Customer Reviews

Briggs & Stratton 030210 Elite Series Vanguard OHV Portable Generator

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I just recieved my new generator today. Amazon delivery was amazing. The truck line called. backed up to my door at my convienience, and me and the driver had it off the truck in less than 5 minutes. Keep in mind this is a 2 person job. Adding to the plus for the delivery is that it was absolutly free.

It took me a total of 10 minutes to install the wheels,support bracket, attach the battery cable(yes it does come with the battery installed),fill with the supplied oil and put in some gas. One little choke and the unit fired off a lot sooner than I anticipated. I ran some electrical power tools to make sure the unit was putting out power and they all worked flawlessly. I searched far and wide untill I settled on this unit. The Vangaurd engine ( built by mitsubishi according to The Briggs rep I talked to) was the major selling point. It is quieter than many larger generators and can ramp up to a 13500 watt surge. Im not hoping for a power outage , but I sure would like to put this baby to the test. I might just throw my transfer switch tomorrow and see what it can do. Very happy at this point

I purchased my generator from Home Depot on 13 April. I had a licensed electrician install a manual transfer switch. On 8 June, we had our first power outage. The generator started up immediately and ran for 10 minutes and then shut down. On restart, it ran for 5 minutes and shut down. After about an hour of this we decided to just weather the 96 degree heat with no electricity.

The next morning, I called Briggs & Stratton and followed their voice prompts which gave me the name of a local "Briggs & Stratton authorized warranty repair facility". I loaded this monstrous machine into my SUV and drove it over to the designated facility. About an hour later, I received a call that the "authorized Briggs & Stratton warranty repair facility" could not do the work because the Briggs & Stratton generator had a Generac motor on it. Another trip to pick up the generator and then called Briggs & Stratton back. After 1 1/2 hours of listening to how important my call was and that my called would be answered by the next available customer service rep, I called Home Depot from my cellphone who was willing to issue a refund even though the generator was more than 30 days old.

I give this Briggs & Stratton 8000 watt generator a 1 only because 0 was not an option. I would give Home Depot a 10.

Robert H. Merriman
Felton, PA

We have had our generator for close to a year now and it has never failed to do what it is needed to do. I have to say that we are happy campers indeed. It is extremely important that we have equipment that can handle heavy and persistent work loads at times. We have to rely on this generator completely in our wilderness off the grid location when there is inadequate solar gain to power our home and pump our water. We use ours every single day at times. This unit works so well that THREE of our neighbors have bought the exact some model for use at their own places after seeing ours in action. I have heard absolutely no complaints... only raves from all of them. I'm not sure why some others here have had issues... but none of us have.

I just received my " Elite " generator just in time to go on my yearly camping trip. I started it up and it puts out a total of 3 1/2 volts. Its kind of hard to run my fifth wheel campers' air conditioning on that kind of current. Now I've had to find a service center, haul it there, be told they can't get to it for a week and I'm out of a generator. Now I have to see if I can rent one, at probably quite a fee, to use for my trip. The engine fires right up but has a noticable miss every 2 or 3 seconds.The free shipping is also a joke, I got a call from a truck terminal a half hour's drive away to come get it. When I got there they couldn't find it. So many cell phone minutes later I was finally able to assist them in locating it. What an experience this has all been. Next time I'll go down to the local hardware and buy a Honda.

It's saved us a couple times already. Extended power outages waste food. This will nearly power our whole house, including two refrigerators and a freezer.

After substantial experinece in helping people in the aftermath of hurricanes, I saw that hurricane Ike was about one week out from my house inland and decided I would not be one of those poor saps without a generator when the power went out. I went to every store around 50 miles of my house before I finally found a generator. It happened to be briggs and stratton elite series with 8000 running watts. It was the only one left and I knew it, so I bought it reluctantly from a tractor supply store in Texas. Well, after a week of having my power out from hurrican Ike I was thrilled with it. Heck, I was even able to watch dvd's on my TV, and that was while I had the comfort of knowing my refrigerator/freezer was running along with fans to keep the heat down. It is dirt simple to use, it is rugged, and the only minor complaint I would make is it about as loud as a riding lawn mower. That really isn't terrible though considering that it is a pretty powerful generator as "portable" units go. Thanks Briggs and Stratton, you never let me down.

A great generator for the jobsite and home use. My order arrived on time and generator set up was fast and easy. But after putting the generator together, I could not get it started. After checking all the trouble shooting suggestions on the Briggs and Stratton website, I called customer service...they finally suggested I take it to one of their authorized dealers (15 miles away). The problem: the delivery company tilted the generator/container on it's side during delivery, oil from the engine dripped into the air filter stopping air flow. No air flow, no start. A simple fix once identified. Cost: a new air filter and time away from the job. Briggs and Stratton: Great website, customer service and product.

Amazon had an incredible price on this when I bought it, and I couldn't be happier.

About a week after I placed my order, the delivery company wheeled it straight in to my garage (for free!) and setting it up took about 10 minutes by myself.

After doing some research, I learned that using synthetic 5W-30 oil was best in weather that's below 40F (which describes Michigan for about half of the year). I dropped a quart in, added some gas, and the generator fired right up.

I did notice what sounded like misfiring, as another reviewer noted. However, as soon as I added an electric load, it went away immediately. After talking to some other generator owners, I found out that this is normal, and leaving a generator running with no load is typically not recommended.

Overall, I couldn't be happier with this purchase. I dare the elements to stand up to me now!

I purchased the 7500 watt surge to 13,500 watt same unit much older. Got the unit week before hurricane Katrina glad I did! We were out of power for 36 days between this unit, and one a little lower in wattage we have survived power outages in comfort. I use mobil 1 10w30 full synthetic changed every 75 to 100 hours this paticular unit has over 600 hours on it since 2005 only problem I had was with dirty fuel would reccomend this unit to friends, and family [got this unit for parents].I run the whole house with exception of hot water heater,oven and dryer my house is total electric. This unit is worth it's weight in gold to me.

I couldn't be happier with this item. It was easy to put together and to run for the first time. I had my house wired for emergency power and the electricians said this was a fantastic generator. They also told me that the price I paid was really good. Even when everything was online the generator didn't bog.It is a little loud but not excessively so.I would tell anyone it is a great deal and runs very well.I am a true believer in the quality of Briggs & Stratton. I have a lawn mower that is 35 years old and still going strong