Ideas for carrying/securing open framed generator

[roadjunkie]

I purchased a new Champion 4000W generator yesterday and am looking for ideas of how to transport and secure from theft on my Gulf Stream 21 foot TT. I like the idea of having it on the trailer tonuge and saw that Camping World has a carrier that fits over the gas bottles.

Are there any other options I'm missing? I'd like to see photos of your set ups.

[TomG2]

According to 4X4van: "My statement that "IF he uses it in a campground, he will be pissing people off" is 100% true. Reread that and notice the word "IF."

It is NOT 100% true. There are campgrounds aplenty with the spacing where one could run a chain saw and nobody would hear it. Figures don't lie................. REREAD it and notice the 100% pissed off guarantee. Few things are 100% except maybe the folks who prefer what they own over what the other fellow has.

I know how to read and what "IF" means. It is a way to CYA when making 100% statements.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Many years ago I went on a horse-pack trip which included my malamute. A friend of a friend brought his whateverthehellitwas. Small dog. A yapper.

After a hard morning's descent into the Upper Truckee River gorge and fishing for cutthroat trout we ended up at camp for lunch.

"Limbo" the malamute curled up outside my tent. I dozed off...

"YAP!"

"Aie-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi (fading off into the distance)"

The yapper startled the malamute. The yapper's owner said the malamute sprang up and "bit" the yapper. When the owner searched for the "thing" and brought it back to camp, it had not a mark on it. The malamute could have bit it in half.

Four of us were rolling in the pine needles helpless with laughter. This enraged the yapper's owner who packed up and departed. The piece-of-**** was running around in circles yap-yap-yap-yap-yap. Far off in the distance the yapping continued...then silence. Limbo, received his all-time favorite reward - a hunk of sharp cheddar cheese.

This is exactly the same mind-set that causes generator running friction among campers. And among people who comment about it.

Deal with the problem AS IT OCCURS. The kind of folks who run around like headless chickens demanding "Do this - don't do that" sometimes are worse than the thing they are supposedly trying to "fix".

There are fundamental differences between "Americans" and Mexicans. One example was pointed out to me by Gilberto some forty odd years ago...

"I want to explain something to you. If you are quiet, your neighbors will think you are sick - or dead"

[4x4van]

TomG2 wrote:

4x4van wrote:
IF he is planning on using it in campgrounds, he WILL be pissing people off, and will also more than likely be violating campground rules. I'm not trying to be an a--, just stating facts.

Why would you come to that conclusion? His generator meets the National Park Service requirements and the OP has shown no inclination of being a "rule violator". Just because he purchased a Champion generator does not mean that he is out there trying to piss people off. Of course, there are those judgmental folks who "Assume" all Champion generators are loud and their owners are jerks. Not true, even though it is popular to jump on that bandwagon.

You sure jump to alot of conclusions, TomG2, and of course quoting only "part" of my comment shows it out of context. I went back and looked, and realize that the OP has said that he would not be using the generator in campgrounds (although that wasn't clarified until the third page of posts, whew!). So I apologize for that, and I thank him for that. However, the fact that his generator just barely meets NPS rules, doesn't change the fact that 68db IS twice as loud as 65db, nor does it take into consideration the fact that some private campgrounds may have stricter sound limits than NPS.

Never have I said that all Champion generators are loud (although HIS is), Never have I said that their owners are jerks. I've also never said that people who run loud generators in campgrounds are "trying to piss people off"; rather, I believe that they are clueless and couldn't care less about surrounding campers or the results of their actions. Whether they are trying or not is irrelevant to those being assaulted by the noise. You're attacking me simply because I have made factual statements that you actually mostly agree with. My statement that "IF he uses it in a campground, he will be pissing people off" is 100% true. Reread that and notice the word "IF. And in fact, you have said that you would never do such a thing, so obviously you agree. If I tell you that the sky is blue, I'm not making a judgement call, it's simply a fact that neither you nor I have any control over.

So who's really being the judgmental one here? When people complain about loud generators in campgrounds, are they making it up? Are they shills for Yamaha/Honda trying to sabotage Champion (even though Champion makes some very nice quiet inverter generators)? Are they just holier than thou judgmental a--holes? No. They are responding to a lack of courtesy that some campers have for others, responding to situations that they have in fact had to put up with, and hoping to at least educate those that may not know any better and are open to learn.

[TomG2]

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:


Foot button. "Yap" SHRIEK "Yap" SHRIEK "Yap" SHRIEK

I hope that was the dog owner doing the "Shrieking". Dog was just being a dog and the owner should have trained it otherwise.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

TANGENT ALERT

FUMES. If those danged Holmes HEPA filters did not draw so much power they really help.

Yeah wouldn't it be nice dept...

Plaster a HEPA filter onto the Fantastic Fan.

But I digress, time to chew on some folks...

UNLESS SPECIFICALLY STATED...

Going into a thread I ASSSSSSSUME folks discussing the use of a high sound producing generator has the intellect and consideration to not use it around other campers.

Folks using this forum are obviously a few cuts above the norm. The center of The Bell Curve.

So, unless proven otherwise I do not knee-jerk react to postings stating the intended use of a contractor generator.

You Have To Be Smarter Than The Problem Dept (an example)

My neighbor here in my temporary digs has a yapping dog. Barks in series of trios. 9PM to (?) 1:00 AM

Am I going to knock on his door and possibly create an enemy?


