Portable Generator with transfer switch on breaker box

I went with a firman trifuel and added a quick connect gas line. That way I won't have to fight gas station lines hopefully. Also keep a couple of propane tanks ready to go in case natural gas shuts off.

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What is the best brand these days for a 8000 watt or so generator?

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This is impossible to answer. A Miller bobcat diesel machine is probably "the best" but that's a lot of money just to run your AC once a year.

If you are talking about your basic arse air cooled wheeled portable unit, generac is probably "the best."

Definitely check out the page Clyde recommended. Most there run their houses with the Duromax. I have a Champion tri-fuel, but haven't really had to use it yet. Just some test runs. It will run my 5 ton central unit, after I installed a MicroAir Easystart

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but I guess they were doing a manual transfer since it just runs to a 50 amp breaker on the side of the main breaker panel. I want to get this cleaned up and done more safely.

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As long as there is an interlock kit installed as well, its perfectly safe.

The interlock prevents the main breaker from being turned on when the generator breaker is on.

There is a facebook group called portable generators to power an entire house and they have all kinds of DIY options to add a transfer switch and lock outs and they have setups for a bunch of different generators. Most guys are getting about a 13kish generator and even running their central air on it.

https://www.geninterlock.com/

I bought a 9000w Predator from Harbor Freight back in March. They run them on sale from time to time. I think I paid about $800.00. I just had a friend who is a Generac dealer install at 30A manual transfer switch with a safety rig that will not allow me to have both breakers on at the same time for safety reasons. The transfer switch installed was $1,150. I still need to purchase the 8 gage cable, (50') which will run me about $300. All in I will be about $2,500.00. I built a little hut to house the generator in. Be sure to add fuel stablizer, run your generator every month for about 10 minutes and turn off the fuel when you turn it off to drain the carb. We'll see how the Predator works.

Ole man, what size plug do you have? 30A or 50A?

So I just have a breaker that when it's flipped up it blocks the main from being closed. Simple design. Main and generator circuit can't be on at same time.