The AM Forum

It's coming back....sleeting in Groton CT right now, in the forecast for tonight, tomorrow night, and Saturday night, possibly some accumulation on the CT shore Saturday night...Frank, looks like you may have a few inches tonight up in the Windsor area.  

Diane is scrambling to get all her warm WX plants in from the deck and the yard...Guess summer is over.

Supposed to get a dusting in Maryland the next couple days too, kinda rare.

But, taking a cue from the dog, if you don't see it, it didn't happen.

we got snow today nwpa guess Fall is over!

                                                       KB3RDT

It's been snowing here for four hours now. Maybe a few inches so far. Windy and the temp is supposed to drop to about 25 degrees.

Started the coal stove and will let it run the next few days.  This is the earliest significant snowfall I've seen... ever.   Before Halloween and with leaves still on the trees is for the record books.  The 805' elevation helps a little.

Think I'll take Yaz out for a run.

T

its just sticking to the grass....  slop ....


klc

OOO joy, up at 430.  >:( Knee pain has over-ridden my internal clock again wtf. Lets spark the stove and have a 40wt. Roads look a little frosty, but that's about it.

Wow! Impressive thread necro.

ice on the roads in No. Ct.

Actually it's a new snow season, Chris. All that previous stuff melted. As important as the appearance of snow apparently is to AM operation, it certainly warrants a new thread to 'discuss' it. No need to dig up someone else's previous thread about last season's snow to respond, just click the 'New Topic' key tab and away you go.  ;)


Whenever I see one, the Styx song "Too Much Time on My Hands" runs through my head.  ;D  Remember when we actually used to discuss things like this on the air?

It was 84 degrees here yesterday. I didn't see any snow.

That's cuz you're running a HAARP station in HUZ land

Ice on my winshield this morning in Roseville MI.

N8QPC

it is almost Halowene.


klc

It is almost Halloween, too :-). It is heavy misting rain here in southern middle TN, and the leaves are leaving the trees :-(. Looking at those snow pictures make me shiver.

Needed a chisel and pry bar to get into the car this morning. 

New snow blower not in yet so guess I'll fire up old faithful in the morning.

The guys on CH3 are peaing their pants

2-3" on top of the hill this AM, just a dusting down below.

I'm ready for snow. Just traded my 1500 crew cab Chevrolet gasser for a F-550 4x4 6.4 diesel flatbed.

There might not be much snow in Texas but I am enjoying the cackle of the Diesel engine in this larger truck. The pulling power is tremendous over the 1/2 ton. I would say that two hammy-size wide BC rigs could fit side by side in the bed. The turbo is interesting because it is dual in series, with the big one feeding the little one and a very short lag time.

This is not the exact truck but looks much like it. (have not taken a pic as my camera is broken and I have not repaired it yet).

The manual says it is better on wet roads and snow (we have slush-ice instead) because of the 4x4, but I'm not taking any chances. I've driven on ice and snow and find requires much care and thinking ahead, but most people here have no idea and end up in ditches.

Next I got to have a huge bumper like a Ranch Hand for the front because the fragile intercooler and many other heat exchangers, more than I have ever seen on a truck, are right up front and this thing has nothing for protection up front. It also seems to be a fuel hog but not as bad as a 12MPG bread truck I had before.

so let it snow, sleet, rain.. all day long! You lucky dogs getting snow!!

45 today, but no snow.

What was their reaction to THIS?

Winter Storm Warning

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
1007 PM EDT FRI OCT 28 2011

...A MAJOR WINTER STORM WILL BRING DAMAGING HEAVY WET SNOW TO
INTERIOR SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND LATE SATURDAY AND ESPECIALLY
SATURDAY NIGHT...

