srthomsen

Similar situations happened sometimes on the railroad that I retired from. Using chains or straps it is extremely dangerous. I did see one man get his arm nearly ripped out of his shoulder socket by a strap that had not been inspected. It had an area that had been pinched that had been deep enough to cut into the inner core of the strap. He was not standing far enough out of the line-of-fire.

The fact that you experienced that difficulty removing the old rivets attests to the robustness (is that a word?) of the OEM construction.

This is one that I puchased a couple of years ago. Works great. I think that it's a bit louder than advertised and it's not a lightweight! I use it with propane fuel. I am going to build a collapsible box with sound deadening material to fit around it for use on the road. I bought it on sale at Costco for $599.00 Dual Fuel Inverter Portable Generator 4000W Electric Start with CO ALE – FIRMAN Power Equipment