I am so happy with my purchase! I never thought I would get a Generac brand generator large enough to run my whole house for so little cash. What a value and it is loaded with features and setting it up took less than 20 minutes. And a bonus was how easy it is to move and transport so if I wish to do some camping in a state or national forest I can have power to go for my fifth wheel. Love IT!!!!!

I looked at many different generator brands online, and I kept returning to the Generac. I liked the idea that they build their own engines for their generators as well as the fact that Generac is a proven name. Plus, the price was comparable with other generators in this capacity range. Setup was simple, and the generator started almost as soon as I hit the switch. The electric start with included battery was also a big plus.

I bought this generator a few years ago and boy did it save my butt. I lost power last winter and had to use my new generator. Having it I was able to Heat my house and keep my refrigerator cold. I also had some lights wired too. Having this generator made my wife happy and that is what's important. A happy wife is a happy life. This was money well spent. Thank You General.

Generator does a great job. I owned one for many many years. I live in the country.We have very hard winters and that means power outages. The outages usually last many many hours.The Generac 17500 provides me peace of mind in a power outage. I don't have too worry about frozen pipes, heat, lights or food going too waste. I wouldn't be without my Generac. My original 17500 is getting old and this new one is the replacement/backup.

I just bought this generator the day before this huge blizzard we lost power and this thing ran like a champ! Extremely easy set up, put the oil in it and gas in it like they said one pull and this thing fired right up. This generator literally ran our entire house no problems! So if you're looking for a reliable well priced good little portable generator, this is the one you want!

Solid performer after fixing battery issue. The battery died after 6 months and would not hold a charge. After installing a new battery and a disconnect so the battery no longer had a drain on it, I also installed a motorcycle style trickle charger. It now works perfectly and the battery holds a charge. I keep the battery disconnected until it's time to use it. It is now a perfect generator after the $50 upgrade. Too bad Generac did make the improvements in the factory because it does take a certain amount of expertise and engineering to correct the problem but is doable if you have the right tools. I will attach some photos at a later date.

Purchased this generator in the fall of 2017 after a 4 day power outage. I haven't actually used it yet during a power outage, but have no doubts that it will meet my needs. ( I actually hope I never need to use it, but time will tell.) the intended use is to provide power to the house loads needed during a prolonged outage. Our last power outage demonstrated that we needed more power to keep one of the electric baseboard heaters powered up, which had not needed to do during previous power outage. The generator was sized to provide power to some of the electric baseboard heaters during a winter ice storm power outage, as well as provide some of the more "desirable" loads, such as the well pump, refrigerator, gas water heater, and basic lights. The build quality of this machine is excellent. Nice welds, paint,source of frame components. It's a nice build. There isn't much to do, other than put the wheels and platform foot on, mount the handle, fill it with gas and turn it on. It does come securely bolted to the pallet and if you can get it up in the air a little bit with a shop crane, or hoist, it will be very easy. Otherwise you'll have to do a little more work to get it off the pallet I have an overhead hoist, so with the supplied lifting eye, I was able to very easily do the work at waist level. I filled it with gas, and it started up per the manual. No problems. Unloaded voltages were 124vac and 244 vac. I ran it for a few hours with a 3500 watt load, and everything seems fine. This is a heavy machine, so don't be surprised at that. The designed method to lift at the handle and tilt forward could be awkward for a shorter person. There is also a lot of weight forward of the wheels, so if you do try to pick it up too much in the back, the weight will want to tip it forward and there is no protection if that happens. The stabilizing foot is to the rear of the wheels. I will probably add a second set of wheels so that it rolls on four wheels and not two, and mount some type of anti tip protection on the front in case the weight does transfer forward. I wouldn't recommend rolling it around full of gas, that would be 85-90lbs of moving weight. There must have been a design change to the front panel. My generator has the 50 amp plug on the panel front face, and not underneath, as some reviews have pointed out as a negative. The manual is okay. Not totally inclusive, but definitely enough to get you up and running. Where the manual is weak, and so is the website info, is that this generator had a "bonded neutral to frame". This is clearly stated on the front of the panel, so Generac isn't trying to hide anything, but the implications of that are not completely covered. What a "bonded neutral to frame" means is that the frame "common", and "neutral", are at the same potential electrically at the generator. This bond ,if carried into your house electrical system, will create a separate, second, neutral to ground bond in your house electrical distribution system. To preclude this, any transfer panel arrangement must "switch neutral" from the street, to the generator or you risk creating a second, parallel path, for current flow on the system ground wires. The bonding of neutral to the generator frame is not unique to Generac. It's an OSHA requirement for standby portable generators. Some manufactures do have neutral switching at the generator. Maybe something for Generac to consider for future changes. This is just something that I think Generac could have covered a little bit more to aid consumers contemplating using this as a portable house backup generator. If I were to change anything, "out of the box", I would source a better fuel petcock and route the fuel hose a little differently to remove the slight loop seal it currently has created. And of course, I would change the mobil wheel design. Overall, I think it's a fine product.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Just assembling this generator you can tell that it is very well made. I'm an engineer, and I have a number of pet peeves when it comes to machining, and this generator exceeded my expectations. It was a very short and very sturdy assembly and you could see how the unit had been factory tested. Everything was packaged well. This is a great emergency generator with enough power to power up your basic needs in the case of a power outage. I highly recommend it to keep on hand.

Great quality product as expected from Generac! Runs everything I need during a power outage with ease! After buying portable Generac I'm even more convinced to purchase a standby down the road! Then I'll be able to camp and tailgate exclusively with my GP6500!

I read some of the reviews, I disagree with what they say about the generic generator. If you’re reading the manual, every three months, you’re supposed to run the trickle charger for X amount of hours. My battery is 2 years old no problems. It starts every time not sure why they put a pull cord on it.