Posted on 11/13/2022 9:38:48 AM PST by karpov
Robert Kern, the son of a Baptist minister from Iowa, set up shop with five employees in a garage in Wales, Wis., in 1959 to make portable generators. Early customers for his Generac Corp. included farmers and construction crews. Soon all kinds of people were buying his generators under the Craftsman brand at Sears stores.
Mr. Kern diversified his range to include permanently installed generators for homeowners worried about power outages. Generac also developed equipment providing backup electricity for telecom networks, hospitals and other facilities. The Y2K scare yielded a rush of demand, as did hurricanes and tornadoes.
In 2006, when Mr. Kern was in his early 80s, he sold Generac to a private-equity firm for a price estimated at more than $1 billion. He and his wife, Patricia Kern, shared the proceeds by sending checks to the employees. Some got nearly $50,000, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
Mr. Kern’s philanthropy supports a variety of causes, including programs encouraging young people to study science, math and engineering. He donated well over $100 million to the Mayo Clinic, where he received charitable care as a child.
Now known as Generac Holdings Inc., the company went public in 2010. Though no longer the owner, Mr. Kern still offered free advice to the management. He died Nov. 8 at the age of 96 in Waukesha, Wis.
Robert Daniel Kern was born in 1925 and grew up in Osage, Iowa. Always interested in how things worked, he studied mechanical engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he graduated in 1947. The next year he married Patricia Exter, who attended the same university.
He worked at Waukesha Motor Co., whose products included generators for railroad passenger cars. After Mr. Kern left that company, he and his wife launched Generac.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
RIP. Unfortunately, the war on hydrocarbons will make the grid less reliable and increase demand for generators. Maybe the left will try to ban those, too.
Do Freepers own generators from Generac or other companies?
Not a generac one but yeah, I have a cheap one that works. I have to pull start it and manually switch from grid to gen but it cost me a lot less than the auto type. No more than I need it, it works fine for me.
I see that California has banned portable generators.
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4021209/posts?page=59
I have a self-starting generator that does well enough when the power goes out. I have to cut off the heat pump as that is 220 but my pellet stove runs on 110.
I have one from northern tool pull start that has done great.
Five years ago we put an instant-on whole-house Generac in our 5,000 sq. ft. house. Heavenly! Especially in our very rural area.
It seems like it would have been difficult to build an AC generator before the introduction of the power MOSFET....
Not sure what the “smaller and lighter” comment means viz the mid-60s when everyone made them out of a small engine and an alternator. I have a friend who worked for “the Motor” whos to Mr. Kern’s character and generosity.
Have a Generac - love it.....
I've got a Generac. It's gotten me through a few hurricanes in Florida.
My only complaint is it's LOUD!
I don’t own one, but have seen many designing for the utility company.
Big here outside Philly. The burbs have tons of trees...
Got one for the house 3 years ago. We have many power outages and it has been a godsend. Works like a swiss watch. Final straw before getting it was 4 days without power in Jan. 2019. Wife and I in parkas in house! I recommend!
God rest Mr. Kern!
My in laws & a friend both have them & love them!
When my wife came down with Pulmonary Fibrotosis I bought a Generac Generator for use in emergencies when the power went out. She had electric powered oxygen generators for breathing.
Only problem with it was the ground fault circuit interrupter often opened when there was rain, and the starting batteries need to be changed ever so often.
Wife has passed away and I still have the generator for emergencies.
Carbon pile regulators and governors to regulate 60Hz.
I looked into them a couple of years ago since we live in FL and it seemed at the time that every hurricane or tropical storm that came through resulted in a 4-5 day power outage. In 90+ degree WX that’s pretty uncomfortable. Best price I found was a bit over $10K for the generator and wiring. Price didn’t include installing a one or two 60 gallon propane tanks. We don’t have natgas where we live and propane is/was running around $4.50-$5.00 a gallon and these generators can burn up 100 gallons in 3-4 days if run constantly. I decided to pass at the time and use a portable 6500 watt genset for essentials. Thinking about a Generac again ‘cause I’m getting on in years and don’t have the same tolerance for inconvenience and discomfort that I used to have... Lol.
Thank you Mr. Kern for making a wonderful product and may you rest in peace.....
I have a Generac I got after Sandy left me without power for 8 days.
LP gas run and it powers my whole home, including well and pump.
I have three 100 gallon tanks - I also heat with LP.
Love it!
Five years ago we put an instant-on whole-house Generac in our 5,000 sq. ft. house. Heavenly! Especially in our very rural area.
Same here. The summer before Hub’s transplant our old on went belly up.....he needed the air conditioner and a storm had come through and knocked out the power. Two guys from Dallas came in to help get power restored and they happened to have a Generac on their truck and installed it for us. By nightfall we had power and we’re forever grateful
Mine is loud too but when I look around the neighborhood and see only my lights and on other neighbor’s, I don’t mind it as much!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.