Whats the best generator for a wheel house.

[NKLCOLT1911]

No apology needed DFV, the response you got was sickening. Where the cheapies are getting dB readings like Honda and Yamaha are just plain not true.

the part that is sickening is the people here that blast the others who cant afford a $2,000 generator, not everyone can afford it but still want to enjoy being able to fish from a wheel house, turn the radio up a little bit more, the fish dont mind.

[Gus]

[Hawg]

See DFV, I told you. Some people just don't get it. Another Keystroke Cowboy.

[hardwaterbandit]

I have/do own Honda eu2000, Yamaha ef2000, and a pair of Ryobi RYi2200.

If you want an awesome value, I have nothing bad to say about the Ryobi Ryi2200. I bought two to parallel for the same price as a single Honda or Yamaha. The Ryobi has the same 3/year warranty as the Honda and it is backed by The Home Depot.

The Ryobi is SLIGHTLY louder than the Honda and Yamaha, but not much.

It comes down to $$$ really. Do you want Honda or Yamaha for $1,000 or is Ryobi good enough for you at $500?

Like I said, I own both and can't complain about any of them.

One thing is for certain, grab an extended fuel tank for whatever you get. iPI Industries of of MN makes the best one. I bought mine from GenXDirect.com

I can run my eu2000 all weekend without refueling.

Hope this helps ya!

[Iceman77]

I have a Yamaha 2000 and a Honeywell 2000 that cost me $400. I had the Honeywell first and that thing is a nightmare to start even when it is warm outside and when it does start is louder than the Yamaha. I took it apart, cleaned the carb, verified fuel pump, primer bulb...etc. One thing with cheaper generators is the spare parts are difficult to come by compared to your name brand generators. Just something to keep in mind. I do like my Yamaha and also like my buddies Honda. Also, to reduce price some of the big stores give really good coupons. When I got my Yamaha I had a $100 off coupon and I told my family for Christmas to get me a gift card to the store I had a coupon for. Therefore, the Yamaha ended up costing me less than $700 out of my pocket after using gift cards and the coupon.

[bassNspear]

If you get anything other than a Honda, all your neighbors will be po'd because of the noise. Honda is probably the quietest and most reliable option out there.

I agree. I have had mine going on 3 years now and its amazing how quite it is. I have the 2000. Every time you drive around on the big lakes like red or LOW all you see is red generators all over the place. I started to keep mine under my roll up cover in the back of my truck, and it seemed to help out a lot as far as no snow or having a problem starting it. Keeps it out of the wind

[dfv87]

I have heard good things about Ryobi... Several buddies in the trades say they are solid and quiet.

For myself, I have my "$2000 generator" Honda E2000 that cost me about $800 at the state fair 5 years ago and is running like new. If I am relying on it 9 miles out on Red or LOW, I want something that is bulletproof... for me that is my Honda.

[Gus]

See DFV, I told you. Some people just don't get it. Another Keystroke Cowboy.

Ok, I'll throw my post back up there.

Money has nothing to do with being considerate of others. People who don't understand that, never will. Point proven.

$2000 genny required for ice fishing, nope.. Unless you think you need a 3000-4000 watt genny just for ice fishing. Many others have put out alternatives which are cheaper that are STILL QUIET.

Those who think the noise doesn't effect the fish, truly, don't know what they are missing. Spend any amount of time on the ice and the differences of noise above the snow/water become crystal clear.

People can lay the blame anywhere they want, most know the truth.

[NKLCOLT1911]

well all i know is i have had days you ladies dream of having on the ice with a very loud trucking running on the ice every 30 min, when the fishing turned off he fired up the truck and BOOM 30 min of non stop jumbo perch action, have also seen very large catfish caught while radio is on very loud, and for those of you that dont catfish, we have our boats set up very close to where the bait is.

[NKLCOLT1911]

to answer the OP's question sure the honda is the best, heck everyone knows that but mainly get what you can afford cause something is better than nothing

[Gus]

Fish are strange creatures. I too have witnessed fishing positively effected by noise. When things are slow, go do a round up with your truck or snowmobile to drive fish to your tip ups... However, when I think about all of the consistent catches, and consistent good bits, consistent LARGE walleye bites, It's boils down to quiet... quiet... quiet.... getting away from the noise of others.

[NKLCOLT1911]

Fish are strange creatures. I too have witnessed fishing positively effected by noise. When things are slow, go do a round up with your truck or snowmobile to drive fish to your tip ups... However, when I think about all of the consistent catches, and consistent good bits, consistent LARGE walleye bites, It's boils down to quiet... quiet... quiet.... getting away from the noise of others.

i think seeing a test of just how much noise will transfer through 20" of ice and how far down in the water column it can reach would be pretty neat, cause even a gun shot under water is pretty quite, and the density of water will vastly slow down sound waves.

[brian6715]

i think seeing a test of just how much noise will transfer through 20" of ice and how far down in the water column it can reach would be pretty neat, cause even a gun shot under water is pretty quite, and the density of water will vastly slow down sound waves.

Actually this couldn't be more wrong. Sound travels much faster through water due to it being more dense than air.

[NKLCOLT1911]

yup you were right i was wrong on that one, but what about the ice that has to act like a insulator.

[AlligatorDundee]

Sound travels 4 times as fast in water and further

[FishFindHer]

We bought our Honda 2000 last year after buying our new (8X16) ice castle, have no regrets. We talked to a few people asking what they would recommend for the money, and everyone said "just buy a Honda and be done with it." (Have also heard Yamahas are good too). Spent about $1,000 at L&M.

