Harbor Freight Tailgator generator review
Sweet little genny. Does pretty good under a load test. Could be a nice low price option for those that dont need to power a microwave or AC unit. Negative for some is that it uses mixed 2 stroke gaso...
Forum Discussion
OK, here’s my Harbor Freight 800/900W generator story. I had purchased one for $88 in about 2010 (It was the red version). I used it a few times on small projects. Always started. Mixed gas wasn’t a problem because I always had a few gallons around for my weed eater and leaf blower.
About seven years ago we had a huge wind storm and power lines were down everywhere. (It’s Oklahoma, June, and a lot of tornadic action that evening). For my personal use I had a 6000W Generac that I fired up, ran extension cords and I was fine.
After getting stuff up and running I hurried to my 90 year old Mom’s house about 1.5 miles away, her electricity was out also. (This was after 9:00 at night). Her house was dark so I told her she needed to come home with me…..she wouldn’t budge. Said, “I’m staying in my own house! I got plenty of flashlights so I’m not going anywhere”.
Yes, she had several flashlights….all batteries were dead! I had a few out in my truck so I gave them to her.
So, I headed home, got the Harbor Freight generator, gas, and went back to her house. I thought it would be good enough to handle some lights, her lift chair and TV.
Put the generator on her patio, fired it up and began running a few extension cords. She was good, so I left.
Early the next morning I headed back to her house to gas up the little generator. It was still running. I turned it off, gassed up and restarted.
Now here is the “rest of the story”…. I go in the house and Mom says, “Can that thing make a cup of coffee?”
I didn’t know so I checked her coffee maker and on the bottom it said 1100 watts. I’m thinking probably not. But she really wanted her coffee. So I unhooked everything else, and plugged in the coffee maker. The little generator was just humming on the patio, but as soon as it hit the on button to start the coffee maker, you could hear the generator really start to strain, but it kept running and after about five minutes her coffee was ready. I turned off the coffee maker and plugged in the other items and added a cord for the refrigerator and the little generator worked fine for five days. Every morning we did the coffee routine and mom was happy!
When power came back on Mom’s first words were, “I want my own generator…. Big enough to make my coffee”.
So now she has a 3200/4000 watt generator (also Harbor Freight) in her garage….never been used! I run it under load every three months.
So, that small generator gave me my $88 of value. I gave it to my grandson a few years ago.
About seven years ago we had a huge wind storm and power lines were down everywhere. (It’s Oklahoma, June, and a lot of tornadic action that evening). For my personal use I had a 6000W Generac that I fired up, ran extension cords and I was fine.
After getting stuff up and running I hurried to my 90 year old Mom’s house about 1.5 miles away, her electricity was out also. (This was after 9:00 at night). Her house was dark so I told her she needed to come home with me…..she wouldn’t budge. Said, “I’m staying in my own house! I got plenty of flashlights so I’m not going anywhere”.
Yes, she had several flashlights….all batteries were dead! I had a few out in my truck so I gave them to her.
So, I headed home, got the Harbor Freight generator, gas, and went back to her house. I thought it would be good enough to handle some lights, her lift chair and TV.
Put the generator on her patio, fired it up and began running a few extension cords. She was good, so I left.
Early the next morning I headed back to her house to gas up the little generator. It was still running. I turned it off, gassed up and restarted.
Now here is the “rest of the story”…. I go in the house and Mom says, “Can that thing make a cup of coffee?”
I didn’t know so I checked her coffee maker and on the bottom it said 1100 watts. I’m thinking probably not. But she really wanted her coffee. So I unhooked everything else, and plugged in the coffee maker. The little generator was just humming on the patio, but as soon as it hit the on button to start the coffee maker, you could hear the generator really start to strain, but it kept running and after about five minutes her coffee was ready. I turned off the coffee maker and plugged in the other items and added a cord for the refrigerator and the little generator worked fine for five days. Every morning we did the coffee routine and mom was happy!
When power came back on Mom’s first words were, “I want my own generator…. Big enough to make my coffee”.
So now she has a 3200/4000 watt generator (also Harbor Freight) in her garage….never been used! I run it under load every three months.
So, that small generator gave me my $88 of value. I gave it to my grandson a few years ago.