CTZ002>004-MAZ002>004-008>012-026-NHZ011-012-015-291015-
/O.CON.KBOX.WS.W.0011.111029T2100Z-111030T1200Z/
HARTFORD CT-TOLLAND CT-WINDHAM CT-WESTERN FRANKLIN MA-
EASTERN FRANKLIN MA-NORTHERN WORCESTER MA-WESTERN HAMPSHIRE MA-
WESTERN HAMPDEN MA-EASTERN HAMPSHIRE MA-EASTERN HAMPDEN MA-
SOUTHERN WORCESTER MA-NORTHERN MIDDLESEX MA-CHESHIRE NH-
EASTERN HILLSBOROUGH NH-WESTERN AND CENTRAL HILLSBOROUGH NH-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...HARTFORD...WINDSOR LOCKS...UNION...
VERNON...PUTNAM...WILLIMANTIC...CHARLEMONT...GREENFIELD...
ORANGE...BARRE...FITCHBURG...CHESTERFIELD...BLANDFORD...AMHERST...
NORTHAMPTON...SPRINGFIELD...MILFORD...WORCESTER...AYER...
JAFFREY...KEENE...MANCHESTER...NASHUA...PETERBOROUGH...WEARE
1007 PM EDT FRI OCT 28 2011

...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 5 PM SATURDAY TO
8 AM EDT SUNDAY...
* LOCATIONS...SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE...WESTERN AND CENTRAL
  MASSACHUSETTS AS WELL AS NORTHERN CONNECTICUT.
* HAZARD TYPES...HEAVY WET SNOW.
* ACCUMULATIONS...6 TO 10 INCHES OF SNOW. 12 INCHES OF SNOW IN
  SOME HIGHER ELEVATIONS.

We are under a high wind warning down here on the shore...predicted gusts up to 55, about what we got from Irene.  At least thanks to Irene most of the leaves are down early this year.  Will give the genset a test run in the morning, and pick the last of our jalepenos before all the plants get blasted.

I don't know who to believe some as Frank says are peeing their pants others are saying accumulations will be less.  Who knows.  Genset is fueled and tested. I'm ready I guess, just not for winter yet.

Looks Like it might be a long night.. I am the on call manager this week for 3000+ Cell Site Generators and another 1000 or so Customer Gen Sets  :P  - When Irene hit we had 600+ calls on the 1st day.  :(    The biggest issues are customers who fail to OK  recommended repairs or bought generators of questionable manufacture.   :-\  

Lesson to all.. Maintain your Equipment and Buy Good Stuff..

Steve - W1TAV

That FM set looks like the engine is large compared to the alternator. What size is it?

just went out and measured, 5 inches here in waterfall, pa.
shelby

Been snowing here in central NJ for about 2 hrs.  Maybe 10 inches or was it 10 mm, not sure.  Oh well, I guess I'll have go back outside and take another measurement.  Tough getting old.

Fred

Ground is covered in Enfield. flakes getting smaller.
Got the 160M ant back up just in time.

Last winter damaged a bunch of shrubbery here at the QTH.  The shrubs haven't fully recovered.  Going to protect them this winter.   I've cleaned them off twice today. A new maple tree which is still green was bending down.  Cleaned that off too.  We have about 2 or so inches of heavy wet snow.  No grass showing.

Not a flake yet in Saratoga NY. Forecast calls for 4-7 " of heavy wet snow, more to the south less to the north, which in my area means lights out with most of leaves still on the trees.

Steve

This is turning into a nightmare in CT.

Remember the movie "Midway" when the Japs were caught wiith their torpedo planes on deck?  Well, now we're caught in a snowstorm with the leaves still on the trees.

So far, five large branches have cracked and fallen next to the house. I hear them cracking out in the woods.  Trees have limbs that look like pole vaulting poles bent over at a 60 degree angle.

It's just a matter of time before they start falling on the power lines. It may turn to ice later with 40-50 mph gusts.

Enjoy the electricity while we can. We just went through this with Irene... sigh.

Generator ready, coal stove going and water in bath tub just in case.

T

Now snowing to beat the band for the last hour or so down here on the CT shore.  Our forecast down here just got updated to up to 8 inches....

now up to 8 inches here. power's gone out about 3 or 4 times. we have soybeans still in the field that haven't been harvested yet, and the neighbor has ear corn in his field that hasn't been harvested yet either.
shelby

34 degrees and a mix of rain and sleet here in Baltimore. (mostly rain)

WX man sez we're right on the rain/snow line.

This part of Maryland's getting a little of it.

It's just wrong when the impatiens are still blooming, the trees are still green, and there's SNOW coming down.

Got back from first day of black powder hunting only to have to get the diesel
tractor set up with the snow muncher...Argh!!

Well at least tracking the bambies should be easier in the snow.
 

39 degs here, didn't stop it from changing phase.

