Accessories

Great Value, why look for perfection!
I recived the generator about 2 weeks after the order, much quicker than I expected since they were backordered.

Fit & Finish seem very good for the price. I have purchased 3 other generators, including a Honda. I don't believe the quality is any less than you would expect for a "low" price generator.

Starts easy, somewhat loud but it does have the largest motor I own. I am quite satisifed with this purchase. I can now rest easy that I have enough power to take care of the complete house.

The manual is almost adequate, there is not text explaniation for installing the battery leads. The neg is easy since it is ground, but the connection to the selenoid is not shown adequately, and it is not evident from any terminal waiting for the lead.

Overall I am very happy with my investment, I can sleep nites through our Ohio winters and know I am ready to replace grid power any time it goes out. I had an electriction prepare the circut box for grid disconnect, only a professional should dok this level of electrical work. It will make or break your emergency success.

Thanks Amazon for this great value.

So Far So Good
I have had the generator about 4 weeks now. Nothing tricky about the set up. Actually comes with wrenches and other tools. Manual's illustrations are poor. Technically the output runs at 63.4 hertz and 127/246 volts unloaded. The DC battery charge voltage is too high at 16.5 VDC with a battery attached. The fact that the output neutral is attached to the generator frame prevents the safest way to interface the generator to the transfer switch.

I only bought it because I want backup power for the house to run the heater fan, lights, TV and refrigerators for a reasonable price. ($660). Electric start is a nice feature. Weather here is warm but starts up after 3 seconds of cranking. Has a nice fuel filter in top of gas tank. For the price I doubt it will last to long with heavy uses. By the way the company's web site is not kept up but if you call them they will e-mail PDF copy of the manual with same poor pictures. I can't recall but landing the battery positive cable on the solenoid is not called out clearly.

It is clearly not a brand name with third part support like propane or natural gas conversions kits. Service is probably going to be a problem because only they have two or three depots and that requires trucking and I am sure that could eat into the bargain basement price.

Overall I think I got a bargain with the free shipping from AMAZON.

WHAT A BEAST!!
Just received this yesterday shipped via CEVA which I had no complaints with. Took about 30 min. to put together. My pannel looks some what different then whats on the web site. I have a key to turn it on instead of a toggle switch. Also where you see a auto throttle toggle, I have a 12V socket. Must be because they (ETQ) just made the auto throttle automatic because I don't know why you would ever want to turn that off anyway. The 13HP verses 14HP doesn't bother me a bit. You'll save on fuel. I am going to the hardware store to get a grommet for the pull cord. That was a great idea. I also couldn't figure out what the miniture looking coat hanger was for. Then it hit me. It goes between the bars on top of the unit so you can lift it up in a truck with a portable crain if you wish. Good luck trying to manual lift in your truck. Better have two big men and a boy. Didn't have time to fuel and oil up but will try and do it today. This generator is made very well. I looked at the Briggs and Stratton over at our local huge hardware store that was a 5500W and they wanted 799.99 + Tax. There is a huge difference in the way they are built. The Briggs just looked cheap with thin 1" square frameing and with the cheap plastic lawn mower wheels. Im telling you this TG8250 is a beast. Im so glad I decided to wait and get this one instead of the Briggs. I lost power Sept 14 here in Fairborn Ohio because of remnents of Ike with 35-80 mph winds for 5 days and 5 hours. 300,000 lost power. Im never going through that crap again. Save yourself a couple hundred and get this one.

I won't be without power the next time Dominion Power turns off the lights.
Wow, this is a large generator, 29"W x 28"H x 30"L with wheel kit installed. The unit looks just as pictured. Very happy with the shipping, unit was delivered by ABF without a scratch. They had a lift gate and a cart to move the unit right up into the garage. First order of business was to place the wheels on the unit, this proved to be simpler then I originally thought. I cut the box off of the unit and tilted the unit up on it's side and placed the wheels on with the provide brackets and bolts. I had the unit ready for gas in about 30 minutes of delivery. Oh, but not so fast, I had other work that was required before I would put this baby to the test. My next purchase from Amazon was the GenTran 301660 30 Amp 6-Circuit Transfer Switch for up to 7,500-Watt Generators. Well, I just finished the connection of this unit to my home. It proved to be simple, but if you have no electrical experience I would recommend you get a professional electrician, balancing the loads is important and may be beyond the normal do-it yourselfer. So today I fired this baby up. I added oil and a little gas and flipped the switch and within 2 cranks this unit was running. I let the unit stablize for about 5 minutes and then I connected my 30 AMP cord to the Transfer Switch and turned on the breaker and transferred my home circuits to the unit. I noticed that my A-Phase was pulling about 3750 Watts and B-Phase about 750 watts. I was confused on what was going on because I was sure that I had balanced my loads. After further investigation I realized that my wife had the washing machine going, although the unit was operating with this large difference on the phases it was holding the load just fine! The rest of the house lit up just as if we had never lost power. I ran the unit for another 15 minutes and turned off the loads. I then turned off the fuel valve and allowed the generator to run out the fuel in the bowl and line. I use STA-BIL Fuel Stabilizer in my tank so I'm hoping it's good for a year. Well, this baby seems to work perfectly, the real test will be when we have one of those ice storms or those hurricanes that we here in Virginia always look forward too. Now I need to look into stockpiling some gas. :)

I noticed that in another review on this unit that there was a complaint on the location of the pull cord. I took a note from reviews of the smaller unit and drilled a hole in the frame located directly in line with the pull cord and fed the cord through there and placed a grommet in the hole. Works superb, best $.50 I ever spent. My cord is now located right below the on/off switch. I highly recommend this small enhancement because as the previous reviewer said it is in an awkward place.

Pros
* Price$$$$ + NO TAX
* Shipping - FREE!!!
* 8250 Watts surge, 7250 continuous
* Could not find a better price when I combined the 3 criteria above
* Fuel Gauge on the unit
* Low oil shutoff
* Hour meter
* Wheel Kit included

Cons
* My engine is stamped as a 13HP opposed to 14HP listed by Amazon
* Unit is loud, but Amazon does state this (85db)
* Battery not include (I'll do without, one less item to maintain)

poor quality
numerous parts smashed or dented.could not have happened during shipping.the back cover on control panel is smashed.starter cord is on right side next to frame,making it almost impossible to start.amazon item description states 420cc engine,14 hp.its really 13 hp and 389cc.lots of chips on top of gas tank.customer service at eastern tools want me to ship this to repair facility at my expense.in my opinion this is salvage material.i believe they are shipping leftover defective merchandise.amazon says cant return to them.this generator requires a motorcyce battery.i would recommend a different brand with battery and built in charging system.im in for a long process trying to get this operational.as they say,thats life.update.eastern tools sent used parts that were not for this generator.very poor service in norwalk,ohio.especially amy.if you want a comparable generator,go to ebay and get the power max with battery for same price.good luck after warranty expires.