Quote:
Originally Posted by scottkeen
Thanks for the reply! Wow, I didn't expect to learn that this is how all Montanas come from the factory.
The Onan generator is no good? Was it an option with new Montanas? What's a better option?
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The generator question is a can of worms. It's sorta like asking guys which brand of truck they prefer. You will get some folks that will defend the Onan but I would say it is about 5 to 1 against them. There have been a few other brands try to compete with them in the RV market but not with much success. Onan/Cummins has been very successful in all but locking up the market. In part because they have made deals with the RV manufacturing companies. It is going to be very difficult for any other company to gain market share under current conditions. Generac has come up as one brand that did try to compete with Onan for built in units.
The other route to go is using a free standing gen. (IE: not designed to be permanently installed). Honda is generally considered the "gold standard" of free standing gens. for RV use (there will be some argument of that point too). There are some other up and coming brands and some are considerably cheaper than a Honda. I have a Champion myself. It is about half the price of a Honda BUT it is not built as well either. I also suspect that the listed rating is a little high of it's actual output but the brand is at least giving Honda some competition that is improving both overall quality and pricing (IE: we are now seeing fuel injected and dual fuel gas/LP models coming out).
I plan to buy a welder/generator and place it in my truck bed in front of the hitch (One of the many advantages of a LONG Bed---Long bed vs short is another can of worms to "discuss" LOL
). Tractor supply sells a unit for about 3K which is about what a built in Onan would probably cost and it doesn't have a welding feature.....Granted if you don't weld then that would not be for you but I will get a LOT of use from the unit so it works very well for me. Since we would only use the generator when overnighting on the way to a distant campground (IE: at a truck or rest stop) there isn't any issue with the generator being on the truck. Plus in most cases we will have a motorcycle in the basement garage (advantage to 381TH!) on many trips if the need arises for transportation while on the generator.
If you are the kind of family that would boondock and would have need for the generator to stay with the 5th wheel (say because you have small dogs that would be in the camper while your gone in the truck) then you need to look at onboard somehow or you will have to leave your a standalone unit sitting on the ground beside your camper and that of course leaves it open to theft.....
There are all kinds of different lines of thought on this so
sit back and enjoy.....