Got about 4 inches as of this post.  Temp is holding at 31.  Been stoking the wood burner and running the fan to get the heat up in the house.  We've had a couple of power flickers.  Power went out for about a minute and reset. Snow has seemed to lighten up a bit and on the verge of a change over.  Right now it's light snow and some sleet.  Hopefully no freezing rain.  Cleaned the critical plants again.  The maple mentioned in my previous post has all green leaves on it still.  Most of the leaves on the trees have turned color so they'll fall off but the maple got to keep clean.  It's a family heirloom grown from a seed from a tree my grandfather started 35 or so years ago. Dipole is sagging something wicked.

we have a few norway maples here and all of them still have their leaves, but our english walnuts lost theirs almost a month ago.

http://outage.cl-p.com/outage/outagemap.aspx

http://www.cl-p.com/outage/mobile.aspx


81% of the town is without power. Still on here.

Some towns are out 100%.

Looks like GFZ in Enfield is at 81% out. You still up Frank?

And it continues to snow and the wind continues to blow.

T

it's pretty much stopped here. total is about 8 inches. checked it when i had the dog out about 40 minutes ago.

Something bigger than thumb size pic would be nice.   More drool factor   ;D

Ended up with only a coating down here in Stonington, but power went out around midnight.  Started up the generator around 0800.  Lots of outages and trees down up in the Vernon, son's place power is out, they got about 8 inches.    Fridge here is full of the last of the jalepenos.

yea, my granddad just picked all his jalepenos and habaneros the other day, good thing he did.
shelby

14 Inches here!!!  Power's been out since Saturday afternoon, trees across the driveway and the power lines on the street and the driveway.  14 inches of heavy wet snow.  And, why do I live here??????????????????  :-\

power went out a few times yesterday, and then the phone/internet was doen for around an hour, so i tore apart my laptop to see if i could fix the screen cable, must have a break in it becuase if it was set anywhere but wide open the display was green. tore it apart, made about 6 tries to get it put back together correctly, and now the screen works better (still cuts out when the lid is at 90 degrees compared to the keyboard). now the snow is beginning to melt, heard a couple chunks falling off the roof.

Got about 8 to 10 inches.  Power went out exactly at 200AM according to the UPS.  Started the generator around 730A.  Didn't lose much heat over that period of time.  Got down to 58 from 63.  Back up to 63.  Sun is out so the heat won't be needed.  29% of Colchester is without power according to the outage map. 

'cause it's such a nice place.  I don't envie you getting rid of all that snow.  Do you have a generator system?  Here's mine - a 8 KVA.  Serves the whole house but my service goes from a 100 amp to a 40 amp service.

My fridges are cool and so are the freezers.  I do what to get something similar to W1UJR

‘Cause it’s such a nice place!  Hope you don’t have to shovel that stuff.  Do you have a generator?  Mine is a 8 KVA generator.  Here’s a pic of it.  I go from a 100 amp service to a 40 amp service. I think I have about 6 hours of service left after that I have a 3 gallon can.  Hope that PSNH gets on the stick soon

Al

According to CL&Ps outage map, there are only 52 subscribers in Stonington out.  That means just our immediate neighborhood. Took a drive around, and sure enough, the high line fuse on the neighborhood feeder indicates blown.  No obvious other damage visible on the circuit.  I suspect we had another incident where a branch from one of several pine trees growing up around several poles in the neighborhood got across the high line in the wind (which didn't seem very bad at the time).  I actually saw this happen on one pole and cause an outage earlier in the year during a thunderstorm.  Told CL&P about this condition (the outage I saw actually happened just after a line crew had replaced the fuse from an earlier outage in the evening and was packing up to leave, I was able to get to them just as they were ready to drive off).  Other than a few branches the crew cut back at that time, they have not ever done a complete job of it.

Here's the PSNH outage map

http://www.psnh.com/outage/

Got our power back in our neighborhood about 4 PM.  CL&P line crew said the outage was caused by an arc over on a pole pig that feeds a house on a back lot on the end of the circuit caused by an overgrowth of bittersweet vines that crawled UP the pole.  Ironic in that the owner of the lot that is fed by the pig that's hanging on a pole on an extended line inside his property is a tech at the Millstone nuke plant - you think he would have noticed that!

