Don't over-tighten the screws, because the bronze clamp will break! I found this out by over-tightening another bronze grounding rod clamp a couple of years ago.

I wanted to have a place that was as close as possible to my generator. The less resistance, the better (keep in mind that we're talking about saving the life of a potential shock victim here). If the generator is shorting and a human becomes the closest/shortest, least resistivity path for electricity, then the least effective the grounding rod would be. If I were a possible shock victim, I personally wouldn't want the ground current to have to flow through the house ground then through the earth before returning to the generator, in a scenario that the generator is far away from the house ground, regarding the length of the generator-ground path/distance. The farther the distance, most likely, the higher the resistance for grounding current to flow through, which is not preferred. At that time there was no access to a grounding rod that was not oxidized/rusted. I also wanted to have as much isolation as possible from the grid/network, so the harder for electricity "to flow" onto the grid and cause shock hazards to grid crew workers in the case of a short, or for grid shorts/discharges to use my generator grounding, which would protect me from the grid in that case. The short from the generator would have to travel through earth ground from the generator before reaching the grid earth ground due to higher resistance, which would make a huge difference in protection during a shock hazard situation. I don't know about your setup though, in the case that your appliance is in some way already connected to the grid. However, no current would flow onto the grid system in my case. Keep in mind, the most often reason that a generator would be used is in the case that the grid power is down, so nearby grid crews would be working on the lines/utilities, and they may not realize/expect/remember that generator power may be live on their lines or might accidentally make conductive contact with the short current line. Also, city/county codes may have restrictions on connecting generator lines onto the grid network, and to avoid dealing with city/county codes or having to hire a licensed electrician can be accomplished by simply using your own separate grounding rod. But, you are the one who is ultimately in charge of making the decisions regarding your grounding method.

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