Has anybody used one of the Predator Honda knock-off engines? I'm thinking of repowering an old Homelite diaphragm pump. The B&S needs a new gas tank with a special reservoir in it that is going to be rather costly to replace.
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I have some friends with some, and they are still running after a year or two.
You can buy three of the 212cc Predators for the price of one Honda
160cc... But I've got a Honda 160 on a pressure washer that I've had for 16 years, and still running strong (been through a pump in that time, but nothing on the engine).LLoyd
I have that Honda on my hydraulic beavertail semi trailer, we converted an electric motor driven hydraulic power unit to use this Honda, works great, in cold and hot weather.
i
Thanks. This will be for infrequent use, as a back up basement pump. Also considered buying a trash pump, but the diaphragm pump can be run dry or nearly dry as in a dewatering application.
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That's an important consideration. The selection of alloys for the bore, bearings, and bushings will play a large role in determining how long an engine will last "just sitting", much less, when running.
I _seriously_ doubt if the Predators have been very carefully engineered in that respect. Their entire raison d'etre is to be inexpensive, and (perhaps) to outlast their free-replacement warantee period.
LLoyd
Someone that sells Chinese made engines said they lasted surprisingly long. They were talking about the number of hours they ran in applications where they ran for long times. Not intermittent use. I have not seen any in the scrap yard.
Dan
A friend of mine lives off grid and bought a hazard Fraught generator. So far, not ONE has lived long enough to survive the warranty period. Every few weeks, he takes it in and gets yet another one, with another warr anty.
If he ran them less often, (like most people would do) they would be scrap metal very soon after the warranty period expires.
Buying junk that is intentionally defective, is not ethical or moral.
A friend of mine lives off grid and bought a hazard Fraught generator. So far, not ONE has lived long enough to survive the warranty period. Every few weeks, he takes it in and gets yet another one, with another warranty.
If he ran them less often, (like most people would do) they would be scrap metal very soon after the warranty period expires.
Buying junk that is intentionally defective, is not ethical or moral.
True, but is the generator intended for continuous duty? I know that the less expensive Honda engines are not meant to be run like that.
Harbor Freight recently introduced a new line of mechanic's hand tools...they're called "Snap-Off"...
great to begin with.
I've had pretty much the same experience with Craftsman tools. But I bought most of them way last century.
No failures at all other than screwdriver tips getting messed up. And those were replaced free of charge.
A full set of screwdrivers that disappeared when the movers moved us. (may their Karma be with them always!)
"PrecisionmachinisT" wrote in message news:MPGdnSkaF4Fc8-HMnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@scnresearch.com...
I picked up a lot of respect from some friends when I snapped off an import 1/2" to 3/4" socket drive adapter without much apparent effort. jsw
Not a single Harbor Freight wrench or socket ever broke on me, and we use them a lot. That said, I would not use any Harbor Freight generators or motor powered things.
i
I've had better luck with the cheapie socket/ratchet set from HFT than I did with _many_ of the sockets & ratchets from Searz Crapsman Tools in the late '70s and early '80s. I donated my gallon of blood and pound of flesh to the Tool Gods back then.
IMHO, HFT => Crapsman.
None of my HF sockets and wrenches ever broke, and we use them daily for pretty tough jobs (meaning rusted bolts etc)
Hence my "equal to or better than" statement.
Craftsman didn't go to hell till the mid 80's but they weren't ever all that great to begin with.
It's a time issue. Some are "independent" for certain lengths of time. The real problem is all have had previous contact, i.e., getting clothes tools or lumber for a cabin, so it's a moot issue.
They want to actually be like the old joke Clinton cracked at the Dem convention last year:
"I was born in the cabin I built."
Bret Cahill
Good one. I find it funny that someone who is trying to live off the power grid would buy the cheapest generator that he can find, that is only rated at 50% output for 12 hours. There is only one possibly suitable generator on the HF site, a 20 KW rebuild powered by a Detroit Diesel engine that sells for $4995. I know he wasn't throwing that in the back of a pickup to return it and get another on a regular basis.
great to begin with.
In 1969-70 I bought a set of Craftsman tools when I started my apprenticeship as a mechanic. My friend Ken bought Snap-On for about twice the price. Before finishing his apprenticeship he had replaced over half the set. Twenty years later I had replaced only 4 or 5 peices - and to this day I still have the vast majority of that original set. The ones I don't have "walked" - some no doubt lost by my apprentices who borrowed them, some mis-placed by myself, and others "pinched" by someone else. Total number replaced due to failure definitely less than 10. Not bad for "crap" tools - and the best investment I ever made..
great to begin with.
Mom and Dad gave me my first big Craftsman set upon graduating from high school in '71. Later that decade, they decided to try some unknown chinwanese mfgrs and their entire line went to shit. I, too, still have most of the early set. I've never had a Snap-On, Mac, or Cornwall tool break, and I have quite a few of those, too. None of the HFT Pittsburgh tools I've bought (sockets, ratchets, wrenches, allens, etc.) have broken, either. I've been more pleased with them than I ever thought. I became an HF enthusiast in the mid 1970s, when they opened their store in Escondido, CA, and I've been shopping them ever since. When they make a bad tool (Greenlee clone with 0.5mm slop between the die and threaded screw!) it's really bad.
In fact...because I tend to loose tools with some freqency...I keep HF (Pittsburg) wrenches in my job box. Ive not bent or broken one yet. And as they are so inexpensive..Im not easy on them. I also keep a set of Williams box ends as backups..and after 5 yrs...they are still pretty much unused.
Gunner
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