We're still offline on the mains.  I took a trip down Rt. 16 to find a breaker open.  The power lines otherwise are in good shape.  Not sure why this simple reset hasn't happened yet. Power is up between junctions.  Guess those on the gold coast will get priority like the last time.  But fear not, generator is keeping things warm and operating normally.  Just not looking forward to burning $80.00 of fuel like 2 months ago.

Same here, when the electricity is widely out, the rich part of town seems to get service back first. Of course it is not intended, they are restoring power according to a documented and approved procedure.

Power went out here on Saturday at around 4:30pm.  STILL OUT!

Me too at 9:20.  There is power at the Goldenrod just down the street from me.  Dunno why they are holding off.  The 8 KVA generator is doing yoeman service.

Watching a DVD tonight.  I'm missing my Masterpiece theator.  I'm hoping to be back on the grid some time tonight / early AM

Al

My power is still on, especially since I just sent in a payment to the power company.  Making those payments really goes a long way in keeping oneself connected to the grid.

Food for thought,  just figured I'd mention it.

Fred

PS,  If you pay a little extra, they'll up your line voltage to 147 volts.  Helps me get my full 51w output.

Fred

Just got reconnected to the grid.  Your advise worked.  Gave my check to a lineman.  He said he'd forward it to the right person - just occurred to me that might have been him  ;D  Money does get results

Al

Yaawwnnn! 4am it is. Where's my coffee. Ahh, here it is! This one over here makes coffee like a mix of diesel fuel, battery acid, and roofing tar. You'll be bright tailed and bushy eyed after the first sip. I asked about the battery acid and got told it's just in there for color!  ::) (cmon guys, what movie?)

Finished a 35hr stretch at 10pm last night. The chaos started around noon saturday. By 9pm, I had nearly 90 calls ring in and I had a wrench in the hand of everyone I know who can do the job and had a 4 wheel drive. By 4am, there was about 200 service calls logged. Couple guys started to get huffy with me over the "free" work I was handing out. (Hello McFly! Anyone home? This is what you asked for! Take the dress off and get in the truck! You got work to do.) (I'm really am a great boss. No seriously, really.  ;D)

Fortunately, for us anyway, about a third of all these calls were unserviceable from power outage anyway. Another third were gennie problems, which I have some notes to share on that in a minute, and the rest were mostly electronics cooked from low volt situations, or spikes and flickers as the grid crashed and came back up, back out, back up, pow, theres a $300 control board. The supply house put a skeleton crew on which was very helpful and appreciated by all.

About the gennies that would run everything except the heating equipment; After a couple of these calls where I would show up to a house on gennie power, everything else in the house that was hooked up would run ok, EXCEPT some furnaces and boilers. I swung by the house and grabbed my little Fluke 10mhz handheld scope because I wanted a better look. The effected equipment was the type that had control boards that were capable of self diagnostics, and they were throwing weird codes, like "line voltage reversed", or "line voltage too high, or too low". So I wanted a better look at these.

What I found, was that the effected units were mostly of the new inverter type of "Quiet" "clean power" units made by honda (which is a high dollar gennie btw) and a couple other manufacturers. Lots of people had these small backups installed after last winter and the recent hurricane we had a couple months ago. Voltage regulation was very good on these units, but the sine looked like a very dirty triangle wave and frequency control was all over the place ranging from 50 to 70hz and changing from something as small as a light being turned on and off. One of these gennies would ramp the motor speed up and down with lighter and heavier loads, but the frequency never stabilized near 60hz. One of them had 60vac L1 and 60vac on the neutral measured against ground! (What the hell was THAT?) That particular one smoked a $600 VFD (variable speed drive for the blower) in a brand new high end furnace. This wasn't the case with every inverter unit however. Some were fine, and the equipment was in lockout from the mains dropping out. A fast reset, and back in the truck and down the road.

The gens that worked properly were the run of the mill, normal copper wound jobs, like Generac, or craftman, or whatever. They were the regular inexpensive flavor that that most of us have kicking around. I only saw one that was a problem and it was running around 45hz because the engine was running too slow. Plugged the meter in and adjusted the idle pull so I saw around 60hz at the outlet under no load, plugged everything back in, and away it went. reset the furnace, and all was well.

Food for thought anyway, right?

