Get Your $99 Generator Here: amzn.to/2PAmBmy (link will direct you to my affiliate page)

I noticed that you changed your tune, you were so critical in the past but now you're open to accept that anything can be good. It's nice to see the change, keep the good work.

I've had one for years now and still running strong! $89 out the door at Harbor Freight. Well worth every penny. Easy to move and start up when you just don't need the bigger generator.

Looks like a great unit! The reason they supplied a 20 amp plug is so you can use a heavy 12 or even 10 gauge extension cord on it. The longer the run, the heaver your cord should be to keep the resistance low.

The harbor freight version of this saved our fridge after a week with no power after a hurricane. Running 24/7 it ran our fridge and my fish tank for a week. Still works years later

“cause I’m a petulant child” lol

I paid 79.00 for mine ten years ago it works great still.

I never even thought of adding oil before starting to small engine power equipment after purchase. Thats a super good idea and definitely something you get one chance at

I sent four of them to the Bahamas for hurricane relief. I hope they helped

Theres nothing like watching a wranglerstar video after a hard day.

Have 2 of these I bought 5-6 years ago and they are still going. great little backup generator for the toyo stove.

I bought a version of this many years ago for $99, crazy that they're still $99. I only have a few hours on it, it mostly sits in the garage for emergencies. About a week ago I discovered that the fuel valve seals had gone bad, but other than that it's been a great little unit.

Great video & tip on eliminating dry starts! That applies for all 2 & 4 stroke small engines. Example: When I take my mower out of winter storage and start it for the first time, I will give it 3 pulls to lube the piston before I add gas to start.

I got the Harbor Freight version and have been blown away with the value and performance! Don't operate it on the forest soil near foliage, as we almost had a fire from the hot exhaust blowing on woodchips and green brush undergrowth. Also, the rubber feet crack from vibration after a while. We built an off-grid cabin with that little generator! Just amazing.

I have the Harbour freight version of this. They are actually decent generators.

Looks EXACTLY like my Harbor Freight “Tailgator”. I paid like $79 for it two years ago. Use it all the time for my small plumbing business when power isn’t an option. Charge my batteries, run corded power tools, lights etc. Used it for a weekend to charge my batteries while hunting deep in woods in my camper. Ain’t died yet!

I see these generators for sale on line for $49! But most places are "out of stock". Great video!

I love When you test stuff on Amazon it is the best category you do in my opinion thanks for your videos keep up the great work

Cody, I just cashed in all my points and "BAM", I just bought the cheapest generator on Amazon, 50 bucks! Thanks for the video and Merry Christmas!

I got one of the harbor Freight versions five or six years ago and have used it at an off grid cabin. Still runs fine with probably a couple hundred hours on it. Very convenient if I only want enough power for a few lights and fans. Not too loud but even a very basic vented plywood box will baffle the noise down considerably.

I have the same one, but it's branded different. I've abused it. I've had it plugged in to my camper and ran it right to the max. It's suprised me at how well its performed.

it is pretty much the same as the Harbor Freight, "tailgating generator", just the harbor freight 1 is rated for only 6amps (I've ran 20 amps easy and ran fine)

Good review. I bought the same generator, with different branding a few years ago. It is loud, but still worked as an emergency generator until last summer. I was attempting to run my fridge during an extended outage from a summer storm. Couldn't get the fridge to run, eventually tried a neighbor's generator with no luck. Started troubleshooting and found the cheap voltage regulator failed and the generator was putting out 220V, frying the board on my new fridge. It was an expensive lesson, and I've now got a Honda.

I was told by the owner of a small engine shop (junk yard style buy & sell) to never go down to 50:1 no matter what the manufacture says. He said that manufacturers are pushed to keep emissions down so they have to say 50:1, which is basically the bare minimum that a machine will tolerate, but it won't tolerate it for long. A simple miss calc can cause major engine scoring. he said at 40:1 you get very little smoke and your saws and boat motors and weed wackers will live for decades.

