Buying Advice Diesel generator for home back up use

[huntgrouse]

Maybe this is the wrong section. I am new to Tractobynet so forgive me.
I live in the rural northeast. back in 2011 we had sever power outages. I want to get a home generator to address that potential problem. Power was out for 6 days so I need more than a small 2-3KW. I want a diesel since I have a Kubota tractor and have diesel around and also have oil heat and two 275 gal. tanks to pull from. . Plus diesel doesn't have the long term storage issues that gas does. In NY all fuel oil is now low sulfur so its exactly the same as diesel except for color. When power goes out , the one gas station in town cant pump and las t long term outage the roads were closed and we couldn't even get to a town with power.
so, the logical solution is a generator , running on diesel/fuel oil. Researching the market, all I see is up to 7KW and then its a 4x price jump to go to 10-12 KW.
Trying to find prices for Kubotas smaller diesel generators or anyone else's for that matter is difficult There are plenty of Chinese 7KW out there but they concern me with all the poor reviews.
based on my rough calculations I need 10 KW.
anyone have any suggestions, ideas, recommendations?

 

[dave1949]

Welcome!

How about a 3pt pto-driven generator using your Kubota? Cheaper but it does tie your tractor up when in use.

10KW is a lot of power for a typical household. How sure are you that you need that much?

 

[TCJatko]

Welcome!

How about a 3pt pto-driven generator using your Kubota? Cheaper but it does tie your tractor up when in use.

10KW is a lot of power for a typical household. How sure are you that you need that much?

Agree that a PTO generator would be ideal. One less engine to maintain, cheap-ish, and plenty of juice to run the whole house.

 

[Gary Fowler]

10 KW is not that much power if you have a total electric house. For my house I would need a 20 KW genset and still would have to block out one set of heating coils ( I have a heat pump but it draws on electric coils if temps get to low for the heat pump to function) if I wanted it to function same as with outside electrical power. You could get by with basics on 10 KW if you have gas heat, stove and water heater. Lots of diesel gensets out there from major manufacturers but expect to pay upwards of $10K for one. A pto genset would be your cheapest option but may not provide clean power as tractor engines don't react quickly enough for adding load to a generator so the frequency and voltage might fluctuate a bit as you kick on power robbers like AC, electric heaters, etc. This is not good for electronics.

 

[breaksteel]

Store some gas, buy the cheaper gas generator. Rotate the gas in your every day driver and use a bit of gas stabilizer in it which makes it store 2 years. Run the generator for only a few hours a day, any more and it's wasting gas. Store enough gas to get you through a few weeks. You may be able to get two generators for the price of one diesel generator.

2 is one, and one is none.

I do agree diesel is the way to go, but its cost is a hurtle.

 

[Scooby074]

Another vote for PTO.

 

[dave1949]

Store some gas, buy the cheaper gas generator. Rotate the gas in your every day driver and use a bit of gas stabilizer in it which makes it store 2 years. Run the generator for only a few hours a day, any more and it's wasting gas. Store enough gas to get you through a few weeks. You may be able to get two generators for the price of one diesel generator.

2 is one, and one is none.

I do agree diesel is the way to go, but its cost is a hurtle.

This is what I do too.

We have two gas cars, so on average there are 15 gal of gas sitting around in them, plus the 10-15 gal. I keep on hand in 5 gal. cans. That's a lot of generator run time. In really cold weather--I assume you have oil heat given the two tanks--you do need heat every couple hours probably unless you are set up with a wood stove.

Some of the generator strategy involves reducing your dependence on having power, especially for a prolonged outage.

I've never had to tap the car's gas tanks but I am prepared with a siphon tube/bulb gizmo.

 

[aczlan]

There are a few deals out there on 10kW gensets on Craigslist. Most cell sites use 7kw ones, so that size is common on the used market. If you dont mind working on one, you can get a used military 10-12kw unit (MEP-003a) for $2kish (or less) through Government Surplus Auctions at Government Liquidation. You can also get one that has been gone through from Green Mountain Generators for $4500ish.
I would HIGHLY recommend researching them on steelsoldiers.com and/or smokstak.com first as there are some gotchas to be aware of before buying one.

 

[jenkinsph]

I would get by with a 6k genset if possible and a good choice would be this 6500w Honda. Honda EU6500iS Generator 6500 watt Inverter, Super Quiet | Wise Sales

If you are sure you want diesel then look into a Cummins Onan quiet diesel also available at wisesales above.

I have both Hondas (gas) and Onan commercial quiet diesels both are very good and much less noise than most you see today.

If you wan't to save some coins I agree with others about a pto genset for your Kubota. I usually recommend a standalone genset if people have kids as it would be safer than them fooling around with a running tractor for days.

 

[Fi-Q]

Or get a decent cheap side gas genny like a generac for not a whole lot of money, and a pti as a back up if you can't supply gas.

I found this site, it give you an idea on price for disel back up generator. You can see the Perkins are a lot more money then the chineese. But the chineese have laidon engien, wicj I think is not so bad. But it s you call..... I am not related at all to this site: http://www.auroragenerators.com/.

I personnaly 10kw is a lot for the basics. But everybody have there own need. Me, eventually the goal is to build a 3kw gen with a 6/1 listeroid engine.....