73         

outside temp got down to 22 this morning.  House chilled down from 68 at 9PM to 56 at 730AM.  The house got cold fast.  We're back up to 63 at this moment.  Power still out.  Hopefully today will be a bit warmer than yesterday.

Jared, When I purchased my 10KW genny it had an over voltage problem.  Luckily for me I checked it before connecting it to anything.  What had happened is the controller became disconnected from inside the gen head during shipping.  The genset was shipped on its side so the motor and gen head weren't resting normally on their rubber mounts.  Also, noted was the engine rpm was way off too as well as it hunting.  Reconnected it, check the output voltage, freq. and sinewave. Everything was right on.  Then loaded it down with a couple of 1500 watt heaters and remeasured.  I was satisfied that it wouldn't kill anything in the house.  I'm thinking about upping the output voltage slightly to 120 from 115 to better serve the well pump.  I added a metering setup on monitor L1 and L2 at the hookup.

Still no power here, either (Monday morning)!

Been thinking about getting something a bit more modern as a 2nd generator.  The old PE-95 is eating me out of house and home, gas-wise.  A great generator, but not very efficient.  Maybe use the PE-95 for the heavy loads, and a smaller more modern unit for times when the load is much lighter.

The PE-95 is quite large - has a 4 cyl jeep engine, and is essentially unmovable (without something like a ramp truck) because it weighs so much.

This is what the PE-95 looks like (this is not my unit, but mine looks just like it).
(http://www.classeradio.com/pe-95.jpg)

Frank,

I sold my Honda 3000I two years ago to my SIL for her travel trailer. This is a high priced ($850.00) piece of electrically noisy hardware.

I bought a JD Tech 6.5kW unit for $750.00 that will power just anything in the house.


Steve,

The PE-95 is just getting broken in; why change?  ;D

Phil - AC0OB

You could buy a hell of a lot of gas for what you'd spend to buy a generator that's half as stout and strapping as that genny.

took a trip down Rte. 16 to inspect the lines.  No damage up to our transformer and beyond.  Did find an open breaker just hangin' between the 'hood and transformer.  Just like Irene,open breaker with no damage to the circuit. I figure it will be 6 days like the last time. We're not on the priority list. Western half of the state is getting priority  despite the reversal in region damage severity.

Street power is BACK as of 8:04 PM.  Thank God !!

Diesels are way more efficient fuel-wise than gassers.
And, in a pinch, you can run them on any old vegetable oil. The exhaust will smell like MacDonald's french fries. They'll even run on lamp oil AKA #1 Kerosene.

If you can find and accommodate a small one.

A small Kubota or similar diesel tractor can crank a good 25 KW worth of PTO generator.

48 hrs no power. did with a Kerosene heater and cook stove.  Tree damage here was severe but no damage to the house.  Lots of chainsaw & truck work.  Took Monday off of work to make 8 runs to the brush dump.  Still have a good size pile of debris to clear, but the place is passable.  The only real damage was to the TV antenna which broke the fall of one large pine limb, and an apple tree, saved the roof though through it's act of self sacrifice.  I have a few hundred pounds of apple wood for firewood. That should be nice and seasoned next year.

On a side note, when you can't get Kerosene to run your stuff, jet fuel works pissa.
I couldn't get Kerosene for love nor money, as the places that sold it around here were down and out.  I went to the local airport and asked the fueler if they'd sell me a few gallons of Jet A.  Yep, no problem. Turned on the truck, and filled the tank.  Jet-A is a mix of Kerosene and White Gas (kinda like coleman fuel).  And the trucks power their own pumps.  I still have a gallon or so left for next time... I hope NOT.  I come to find out, that a lot of folks had gone there to buy gasolene (automotive type, not AVGAS) and it was common during the big storms, but I was the first for jet-a.  Good emergency supply for your diesel types too.

But small diesels can be a bit balky to get lit during those cold New England winters.

It must still be pretty bad up there. I haven't seen GFZ on here for a couple of days now.

Day 3, still on generator power.  The drone is getting to me. Getting up at 4AM to light it off so I can shower and get to work is getting old.  At least the beer is cold.