Literally spilled more oil than he got in that spark plug hole! Lmao 😂

I gotta say, we’ve got an ancient one of those at my work and it’s honestly pretty great as just a simple, portable electric source

Hello THE FIZ sounds like a cool shirt to be made and sold.

Had a princess auto version of this thing for years it was great we used to run it for days on end. Ran until the day we got drunk and put straight gas in it and it had a thermo nuclear meltdown.

Some great tips, thanks. I also run the first tank of fuel with a 40:1 mix instead of 50:1. I own various 2-stroke appliances and some came with this advice in the manual.

Could you expand your 50 most important tools a man should own to 100 tools? It was an awesome series...

I love these 'testing the cheapest' videos. Keep them up!

One thing I would love to see is follow up videos, like come back a year later or whatever period of time after using a product and talk about how it's held up, or how long it actually lasted, etc.

I bought one that was a return at a local auto parts store for something like $25~$30 and used it for years on the farm. It sat in a cart to run my reciprocating saw for cutting brush when the chain saw wasn't quite the right tool or not readily available. It did the job well enough.

I think those Torch sparkplugs are actually great. I've got this old Ross lawn mower and after watching this I assume the Torch plug in it is the original. Its probably run 1000+ hours over more than 10 years and is still going strong now even with multiple cracks & a bit missing from the porcelain. At least 2 times I've given it a good soak & clean out after it totally gunked up & with sandpaper too and works a treat again after.

When this video came out, I ordered one to leave at my off-grid cabin. Can you do a video of your little upgrades such as replacing the fuel lines?

6:05 gotta love the ol two-smoke engine. I've been using mine for years. Keeps the cabin lights on and solar batteries charged in the wintertime. Pro tips: use fresh no - E gas and Husqvarna low-smoke oil. To kill it for the day, shut the gas off and let it run out. It starts even in Sub-Zero temperatures, ask me how I know. Keep an extra plug. Peel off all the silly stickers. btw, Mine doesnt have a 12VDC output. Just 120VAC.

I watched this demonstration a few months ago and based on what I saw, I bought one. Works fine. I am an old man but I can handle it easily, It runs fine and produces enough power to run either my refrigerator or my freezer. So I have to keep mixed gas on hand, big deal. I use Sta-Bil double strength and If I don't use the gas after a couple of years I'll just run it through my mower.

Had been using one of those chinese generators for years now, about 100 hours on use and only problem was stuck exhaust pipe at long time use.. Cleaned it and works again with no problem ! Cost here in Finland 39 €uros which is about same on $.. 220 volts btw

My Neighbor give me a Colman generator 4000 something should I put fogging oil in cylinder to store it through winter. Thank you for all your videos. Love all your video work.

I bought the 900 watt tailgator generator from harbor freight a little over two years ago and have put probably 200-300 hours on it problem free until recently until the plastic pulley in the cap broke. I have one on the way in the mail now. For $98 it works great as it will power (at once) 4-5 grow lights (with led bulbs) and a standard box fan. It'll pull a full side refrigerator by itself but that's all it'll pull at once. I was impressed and would buy another one if mine gave out without question

I bought one the other week. I too am very impressed with it as a base cost unit, though I am more used to far larger models. The plug cover is fragile unfortunately I. Mine cost more than that, but it was mostly the extra carriage to my location . It came in a neat nailed small crate.

as a cheap "disposable" generator that looks decent.. something i can loan out, have one laying around as a backup / backup, something to leave up at the mountain cabin and not overly worry about it "walking off".

its a better outlet probably to insulate from thermal over draw.

