Hi! Newbie w 17 ft Bigfoot travel trailer

[rbryan]

Originally Posted by mcmars

I saw harbor frieght has their "predator" generator that they claim is same as honda for 1/2 the price, but I am guessing it is junk compared to the honda.

I don't think they claim it's the "same" as the Honda, but the specs are similar. You might be surprised at the quality. Most generators are made by only a few companies, then they "brand" them for resale by the stores they sell to. The Predator 2000 has been in service for quite a while now and seems to have good reviews. For $500 and with a 2 year warranty, it might be worth a shot.

[Glenn Baglo]

My question is, who made the Predator 2000 today and who made it last week? The brand name may have been in service, but that's not the same thing.

[k0wtz]

My information is all the second tier genartors are made on the same line by the same company!

most of the owner reviews of the predators are pretty good.

bob

[mcmars]

Maybe I should consider the predator as a viable alternative. My 2 big questions now are how do the Db levels compare, honda vs predator? And what would be the best price HF sells them for, so confusing when there is always a discount happening. It might be worth joining their prefered customer program for a year to get a better price??

I really like the hondas and have a mower, power washer and 28" track snowblower, they are all 12+ years old and run flawlessly with one pull start. Plus carbs and other parts are easily accessible and cheap as well.

[k0wtz]

go to harbor freight website there are plenty of reviews or type in reviews for predator gen.

bob

[rbryan]

You can't go wrong with the Honda. It's basically the industry leader for small inverter generators and has been for a long time. All I'm saying is that for infrequent use, something like the Predator might be worth considering. As for dB levels, I think the Predator comes in at 61 dB, and the Honda about 59-60 db. Pretty close.

[charlsara]

My advice. Dig into the old bank account and get the Honda. They are utterly reliable. You can pay now or later when the Chinese model quits. Exhibit A,B and C are your mower, washer and snowblower.

[mcmars]

Maybe thee will be some black friday deals on the honda??

[Borrego Dave]

Originally Posted by mcmars

Maybe thee will be some black friday deals on the honda??

I've been following the prices of the Honda 2000s for years. Unfortunately the price seems to be set by Honda and doesn't very by more than $10.00. Good used ones are out there also .

[mcmars]

Originally Posted by Franswa

you will need to buy a gallon of "RV anti-freeze"....it will be PINK in color

once you're all set up, you turn on the water pump and open ALL your faucets, ONE BY ONE, until you see the pink stuff running out of the fixture...(don't forget about the shower drain as there is a P-trap below it)

I will assume that your black and grey water tanks have been "dumped" (empty)...that's not always possible though....the grey tank can be "handled" quite easily....regardless I always leave the black tank (toilet flush) for last to get a large amount of AF in that tank (see second pic)

pictures of a 97 CB model BF17 (1500)......regards, F

Thank you Franswa for the great write up with pictures! I am winterizing my Bigfoot as I type now as early arctic cold front is coming in tonight and low of 22 degrees is forecast. Maybe this old thread will help others as it di for me.

[mcmars]

Thank you Franswa for this great write up and pictures of winterizing a big foot 17. Every year I find this thread and it helps me remember what to do and visually see everything. Big artic front coming in today, so here we go again. I hope this might be good for others today as I am not only one with this giant early cold front coming in today.

I have not been posting much, but love my Bigfoot.
I got the new stainless deep sink installed with delta faucet and it is big improvement over the cheap acrylic OEM sink.
Everything works great and I have been using the fridge all summer as pandemic overflow spot in my driveway, lol. I have had so many people want to buy it from me when they see the camper, but I am holding on to my big foot. I bought a combo of solar panels, 2 renogy portable ones that fold into a case and I can charge my battery and also charge a 500 watt inverter/battery to have extra power for ipads.
I upgraded the built in charger with an upgraded one for a better charging system. I upgraded my battery to a Trogen 175 amp battery that just barely fit into the OEM cowl and have twice the amps now as the old RV/marine battery. I can look up the model number if anyone is wanting to do that upgrade?

Originally Posted by Franswa

you will need to buy a gallon of "RV anti-freeze"....it will be PINK in color

once you're all set up, you turn on the water pump and open ALL your faucets, ONE BY ONE, until you see the pink stuff running out of the fixture...(don't forget about the shower drain as there is a P-trap below it)

I will assume that your black and grey water tanks have been "dumped" (empty)...that's not always possible though....the grey tank can be "handled" quite easily....regardless I always leave the black tank (toilet flush) for last to get a large amount of AF in that tank (see second pic)

pictures of a 97 CB model BF17 (1500)......regards, F

[Franswa]

Gee, I never thought that those pictures would still be around three years later ! It was worth doing I guess.
I sold my BF a year ago....I had only used it once that summer so it was telling me something. I keep looking at other RVs but I haven't pulled the trigger yet...in the meantime I got further into e-bikes in a big way: I bought TWO of them last winter (one for the road and one for the beach/bush) I put over 3300 kms on them in ten months !!! The "lockdown" made for glorious cycling last winter around here, Vancouver Island, with virtually NO cars on the road for a couple of months. Lots of fun and a little exercise that I would not otherwise get...it's all good.

[mcmars]

Sorry you sold the bigfoot. i have not used it as much as I had thought, but worth keeping around. I also got Ebikes last year, I use the Bigfoot to camp at trailheads, lol.