I was sitting in my kitchen at 10PM Saturday night and bang, crash, thud and the lights go out!
Been here in this house for 26 years and never had any trees fall till this year. We had no snow in this
storm just heavy rain and winds.
Went outside and saw this 70 foot oak tree with a diameter of about 3 feet at the base laying in my yard missing the house by four feet!
Some of its branches impaled themselves through my roof and my electric service was destroyed.
So now I am getting cozy with tree guys, roofing guys, electricians, and carpenters.
Need to have 4 holes in my roof repaired, a new ceiling in the kitchen from water damage, and just had the new electric service installed.
The tree guy has to take away the fallen tree and I am going to take down any other tree within 60 feet of the house also.
Q

(http://home.comcast.net/~w1qwt/images/Oct29-11A.jpg)

This wasnt a record for being on the genny but 74 hours was getting a bit old. Actually I shut it down at night so everyone could get a good sleep by cranking the heat up to 72 and by 6:30AM it was only down to 63-65 upstairs, glad this wasnt in Jan-Feb! Total snow was 12-13" by the time I got outside Sunday and it had compacted a bit.

My 78 F-150 plow truck is down to replace the rear spring mounts on the old Ford 9" rear end; I thought I had another month to procrastinate..... Already did both driveshaft U joints, still have the ones for the front wheels to do. I beat the hell out of the old girl last season. Used the OL's AWD Volvo to blaze a trail down the driveway and the rest of the vehicles followed; driveway is bone dry today, its all open to the sun. Only damage I can see is one 8' rhododendron lost one side but not snapped away, gonna try taping it up. Beverages still work so its got to be pretty good back in the woods.

Living at a dead end on the highest hill has its benefits so I can live with the end of the line response from the power company; they and the arborists really do work their asses off. Pisses me off to read all the a-holes whining in the paper or on the radio.

Carl

Too True, those linemen bust their asses, and it's dangerous work to boot.  I can't imagine working on a high voltage system in a driving storm or freezing weather, working mandatory double shifts.  At some point I think even the overtime just wouldn't be enough. 
The situation isn't their fault, it's the management types who decide if clearing the trees along a right-of-way was cost effective or if letting things go a bit is cheaper in the long run.

 It took 48 hours for us to get power back, but I'd rather wait than have a lineman get killed rushing the job. 

This storm must have been really severe!

Well, it was a very standard snow storm - for December or later  :D  The problems all came about because the trees still largely have their leaves, and the weight of the heavy, wet snow accumulating on the leaves bent the trees over or broke a lot of them apart.  Of course, some of them came down on the utility wires and took them down and so we have all the outages.

But, as a storm itself, at least for this area, it was no biggie (about 14 inches).  It was fairly easy to plow, and really, the subsequent melting (because it is still getting up to the 40s during the day) has been great.  The snow has melted down to about 6 inches here.  It is the time of year that really was the problem - the trees aren't ready for the snow yet!

Occasionally, there is a storm like this in May after the leaves come out, and similar problems result.

Our yard is nuked. 160 m and on the ground. 75 M ant in the woods looks OK just hanging down. Log had 3 inches of snow on the elements. They were very bent down almost vertical. Once the sun came out Sunday everything was fine. Maple in the front yard lost two big limbs that fell across the primary and fell on the street. I cut them yesterday. Giant oak came down in the back yard. Woods opened up for some new antenna projects.
We packed up and moved to GFZ south where it was almost 60 on the beach.
Kids out of school for the week. They are saying power by Sunday.
Many primary lines down in northern part of the state. South is fine.

Steve Ford 4 banger is a good motor maybe you just need to tune it up.
Maybe it needs a set of points and the timing set. I agree with John that thing will out live all of us. Throw some mobile 1 in it.
I'm going to get myself a generator. Driving an hour and 15 minutes to work is going to get old fast.

22 inches when I was in 3rd grade. I've seen snow in Vermont in every month but July, including June and August in the last couple decades.

We had numerous New England October storms like this one in recent years, 2005 most recently. This one was just had more snow. 2005 really sucked because Jen had moved up to VT a few months earlier and I had told her that we didn't get much snow until late November or into December. She was scheduled to get new snow tires put on after work the day the storm hit. Needless to say, 6 inches of wet snow wasn't a fun drive for a Florida girl. 1991 was probably closer to this storm in damage.