I've got a few of these generators, you do get the odd dud straight out of the box, and I've had one of those, but there are plenty of good ones. They are based on an old Yamaha design, its two stroke engine has a carb and reed valve mounted at the back of the Alluminium alloy crankcases, with a detachable cast Iron cylinder barrell and Alluminium alloy cylinder head at the front. The cylinder also has a sort of triangular shaped exhaust port, probably in an attempt to soften the exhaust note a little. They usually run quite smoke free with the recommended 50/1 petroil mixture, after any excess oil has cleared. They sell for around £60 from cut price supermarkets here in the UK, so they are just about cheap enough to risk getting stolen if you are forced to leave them running unattended outside.

Appreciate the advice on how to properly set it up. I have the harbor frieght one. I didn't know you need to oil the filter. Thanks for the advice.

We bought the earlier 950W model about 15 years ago, and it was second hand even then. The only complaint we had was that one of its rubber feet was missing! We don't use it excessively, but it seems to do all it's asked to do. It can be reluctant to start if left unused for a longish period, say, 2 months or more, but is fine once it's up and going. The only thing to watch out for, is never be tempted to exceed the generator's design limits. These machines rely on a pair of high current blocking diodes built into the rotor. These diodes take the full brunt of the reflux current every half revolution. The reflux current is what drives the magnetic flux in the rotor, which in turn energises the stator and produces the output current. The reflux current is directly proportional to the load applied to the output, and the diodes are at best conservatively rated. You may get away with overloading once or twice, or maybe a hundred times, but it will eventually destroy the diodes over time. Small Hondas did it the same way, and suffered the same fate - we know, it's how our little Honda expired. It's also why we have a 1kW, and a 4kW Honda, and a 3.5kW Briggs, so that we can choose the machine best suited to the job in hand. Noise wise, the little Chinese "blue-smoke" is surprisingly quiet, and runs surprisingly smooth, once loaded. Its also very handy for charging the tractor batteries when the tractors are off site - 8A charge for 20 minutes is usually enough to get all but the most reluctant tractor started. Often maligned by some, and almost certainly not worth repairing if they breakdown, but if you use common sense, and look after it, even one of these 'Chinesium' generators will give decent service if you don't overtax it. Always handy to have in the back of the van, or pick-up!

I gave mine to a family member who needed it,... That was the only good part about giving it away. These units are awesome & mine ran things that it technically should not have.

I've got a similar model, minus the 12 volt outlet. Ran a freezer after hurricane Michael for 5 hours a day for 3 months. Before that ran a 5000 BTU window unit for a week at night till power came back on at my house. Since then, I've used it camping for the pop up, a d frankly, for 100, I love it.

I have a harbor freight one I use for overlanding and its awesome. Saved my life 3 times and has always worked. Put a pull cord in it once but its 4 years old. Never had to do much to it either. Put a spark plug into it once but thags about it. Can't beat that!

Hey! You could easily be "The Man" to host a QVC/Amazon show! LOL Seriously, you did a great job demonstrating this pup. I'm actually gonna order one! Be Well..

When you ran the heater outside of the shop i heard my grandpa in my head, "shut the door, you trying to heat the outdoors? You born in a barn?"

I bought this for 89 bucks back in 2012 from Harbor Freight it's been not running perfectly since then in a box in my basement. Glad to see is worth it for a Backup backup generator.

I bought one of these generators a few years back and I had to use it at a place I was living because my roommates never paid the hydro bill for months, anyway I mixed it at 40 to 1 and run this baby 6 to 12 hours a day for 4 months in the summer, it still works great but the recoil is broke, its a damn good little generator

the recoil starter is always the first to go.othes than that,they seem to keep running.i bring mine camping to light up the night and charge cell phones or laptop.going on 5yrs now

So this is the first video I've watched of yours in a few years, your production value has gone up very nicely. Good to see improvements happen!

This seems to be a nice generator for the money. I had a snowblower and a lawnmower with Torch brand sparkplugs that worked great. I changed the plugs after 4 or 5 years just due to age, but they were working OK. Both of these items had Powermore engines that worked perfectly. My lawnmower is at least 6 years old and starts first pull. I am very pleased with these little engines.

