretty quiet genset and quite a bit cheaper than a Honda.

I have one of these generac's and it's been trouble free for four years but isn't as quiet as a Honda. This year I may play around with adapting a better muffler to it...

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200402909_200402909

[AmickRacing]

I've been using a 3500 and it works fine. Charging the battery, oil heater, lights etc. I don't have an air compressor though, I use a nitrogen tank for the rare air I need. Most air compressors don't like to be run off of a generator.

[fastford]

Yamaha builds a pretty quiet genset and quite a bit cheaper than a Honda.

I have one of these generac's and it's been trouble free for four years but isn't as quiet as a Honda. This year I may play around with adapting a better muffler to it...

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200402909_200402909

been there and done that krooser, I put the biggest auto muffler I could find on it and didn't help a bit, the noise comes from the generator as a whole and not just the exhaust, just trying to save you the trouble........

[GRT62]

Going to need atleast 5000w to run. Roof top 120v ac unit

[Krooser]

Fastford,

I believe 50% of the noise is exhaust... I also have some sheets of insulation I bought from a local outfit that builds those trailer mounted genset's for industrial use. Might use a few pieces to quiet down the engine noise... maybe I'll use my db meter and make an a/b comparison.

[rakracing]

had some problems with cheaper gens in the cabinet, they would get hot and breakers would pop easy, there air cooled don't seal it in to much

[RCJ]

Check craigslist in your area.I've had good luck on generators from people just wanting to get them out of the way.

[fastford]

Fastford,

I believe 50% of the noise is exhaust... I also have some sheets of insulation I bought from a local outfit that builds those trailer mounted genset's for industrial use. Might use a few pieces to quiet down the engine noise... maybe I'll use my db meter and make an a/b comparison.

it was an 8hp craftsman I was talking about , which I think is about the same thing as the generac, I would say the big exhaust eliminated abut 25% of noise at best. these cheap units are just internally loud....

[RacerX10]

Just piling on .. the exhaust isn't that much of the racket. Search YouTube and you'll see videos of people that added mufflers to generators, didn't make a lot of difference.

[Chris Steele]

Just go to Harbor Freight and buy their 8750 watt generator for around $500 and mount it on the tounge instead of in the cabinets, build a removable box to cover it from weather during the week and now you have extra cabinet space for more racecar parts!

[Wheelman33]

That was exactly what I did Chris. Almost as if you were spying lol

[HEAVY DUTY]

I have a Champion from Tractor Supply. $439 4500 watt. Starts very easy. Uses about 1 1/2 gallons in a typical race night. It is also RV ready ( RV style plug as well as regular 120 plug) I run compressor,flourescent lights, pit lights and tools, no problem.

[derricklong38]

Ive done the same as Chris, but i have a Honda Blackmax 8500. Built a nice box on tounge, added RV compartment doors. And im going ot add another box on top of it for the compressor

[ledfootproducts]

To run any heat and A/C I would get at least a 6500 watt with 8000+ surge. That will allow you to run an air compressor at the same time as the A/C without it kicking something off. I had a 5k/6250 surge and it would barely start the A/C and compressor/lights and then sometimes it wouldn't do it at all.
I was able to get an off brand generator with a Honda motor in it at a tool discount outlet for about $500 with just two hours on it. I would have gotten the Harbor Freight Predator 7k but this one was cheaper and was equivalent power. I couldn't find anything wrong except the choke gets hung up when you try to pull it out. I put my finger on the mechanism inside and push it a little then pull the handle it has. New it was $800. Easy to pull start and has electric start.
The Honda is much quieter than my other generator and I changed the muffler out on the old one. The engine noise was more the issue than the exhaust. I can have a conversation next to the Honda. I was told to turn my other one off because folks couldn't hear the race. :)
It's also mounted on my tongue. I bought a gas grill cover for it and cinch it down around the tongue. It covers the generator and the tongue lock. Wind can occasionally blow it around and I just re-cinch it.

[Chris Steele]

My 8750 Peak/7000 watt generator from HF is currently mounted on the tounge of our 24' go kart trailer that we pulled with our RV. The RV generator doesnt work, sometimes we ran the generator on the tounge from the time we left on Friday after work until Sunday when we rolled back in and it never shut off unless I let it run out of gas by accident. It would pull 1 of the 2 AC units on the RV, fridge and everything else in the RV plus the AC unit on the roof of the kart trailer, four 4' lights, radio etc. If we needed to run the air compressor in the trailer we would have to switch the AC off. Find a coupon and you can get that generator for close to $500 instead of the $599 listed price. Buy the 2 or 3 year extended warranty....the lady told me "wait until warranty is almost up, bring it back and get a new one...we dont care why, even if you put bad gas in it, just bring it back" so I did lol. We actually had the 6500 peak/5500 at first, I took it back at the end of the warranty and they let me trade it and pay the difference to upgrade to the 8750 and I bought the extended warranty on it and now I'm good for 3 more years.