Absolutely, Bill. My genset of choice is the Detroit 2-71 with Delco genny, used by the railroads and Ma Bell for years. They aren't portable like those little Hondas or the generac kits, but they're pretty much bullet proof and should last a lifetime. 2 cylinder diesel, 1200 rpm, they use a gallon or so an hour. And they'll burn veggie oil or pretty much any type of waste oil provided you filter the chunks out. This is because they use a positive displacement fuel pump instead of an injector pump. They're rated at 40K hours use before an overhaul is needed, too.

They come in 12.5 or 20KW versions. 240v 3 phase, 220v/110v single phase. You can get the basic unit and build it up yourself which is great for many of us hands-on types who like to tinker. Even the 'pay-someone-to-do-it' types can play, it just costs about double ($5-$6K and up for a unit with fuel tank, power panel, etc vs. $2-$3K for the base unit). There's a place out near you Bill, called Affordable Power that carries these generators.

It's the perfect replacement for you, Steve, though I'd agree with Johnny about the cost of gas vs replacement of that old rig you have. At least the 2200 lb base weight wouldn't bother you.  ;D

An oil change will set you back a bit though, as they use something like 18-20 quarts of Delo 40w. Unless you use it a lot, you shouldn't need to do one often. But if you want a set capable of running your fridge, lights, heating/cooling units, radio gear and will last for life, these are the way to go. You can even get a fuel heater for colder climates.

Two years ago we had a wet 6inch snowstorm around October 15.   It didn't make the headlines because it was local to this area.   The aftermath of that storm, with the trees and branches down made it look like a tornado went through.   We had little damage around here during this storm because all the weak trees and branches were taken out two years ago and most of the leaves are off the trees here.   It must be frustrating to have a generator, but having the gas stations out of service.

Ive been hearing good reports with some 8-10KW Chinese gennies that use B&S engines.

I might get one as having to remember to run only one high current item at a time is a PITA with my OL and #3 son!.  The old 4000W Tecumseh HM-80 is about 26 years old but keeps working as long as I do a good carb cleaning every year.

If you drain the tank and run the carb dry, that will no longer be an issue.

The #1 cause for small engine repairs these days is gummed up carburetors caused by old nasty gas. (A little Sta-Bil never hurts either)

Another area where diesel excels. No carb to gum up, and diesel has a much longer shelf life. 6-7 years or something like that?

with 550 gallons in the basement would be good for my place.

When I started pulling the neighborhood kids around for our Halloween Hayride a few years back, I brought my little tractor out of hibernation. (it has a one-cyl Petter diesel engine) Doing nothing but slapping a fresh battery in it, it came right back to life. The fuel in it was more than 25 years old! ! ! ! ! !

It smelled nasty, and looked nasty, but ran fine in the engine. It actually ran better on the old stuff than on that new "low sulfur" crap that they sell now as diesel fuel.

Mains power restored today at 1245P. 

If that's the tractor you started up for us at Derb's Memorial Gathering, that is one bad ass little tractor. Sounds like it's going to spit a piston at you any minute, like most diesels. It would put any gas tractor of similar size to shame.

Considering that backup generators seldom get used, diesel would seem to be the best choice on numerous levels from fuel storage to fuels you could burn, in the case of a Detroit 2-71 powered set. As much as I like the old Onan W2C, it's still a gas powered unit. Hurricanes are a far bigger worry here than an early season snow storm. Certainly a small unit like a generac or Honda would work fine for short periods of time if you only ran one or two things. If you're out of power long term and need to keep food refrigerated as well as heating or A/C running, a bigger unit like these seems a better choice.

Glad you got your power back, Bob!

Years ago, before it went into hibernation. (actually got buried in one corner of the garage, not to even be seen for over 20+years) I experimented with "alternative fuels" in it. I actually ran it on diluted /filtered drain oil, kerosene, scented lamp oil, used deep fryer oil, and other vegetable oils. All seemed to run pretty much OK-FB with kerosene and scented lamp oil being the best power wise. Pretty much ANYTHING oily would run in it

Biodiesel? ? ? Biodiesel.......... We dont need no stinkin Biodiesel  ;D  ;D

Uh-huh,
Carol was asking around for where the aromatic lamp oil had gone.

Actually....................... That was one of the ways I got rid of some cheap / crappy-assed olive oil that she bought and I refused to use.  ;D  ;D

(she has now learned better and only buys the good stuff)

Frank I always suspected you were an Extra-Virgin kinda guy.