There certainly seems to be some great generators out there. I bought a cheap inverter generator a couple of years ago, and it's never let me down. Starts on the first pull each time, and runs for hours at a time when I use it never missing a beat. What's more, it was less than £200. It's branded as Impax, but I've seen it branded as Clarke, Sportsman and Earthquake. Well worth a look if you need a cheap inverter and haven't looked already.

I've had one of those generators for 16 years. It runs about 6 - 61/2 hours on a tank full. It has about 800 hundred hours on it. Now here's my expertise, I'm a certified Outdoor Power Equipment Mechanic, with 30 years of experience. Do not run this type of generator using both the DC and AC circuits at the same time. You will damage its circuitry. 12 volts is drawn directly from the generator, were as the AC voltage is run through a rectifier with bridge diodes. Next, if your going to use this to run or charge any electronic devices use a surge protector, they do not develop a clean sinusoidal wave and can damage your devices. An inverter generator is much more stable, and has a cleaner sinusoidal wave which is more compatible to electronics. Comparing this generator to a Honda EU generator, is comparing apples to oranges. Its not even in the same league. But beyond that, the one that I have has been totally reliable.

I bought a little Harbor Freight tailgator, which is about the same thing. It's great...for the money.

I bought one of these about 12 years ago (Coleman brand). Mostly, I used to run my photography flood lights (2- 500w lights). When the power was off at the house it really helped running as a second generator. When my 5000w quit I used this one all the time/everyday during the summer for 12-14 hours a day. With proper maintenance it will last a long time and the only problem I ever had was the stater rusted and wouldn't crank after sitting up for two years while I was in China. After cleaning, it cranked up with less than a 1/4 pull. Let it idle for a couple minutes before plugging in anything and a couple minutes after unplugging. I paid $100 for mine. Yes, it still runs and is used it often.

Ive hard a few of these for years and years. I use them to power tools and other items when i cant get power otherwise. I have several hundred hours on a few of them. Couple tips- Replace the spark plug for an ngk or autolite. Much smoother running Pull every bolt you can get easy access to and put some sort of thread locker on them. Run the premix a little heavier on your first tank. Use smokeless 2t oil. Ive been using the marine stuff for a few years now with no issues Get a little 6 outlet power strip and a few L brackets and mount it to the side of the fuel tank using existing bolts. The stock outlet is pretty weak and not a standard size so its a pain to replace when it falls apart which it will. Keep the power strip plugged in and plug everything into that. Bonus if your power strip has an on/off switch. Use some fuel stabiler to every tank if you know you wont be using it in the near term.

Ive had the harbor freight version for 3 years, lived through a winter on top of my car, still starts in 1-3 pulls every time. Cleaned the carb out once, and has continued to run fine over many eyeballed gas/oil mixes. Paid $90

I've had one of these since 2012, it still works. Can be difficult to start at times, but I've done zero maintenance on it.

I ACTUALLY BEEN LOOKING FOR ONE!!! AND THIS IS PERRRRRFECT!!!! THE SIZE AND POWER IS PERFECT!

great video dude i have one about 10years now run it once a year it came in great about 6 years ago power gone with a bad storm we had tv lights cold box heat pump and next door friends lights it was a god send

Great review! This seems like the perfect secondary backup generator. I have a 7500 watt westinghouse which is what I normally use for power failures. However during the last ice storm I had serious issues starting it up. I'm not mechanically inclined at all, but after searching youtube / forums I was able to change the spark plug and do a few other things in a real panic to get it going. 2am in freezing rain when your phone is at 10% is not the time to be learning about small engines. That being said it made me very aware having a second backup is a good idea. I have very expensive and dear to me saltwater aquariums. While the 7500watts powers most of the house this little guy would be more then enough to power the aquarium pumps / charge things in a real emergency where the main generator doesn't work. For a little over $100 I'd be happy to leave this in the box and never have to use it.

