No electric: Alternatives?

[Anonymous Poster]

12 years ago my wife and I bought a non operational farm outside Ironton Ohio. We moved there thinking it would be for the better. As it was, mid 91 -92, I cna't remember a single day that it did not rain within a 24 hour period. Talk about depressed!! And those people haven't a clue what snow is. Something I need to see frequently. Anyway, the person we bought that farm from ahd the same set up as you Slippy. What he did was to convince Ashland oil to test bore for natural gas and maybe a little oil. They had to make the roads (which ended up being many overgrown cart paths) for them to tests. BTW, it was determined not enough gas/oil for them to pursue it. We were the only ones on that long country road that owned the mineral rights to the property. You may consider soemthing like this if gas/oil are in your area. It was quite common not to many years ago to see the wells all over that area and across the river in W.VA on various farms.

 

[herbenus]

Wow. I thought Rural Living was just a link that took me to CountrybyNet forum. It's a whole separate forum! I found your "Off Grid" thread and a whole bunch of other interesting stuff. I'm going to be busy for a while looking through all this...

As an aside: Solar's come a long way in the last few years. The most intriguing thing I've seen lately is the metal roofing that's also a solar panel. If you're building new, this might be something to consider. But it all depends on your needs. If you just need to hook up a drill once in a while, or much more.

 

[herbenus]

There are also solar powered well pumps. I haven't looked into. But I remember a trip to Oklahoma last year. It was funny driving down farm roads and seeing the old wooden windmill frames. And sitting at the top, instead of fan blades, was a little solar panel.

 

[Soundguy]

Another option he can think of is a 12v well pump...

And as you say.. a small engine running a generator, or even one of those fance 120vac alternators I have seen for RV's.

Still thinking about that pto genny might be a good idea if they have a tractor.

Soundguy

 

[Hoeman00]

Only problem w/ PTO generators is having to run tractor at high RPM to get the proper voltage (unless two speed PTO like 1000 and 540) or build his own w/more gear reduction so he could run engine slower.
I have a 40K Generac PTO gen set on a trailer but power hasn't gone out since I got it in fall 1999 /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Spencer]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I have a 40K Generac PTO gen set on a trailer but power hasn't gone out since I got it in fall 1999 /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif )</font>

Fall of 1999 - Why2k did you buy it at that time? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Soundguy]

I don't see how running the tractor at 540 rpm pto speed is a real problem..... it is designed to be run at that speed and under load... heavy load. Other than the noise of the tractor??? Or are you talking about just having power on all day.. and not wanting to run the tractor that long?

Soundguy

 

[NIXON]

Slippy,
another gen set to consider is the Winco . www.wincogen.com
They're about as reliable as an anvil . Try as we might we haven't had one let us down. And ,God knows we've had some folks try to kill it . ( fed it bad fuel,haven't checked the oil ,etc.... )But it always runs ! we have a couple that run all day, most everyday .The Northern gens are also good if you go for their industrial gens . If you are looking for a long term/run gen , go for a deisel unit that runs at 1800 rpm . Quiet and a long runing unit . JMHO. John

 

[Hoeman00]

Well I kind of got it for Y2K but had been looking for a lot longer and couldn't pass this up.
Some PARANOID people I work w/ where making all these plans and one even had a paper on building a manual pump for pumping well water.
He was really let down when I told him he'd have to have a well drilled to use it since he is on city water /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
I use to play w/ them telling about gen set and 2000 gal. of diesel (always filled tanks in fall)and how much ammo and supplies I was buying not to mention the 10 x14' safe/ bomb shelter. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
As for leaving tractor run at PTO speed and using very little load 1/2K or 40K u are still running fast and using excess fuel and noise.
A used KW semi F-i-L bought had a 4 cyl. nisson diesel under the right step and was plumbed into radiator and 12v system( run all nite on less than 1 gal. of diesel).
He sold that motor for next to nothing.
Since he doesn't need lots of power for the polebarn, find a motor like this and run it at 1000 rpm and power 220 gen set and 12v gen set to charge storage system for nite use plus only use a gallon of fuel a day.

 

[EdDekker]

If you want a diesel generator close to this size, one possibility to look at is a Engine Driven Welder/Generator. For about the same price as a generator you get a big welder too.


A Miller Bobcat 250 D NT has a street price about $5700. It uses a 19 HP Kubota engine and can produce 9,500 Watts continuous and 10,000 Watts peak. Its the cheepest Kubota diesel powered generators I have seen. You get 275 Amp Stick and MIG (by adding a spoolgun) welding capability as a bonus.


The Trailblazer 301 D adds AC/DC TIG capability and increases the welding current (but no more generator capacity) for an additional $700 on the street price.

The Gasoline welder/generators use Onan or Kohler engines and also look like good values.


See Miller generator overview web page.
Bobcat 250 D NT
Trailblazer 301 D