We run TV/satellite, lights, flashers and various small appliance (plus the furnace kicking off and on.) We can run a coffee maker and a small microwave at the same time, but it is getting to its limits at that point. (Gotta wait until the microwave is done to make toast. Yep, we really suffer!)

Our fish house does not have an A/C unit, but my BIL used it for camping last summer and ran a small window unit A/C with no problems. So for most people, a 2000 watt for ice fishing is just fine. Of course if you decide you ever need to upgrade down the road, you can always buy another Honda 2000, tether them together and now you have a 4000 watt genny that can run a rooftop A/C or whatever.

The thing is great on fuel, if we're running it constantly, it goes through about a gallon of gas every 8-9 hours. It is very quiet. If we run it at night it's just a nice hum outside the window.

My only complaint would be it's a little cold blooded starting. We let it warm up in the fish house for a while. Once it's going though, no problems, even last winter when it was 30 below most of the time. Just be careful that it doesn't melt itself into the ice and get wet. (learned that the hard way...thankfully it dried out after about 20 min next to the heater vent and worked fine) Keep it in the back of the truck or put it on a pallet or something.

Anyway...we are very happy with ours and from what I've heard from others, I don't think you can go wrong with one.

[ESSGuy]

I would have said Yamaha until last night. Up at deer shack my Yamaha yg2800i blew up. Sounded like it dropped valve and took out piston. Spayed oil out the exhaust. This is after just having a new carb put on because it ran like junk. Will be looking at honda.

[Hawg]

Been shot at by the neighbors yet? Are talking about a 5000 watt plus Onin?

[fishingstar]

I miss Boar's posts

[Agronomist_at_IA]

Wow kinda a crazy thread. 

 

To to answer the OP's question.......here IMO.

 

1st you don't need to spend $1000 for the Honda or the Yamaha. Both are great units, but plenty of other generators that preform similar or close enough that it doesn't matter for 1/2 the price. The main thing is to check the DB rating on the off brands to make sure they are quiet.  

 

I've used and been around the Honda, Yamaha, and I myself bought a champion 2000 inverter generator. After reading multiple reviews. It ran $420 delivered to my door today they can be had for $380. I decided to go with it because it was either $1000 Honda or $1000 for a champion and my direct tv tailgate package satilite for my ice castle.

 

I've ran the champion for a few years and it's been great. I got the extended run tank and run it 3-4days non stop on my ice trips. Been to upper red and ran in -20/-30*f temps and was fine. 

 

We we tested the Honda,yamaha, and champion side by side. They all ran and worked well.

 

The only noticable difference in them when we checked them is the Honda runs about 30seconds longer then the yamaha & champion when an overload occurs. Also the Honda has a fuel pump so it will suck up gas from the extended run tank. The Yamaha and champion need to be gravity fed from the extended run tank.

 

Regaurdless of what brand you buy, I would suggest these tips. Run a 5w30 synthetic oil....it has a wide temp range for running and is perfect for the low temps we see when ice fishing. Also, get a magnetic dip stick for the unit. The magnet grabs all the fine metals that occur from the unit running and keep them from  floating in the oil and putting additional wear on the generator.

 

Also keep the maintenance up. My uncle kinda neglected his Yamaha, and it ran ruff and wouldn't kick into full throttle from Eco mode without dying......he was about ready to dump it. Finally took it in and had the carb and stuff cleaned up and it worked top notch. 

 

 

Edited November 28, 2019 by Agronomist_at_IA

[Agronomist_at_IA]

On November 20, 2014 at 7:08 AM, hardwaterbandit said:

I have/do own Honda eu2000, Yamaha ef2000, and a pair of Ryobi RYi2200.

 

If you want an awesome value, I have nothing bad to say about the Ryobi Ryi2200. I bought two to parallel for the same price as a single Honda or Yamaha. The Ryobi has the same 3/year warranty as the Honda and it is backed by The Home Depot.

 

The Ryobi is SLIGHTLY louder than the Honda and Yamaha, but not much.

 

It comes down to $$$ really. Do you want Honda or Yamaha for $1,000 or is Ryobi good enough for you at $500?

 

Like I said, I own both and can't complain about any of them.

 

One thing is for certain, grab an extended fuel tank for whatever you get. iPI Industries of of MN makes the best one. I bought mine from GenXDirect.com

 

I can run my eu2000 all weekend without refueling.

 

Hope this helps ya!

 

 

Second the extended run........I figure a gallon of gas runs the Ginny for about 9hrs......5 gallon tank......1gallon in the Ginny runs about 54hrs hrs or so before refill/switch is needed. 

[PurpleFloyd]

Honda has the longest history of bulletproof reliability. 

[elkrivermn]

I prefer to run a Owans made by Cummings, far better than a Honda as they have the market share in RV's.

[Pat K]

21 hours ago, elkrivermn said:

I prefer to run a Owans made by Cummings, far better than a Honda as they have the market share in RV's.

 

Got a chuckle out of this. My FIL worked for Cummins for 44 years. Your spelling was good for a 5 or 6 minute rant from him whenever he ran across it.

[Agronomist_at_IA]

Ran the champion for a couple hours today to warm everything up. Did the regular  maintenance on the unit. 

 

The magnetic oil dip stick was worth it, The tip was holding a lot of fine particles. The spark arestor was fairly dirty, but cleaned up great after soaking it in rubbing alcohol. Air fillter was clean.

 

Refilled with 13oz Mag 1 5w30 synthetic oil......should be good for another 100hrs.