Its Possible that it Droped the Voltage under the higher Resitive Load The Load Test probably locks a lot different if you got Capacitive or Inductive Loads Like a Compressor

I used this generator throughout the entire week i was without power after the derecho hit Iowa and I am not disapointed with my $100 purchase, it was a life saver

I have three of these and have only needed two as temporary power during an occasional storm. One powers my kitchen fridge (disable the icemaker!) and the other my chest freezer along with lamp/TV.

I've had one for about 3 years running my camper, no issues so far!

I owned one of these generators for almost eight years, it was bought exclusively to power the converter on my small Rv, and it worked relatively well for that application. Now what you are not aware of, is how dirty the voltage is, coming off this unit, the sine waves were the worst I have ever seen, I tried running simple electrical items with it, and it destroyed my cell phone charger, an Led rechargeable lantern, and my portable 12 volt battery charger ....NOTE: The 12 volt charger that is built into the generator has an extremely weak rectifier board and no regulator, so after about 3 mins of charging a dead 12 volt battery, it trips the over load breaker, it's not going to work unless you sit there all day and manually unplug the twelve volt supply every two minutes for about 20 seconds to cool the diodes in the board😩, typical Chinese engineering, leave out a complete component, to bring the cost of an item down... The day I pluged in my small deep freeze, during a power outage, it ran for a while and then made some strange noises, and thankfully shut it self down, as it could not receive the proper hertz frequency from the unit under load to cycle the compressor, the voltage spike of the freezer's compressor was more than the voltage output of the genset, although the freezer was only rated at less than 600 watts... This little generator has its limitations, it's great for basic electrical items like an electric drill, simple kitchen appliances, a small eletric space heater, house hold lights ect. it will even run an old school tube TV with a robust high voltage regulator, but certainly not a flat screen TV, or any sensitive electronics. I have even tried running a high quality voltage surge protector in loop with this generator and it would go into limp mode after only 1 minute of operation, with a flashing code sequence that denoted poorly regulated out put voltage, too dirty to filter by the surge protector.... Decide carfully on your needs, if this generator is going to work for your application before buying it.

we used a version of this on our search and rescue team, used it for inflating the boats, lighting and also at foreward command points. it was in about 2004 but cost £79 uk. a good little addition, and as you said dam site better than nothing and gives you an option in an emergency.

The one from harbor freight like that has worked good for me. We use it to run the camper for a week at a time non stop 7 days of running. I really didn't think it would last the first week but it keeps going every time we take it out. We use the same 2 cycle oil as the dirt bikes amsoil dominator. Its loud but runs everything short of the ac unit Wouldn't recommend plugging in hi end electronics.

When you put your two stroke oil in you should have pulled the starter cord and turned the motor over a few times before you reinstalled the spark plug and allowed it to lubricate the motor.

I would be super interested in seeing how to make the can into an external fuel source.

I have one of these from Harbor Freight. It's great for my small popup camper to keep the batteries charged. It isn't big enough to run my fridge, sump pump or furnace at home but it can run the TV, cable modem /router , ps4, laptop and a light when the power goes out. I bought a bigger generator for the house but I always have this ready to go.

> Excellent! It gives me the fizz so I'm hopping over to Amazon to get one now. Also, Mr. Wrangler Star, you do superior work on-camera, with your video editing and production, and of course with your product reviews.

9:33 To heck with that generator, tell me about those glasses of yours!!

i have the same unit from harbor tools i ran a tank of fuel 7 days a week for 2 years and its still runs. tank only holds like 1.1 gal. of gas i mix my fuel at 40 to 1 for the money they are good little units

The harbor freight storm cat is about the same thing, got mine for $30 it was a return with a broken handle. A bit loud but runs fine. The Sportsman i1000 is a great 4 stroke 40cc runs about 6 hours on half a gallon. It's around 20lbs very quiet. Inverter sine wave that can be paired up with another to double the output... about $170 free delivery.

