I think Wayne nailed it, you want a "good" generator, but most companies that market and package sets are VERY cost driven. Want a really good set that meets your specific needs? Build one. I have built several small diesel and gas powered gensets for friends with different needs. A friend who is a farmer has a lot of old International equipment and tons of spare parts, used one of his engines, found a really nice Marathon tail end to fit, built it with an oversized radiator and a fuel tank with filtration that met his needs.
Pick an engine that you are comfortable with and can get parts for. Mount it on a skid or base that meets you needs. Need to move it around, make it quiet, sit up above a flood line? There are a number of small diesels on the market that a very robust, like Yanmar, Hatz, Deutz and others.
About 4 years ago a former coworker got set to move to Alaska, he wanted a set that would meet his needs, I asked him to write down all the things he wanted in a set, like engine type, run time on a tank of fuel, worst case expected ambient conditions, etc. Then to list all the things he didn't like about commercial sets on the market, like where the fuel fill and batteries are, access for service, fuel filtration, etc. Last thing I asked him was to figure out where he would get parts, and how he would get them up to where he lives. The end result was a small John Deere diesel, a way overbuilt skid type frame, a hybrid cooling system, a PTO and a nice little oversized tail end. He runs the heck out of it and so far is happy. But it is a one off, and likely no makers of gensets will make a unit like that a standard offering.
Light tower gensets are a good starting point, but there are really tough ones and really crappy ones out there. And there are a large number of folks who buy and use commercially available gensets in that size range and as long as they meet their needs, they are "good", at least until they don't work.
My 2 cents worth. Mike L.
