What Brand Are Harbor Freight's Generators & How Much Do They Cost?

Retail chain Harbor Freight sells just about anything you could need for both home DIY and jobsite work, ranging from the usual variety of power tools and workshop helpers all the way up to semi-portable bandsaw saw mills. Naturally, such a chain offers a wide variety of portable generators, great for providing power to your home in an emergency situation, ensuring the lights stay on while you're out camping or providing power to a mobile home or business like a food truck.

There are several different generators available at Harbor Freight, running the gamut of sizes, wattages, and prices. Surprisingly, despite the many different brands of tools offered at Harbor Freight, all of the chain's standalone generators seem to fall within a single brand. This is a bit unusual for a hardware store; a chain like Home Depot, for example, carries a variety of generators from major brands like Honda, DeWalt, and Champion. Nevertheless, all of the generators available at Harbor Freight have at least four out of five stars in their user ratings, so mysterious as it is, it's apparently working. What is this unusual brand that encompasses all of Harbor Freight's generator business, and if you're interested, how much would its offerings run you?

All of the standalone generators available for sale at Harbor Freight in-store and online are part of the Predator brand. Predator is one of Harbor Freight's many in-house brands, alongside brands like Chicago Electric, Bauer, and Hercules. The Predator brand specializes in both standalone engines and engine-powered equipment, including water pumps, lawn cultivators, wood chippers, and, of course, gasoline-powered generators. The Predator generator line includes both traditional gas-powered generators and inverter generators, which are generally quieter in their operation.

The cheapest Predator generator in lineup is the 1,800 watt gas-powered portable generator, which costs $369.99. This device utilizes one of Predator's own 98cc engines to deliver up to 1,800 watts at startup, down to 1,400 running for up to 9.5 hours at 50% capacity. Like the rest of Predator's generators, this one features Predator's CO Secure technology, which automatically kills the engine if the built-in carbon monoxide detector is tripped.

On the high end of the spectrum, we have the 9,500 Watt inverter generator, which costs a hefty $2,299.99. This generator uses a 459cc engine to provide 9,500 watts at startup, followed by 7,600 running for up to 18.5 hours at 25% capacity. In addition to the aforementioned CO Secure tech, this inverter generator features an Electronic Speed Control (ESC) mode, which optimizes performance and reduces fuel consumption. It's also quieter than regular models at 67 dBA while at 25% capacity. There are even parallel ports for linking multiple generators together.