Portable generator on truck??

Have you a picture from the toolbox

 

Will try to get one posted in the next day or two.

 

Here we go. A few pics of the box and generator on the frame rail.

 

Forgot to mention. These folks can custom make a box for just about any generator one might have. Mine was made specifically for my Yamaha EF2000is. If someone had something bigger or a major difference, they can do it. They even have a specifications page for someone to custom design it themselves and then have them build it. I was just on there to get the link for this post, and I noticed they took my pics of my box and put it on their photo gallery page. I ought to charge them for that!

http://www.kshmarine.com/generator_box.htm

 

ONAN had generator boxes with venting that won't fill with snow and rain doesn't bother but mine worked well. However, it melted in a barn fire so it's unusable. Had it 10 years.

 

I have the 2000 Honda since summer of 2011. Sits on the passenger floor board and have to get it out to use it. Cowpie has a great set up there, I would love to get mine permanently mounted outside and protected from the weather like that.

Gotta say the #1 best set up I ever saw was a guy with a Volvo 780, had a 3200 watt quiet generator tucked up under the tractor skirts on a slide out carriage and remote start/stop with auxiliary fuel tank. This thing could run for a couple days and could barely hear it. Time to fuel? Volvos have two latches, skirt leans out and unlock slide mech and generator slid out and fueled up gasoline in the tank and auxiliary tank every few days.

 

Thanks for the link and the photos of your set-up. Very clean. (well the whole truck is clean LOL) But seriously....very nice job. More people are doing this and thinking outside of the gawd-awful LOUD (and expensive) off the shelf APUs.

 

I guess it all depends on one's needs. I ran the numbers, time and again, and I could not justify a full blown APU. If one looks closely at their needs, they can usually configure something that works quite well for them and saves a stack of money in the process. There is a place for APU's, so I would never criticize anyone for getting one. But they are overkill for a lot of us. It is analogous to this, a 7mm magnum is a great cartridge, but it is over doing it if one is going squirrel hunting. Yeah, it will kill a squirrel dead, but the result will not be worth it.


Not a thing wrong with setting a portable on the passenger floor area if it will fit. If I hadn't have done the box, I would have done the same thing. A Yamaha EF2000is like mine, or a Honda Eu2000 would fit nice right in front of the passenger seat. They are light and easy to pull out and put to work. And sooo easy to maintain. I pulled over the other day for a 30 min break and warmed up the generator and then changed the oil in it. Took off again right at the 30 min point of the break.

 

The Genesis of APU:

Trucker Ibraham asked mechanic Ishmaiel to build him a generator and mount it on the side of his truck to run air conditioning only He gave him a budget of $1000. "Oh no, no, no", says Ishmaiel, "you need a generator that keeps your coolant and oil warm and circulating, heat and all sorts of bells and whistles. I cannot do this task for less than $10,000."

I too could not justify spending thousands on an APU. The weight issues bothered me too. Generator weighs 47 pounds, little portable air conditioner weighs 53 pounds. Total investment 4 summers ago, (still using exact same equipment, only repair was a $75 charge to put a new pull string and service) $1300. Paid for itself many times over.

 

But, the coolant and oil warm thing, along with the portable gen and AC still can be had for substantially lower than a full blown APU, and do the job better! A Webasto coolant heater that runs on battery power and diesel, can be had for around $1100 or less and can have an engine block to 150F in about an hour. A oil pan heater is less than a couple of hundred bucks. Combine that with the portable generator and a inverter charger to keep batteries up from the generator power, and a Webasto cab/bunk heater, and the total package is only 1/3 or less than a full blown APU. And each component of this setup can be repaired or replaced much cheaper with little or no downtime.

But, I suppose, doing it this way is not politically correct and it doesn't improve the Ooh Aah factor or isn't quite the status symbol of a big name APU, but it is very functional, well within the cost range of a lot more folks, all CARB and EPA compliant, easier to maintain and lower down time. No brainer to me.