No.

I ordered a 200 watt RMS amplifier for TV sound system. And a pair of exponential horn tweeters with an upper end of 40 KHz. Their capacity is 200 watts.

I have downloaded a 35 KHz tone signal.

Extra cost? Zero. This is a small system easily shoved atop my outside concrete wall to be aimed across the street. Right into the dog's ear canal 100' distant.

Foot button. "Yap" SHRIEK "Yap" SHRIEK "Yap" SHRIEK

[TomG2]

4x4van wrote:
IF he is planning on using it in campgrounds, he WILL be pissing people off, and will also more than likely be violating campground rules. I'm not trying to be an a--, just stating facts.

Why would you come to that conclusion? His generator meets the National Park Service requirements and the OP has shown no inclination of being a "rule violator". Just because he purchased a Champion generator does not mean that he is out there trying to piss people off. Of course, there are those judgmental folks who "Assume" all Champion generators are loud and their owners are jerks. Not true, even though it is popular to jump on that bandwagon.

[4x4van]

TomG2 wrote:
Complaining about the noise encountered while "camping" at a commercial/industrial parking lot or rest area is kind of like complaining about the noise from people who move to a place near a large airport. It comes with the territory.

Agreed.100%. My comments apply only to camping near others. If the OP is camping/boondocking where he is far enough from others that the loud generator is not an issue, fine. But I have yet to see him acknowledge that will be the case. IF he is planning on using it in campgrounds, he WILL be pissing people off, and will also more than likely be violating campground rules. I'm not trying to be an a--, just stating facts.

[TomG2]

Complaining about the noise encountered while "camping" at a commercial/industrial parking lot or rest area is kind of like complaining about the noise from people who move to a place near a large airport. It comes with the territory.

[DiskDoctr]

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Just like no one wants to listen to a diesel pusher sitting next to them idling all day long in a campground, no one wants to hear a loud generator running next to them either.

I pull into a rest stop.
I park as far upwind and as distant as possible from The Herd. Around 1:30AM a 53' reefer pulls in, right? No more room in the big rig section. So he parks UPWIND of me on the access road. Close too. Somehow he jockies his rig so the rattling Thermo king diesel is no more than 30' from my bedroom window. It's muffler is defective. Not only does it roar, it rattles.

In our one overnight at Walmart about 2 weeks ago, we were in the rig area, per the store's request.

I turned on the roof vent fan, blowing IN to keep any carbon monoxide from entering during the night...just in case someone's truck had a problem.

Anyone else do this?

[TomG2]

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Just like no one wants to listen to a diesel pusher sitting next to them idling all day long in a campground, no one wants to hear a loud generator running next to them either.

I pull into a rest stop.
I park as far upwind and as distant as possible from The Herd. Around 1:30AM a 53' reefer pulls in, right? No more room in the big rig section. So he parks UPWIND of me on the access road. Close too. Somehow he jockies his rig so the rattling Thermo king diesel is no more than 30' from my bedroom window. It's muffler is defective. Not only does it roar, it rattles.

Your point? As far as I know, rest areas and Walmart parking lots are pretty much unregulated by the forum sound police. I sympathize and have moved away from the refrs in the middle of the night myself. Perhaps the banana up the exhaust pipe as one our forum members suggested?

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Just like no one wants to listen to a diesel pusher sitting next to them idling all day long in a campground, no one wants to hear a loud generator running next to them either.

I pull into a rest stop.
I park as far upwind and as distant as possible from The Herd. Around 1:30AM a 53' reefer pulls in, right? No more room in the big rig section. So he parks UPWIND of me on the access road. Close too. Somehow he jockies his rig so the rattling Thermo king diesel is no more than 30' from my bedroom window. It's muffler is defective. Not only does it roar, it rattles.

[DiskDoctr]

Well, since I don't want to miss out on anything, I guess I'll give up, too 😛 😉 LOL.

Have a great night 🙂

[TomG2]

4x4van wrote:
....snip
Even TomG2 has now admitted that he wouldn't want a generator running near his head while trying to sleep.

I give up.

Imagine that. Who would want any generator, Honda or Homelite, running two feet from their pillow separated only by a piece of coated luan?

I have used my Champion generator quite often in the last month and "Nobody" except some forum members have noticed or complained. The forum members were not within one hundred miles. Maybe they just like to complain?

I give up also.

[4x4van]

Every one here that is still trying to justify using a contractor generator for camping based on cost (oh, poor little me, I can't afford to do it right) are still missing the point. Camp out in the boonies where no one is within 500 feet; use what you want; and if that's your plan, more power to you. There have been a variety of good suggestions on how to mount and secure it. But camp in a campground anywhere near others; you WILL make a lot of enemies. I'm sorry to break that to you, but it's still the truth. Even TomG2 has now admitted that he wouldn't want a generator running near his head while trying to sleep.

Just like no one wants to listen to a diesel pusher sitting next to them idling all day long in a campground, no one wants to hear a loud generator running next to them either. 68db is TWICE as loud as 65db. Just what is it about common courtesy that no one seems to grasp? Of course I suppose that you could just crank up your outdoor stereo loud enough to drown out the generator, right?

I give up.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Wait!

The subject of liquid helium or trailerjacking hasn't been breached 🙂