You’re good & believe me, I don’t understand 2 or 3 stroke engines... except my Tillers are. As just a nurse who wants my fridge to work, this could be an option. Oh! And our router too of course. Thanks!

I love how everyone and their mom has a version of this little genset.

Key to longevity in a 2-stroke is don't run it to lean if it says 50 to 1 use 40 to 1

I had one of the Harbor Freight versions about 8 years ago. (Mine was blue) I took it camping ( at a state park campsite) to avoid paying the extra money for an electrified site. I took the genny about 60 feet over a hill, and set it into a snall, level depression in the ground. (I had checked it out prior to lugging the genny down there) and set up a V-shaped wall made out of foam insulation around it for sound dampening. From the campsite you could barely make out the hum of it over the sounds of the crickets and frogs. I ran a 10ga cord up to the campsite, running several CFL lights and phone chargers, as well as a coffee-pot in the mornings. We had little kids with us, freaking out about sleeping in the dark, so I filled the genny up as they were going to bed, then topped off once more before I went to bed. It ran 2 CFL lights all night long and then the coffee pot in the morning. 6-to 7 hours on one tank of fuel. A Park ranger even asked how we got the power. I told him about the genny over the hill and he remarked about how quiet it was and said "Carry on" I gave it away to my brother, unfortunately. Now I have a 1500 watt "Champion" 4-stroke that is very loud. Too loud to take to camp without building an elaborate "Doghouse" lined with carpet scraps around the thing to deaden the sound. (while allowing ventilation) I need to get another one of these again..

Great review. One thing of note is the manual states "This Generator is equipped with a 12V DC receptacle. The 12V DC receptacle is not intended for use to charge automotive batteries. The receptacle permits the use of any electrical device designed for use in a 12V DC."

they are $193 now.

Caption photo had me like WHAT...........he's holding it with his mouth lol

We got the harbor frieght one a month ago, we run stihl 2 stroke oil in it, it charges our solar battery bank much better than running our big generator and waste wattage. We get double the run time over our 5500 ryobi. Allowing us to charge our bank for 2-4$ vs 10... great little generator!

What I just watched, during the lockdown I learned a lot. To build a camping trailer, now I know a lot about power supplies. By the way, great video.

I got a sense of honestly from the host, and the review also makes me feel better about the inexpensive generator sitting in a new box in my garage. Thank you

You should check the sine wave output on it.

Bar and chain oil works well for foam air filters. It is very sticky to catch dust and does not run off the filter as easy as regular motor oil. I use it on my ATVs foam air filters.

whenever i saw these 2 stroke generators i just assumed they would sound like a WOT chainsaw and be shaking around like a chihuahua. Definitely a good value

i'd get this just for the battery charging ability . it's small enough that you could toss it in you're vehicle and then you'd have a way to charge you're battery on the go without having to rely on some random to boost you.

I have this although when I bought it in 2002 it was called Speedway Series.. It's great, I run my frige, tv and a light with no issues during an Oklahoma ice store,

I have the same little generator ,its a darn good machine,i use mine to use on my table saw etc and it does a good job on my 110ac unit .and it still going after 9yrs

Didnt even know 2stroke generators where a thing

It is cheap but it sounds better than my Honda generator and my wife's snoring...

I have the HF version that I bought strictly to power a sump pump if the power goes out. In the 8 years or so I've had it, I needed it exactly once for about 3 hours. it also powered some incandescent bulbs in our family room so we could sit and play cards and while the time away. I accumulated more time getting it running and ready for winter than I ever have using it for what I bought it for. Worth EVERY penny of $100 and if/when it gives up, i will buy another.

Ive had one of these from harbor freight. It looks exactly the same. Ive had mine for 4 yrs, i use it for camping and emergencies. Ive had times ive ran it for 4 days straight and no problems at all. It even has the same plug as when i bought it. I camp alot so it gets used alot.