DIY PTO Generator

[bubbacuse77]

OldTink

I wasn't going to throw this out there till I was done with it but I found it to interesting that you have the same tractor and Generator. How has it been working out on the 3520?
Just a few more things to work out then I'll tear it down and paint it.

Nice work BTW.

 

[buickanddeere]

Say what you will but it works like a charm and does exactly what I need. You can throw money around to have all the shinny new stuff you want. When we were with out power for a week. There was no gasoline to be bought only siphoned out of the vehicles. Oh no that's not safe either. I have plenty of home heating oil, and a small tractor that did what I needed. No extra engine to maintain. Why would you really need 14k in an emergency which is what this was built for? Denial hahaha what a trip.

Don't try to deflect the issue by not mentioning the open belts , open pulleys and open drive shaft. Then trying the smoke and mirrors diversion over the lack of concern for safety . With a rant on siphoning fuel etc.

 

[newbury]

Don't try to deflect the issue by not mentioning the open belts , open pulleys and open drive shaft. Then trying the smoke and mirrors diversion over the lack of concern for safety . With a rant on siphoning fuel etc.

Safety is in the eye of the beholder.
Ensure noone except the operator gets any where near the equipment and treat it as a machine with known but avoidable hazards.

It's not like he's selling it on Amazon to the public.

 

[Soundguy]

Why but a PTO driven generator when an engine driven portable on is no more expensive ? Thinking 7 or 8 KW range.

i've yet to see a genset that comes with an engine cost as little as the genset and pto setup.

7k and 12k and 24k are common pto denomontions.

 

[3v0]

i've yet to see a genset that comes with an engine cost as little as the genset and pto setup.

7k and 12k and 24k are common pto denomontions.

NorthStar PTO Generator 7200 Watt, 14 HP Required $1000
Powerhorse Portable Generator with Electric Start 9000 Surge Watts, 7250 Rated Watts $850

I do see where portable ones can be had that cost more.

 

[joshuabardwell]

I do see where portable ones can be had that cost more.

Your point is 100% valid. I can even buy a 7000 watt generator at Harbor Freight for $600, and that's before the obligatory 20% off coupon! But dollars to donuts, the quality of the generator head on that Northstar PTO unit is far superior to the cheaper portable units, and there's no question that the engine that drives the PTO unit is better. The take-away, for me, is that you can't just buy based on $ / kW. There are a whole lot of other factors that come into play.

 

[Dana Warner]

My thoughts behind the PTO generator are that in an extended power outage as happened with October snow storm which hit most of Connecticut it was 3 days before our road was open. My neighbor went through 15 gallons of gasoline and then used the 5 that I had to keep his 5k generator running. Once our road was open we could get gas. The outage lasted 7 days I ran diesel then home heating oil in my Kubota. A gas generator would have been fine if you store enough.
This past year New Jersey where my parents farm is got hit by Storm Sandy. It was 4 days to open the road before they could get out. They had about 35 gallons of gas on hand. Once out they found all the gas stations except where they had an aux generator were closed because of no power. Fuel rationing was $30 a fill-up till the stations ran out. Their power was out for 12 days. My brother and I brought them gas which kept the well running and the house warm.
I guess how many gallons a day you burn and how much you keep on hand would help you decide. When full I have plenty of heating oil 275 in the shop and 1000 in the ground.

 

[Soundguy]

NorthStar PTO Generator 7200 Watt, 14 HP Required $1000
Powerhorse Portable Generator with Electric Start 9000 Surge Watts, 7250 Rated Watts $850

I do see where portable ones can be had that cost more.

well.. a few years ago that would have been a near impossibility.

back about 8 ys ago when I was looking for a genset.. my 12.5kw pto northern was 999 and the 7200w was about 700$. you couldn't touch a portable for that price.

best I can figure is the chinese lawnmower engine. now that you can get those engines in the 100-150$ range.. that's a game changer.

good luck. chinese tech is getting better daily. them 100$ lawnmower engines might 'be there' in the quality department by now. i know when the clones first hit.. there were plenty of fialures.. but then again.. that's been a few years. Stuff being as it is... their quality is probably up there with what everyone else is using now.

me personally? i still feel better with my tractor and pto genset.. but.. for someone needing a prtable.. that's a pretty amazing price if it can make those watss on a constant level and not burn up ( engine or head ) during sustained reasonable use..e tc.

thanks for the link. I wasn't aware prices from portable had actually caught up to the pto units...

 

[Soundguy]

good point.. IMHO.. fuel oil is esier to keep than this junk we have for gas now.

another thing. during an emergency.. some people seem to forget to ration their use.

I had a neighbor in 04 that ran a genny near continously.

i powered up my pto gen to pump the well up ( 20 seconds ).. and then runt he water heater for a bit to take the chill off the water, so we could have a warm shower every day. during that time the refer's got cold again and we checke dthe news on the radio.

i bet we didn't get 2 hours of run time each day.... my big diesel tractor never emptied it's 20g tank during the 6-7 day outtage we had.

gas was nowhere to be found for about 2 weeks as stations were closed. glad I drove a diesel... raided some surplus tractor fuel to make runs into the city.

my parents had a gas genny for their well and refer.. they were without power 10d and ran out of fuel. down to using lawnmower gas and draining vehicles... after that my stepdad got a pto genset for his tractor.

My thoughts behind the PTO generator are that in an extended power outage as happened with October snow storm which hit most of Connecticut it was 3 days before our road was open. My neighbor went through 15 gallons of gasoline and then used the 5 that I had to keep his 5k generator running. Once our road was open we could get gas. The outage lasted 7 days I ran diesel then home heating oil in my Kubota. A gas generator would have been fine if you store enough.
This past year New Jersey where my parents farm is got hit by Storm Sandy. It was 4 days to open the road before they could get out. They had about 35 gallons of gas on hand. Once out they found all the gas stations except where they had an aux generator were closed because of no power. Fuel rationing was $30 a fill-up till the stations ran out. Their power was out for 12 days. My brother and I brought them gas which kept the well running and the house warm.
I guess how many gallons a day you burn and how much you keep on hand would help you decide. When full I have plenty of heating oil 275 in the shop and 1000 in the ground.

 

[joshuabardwell]

my parents had a gas genny for their well and refer.. they were without power 10d and ran out of fuel. down to using lawnmower gas and draining vehicles... after that my stepdad got a pto genset for his tractor.

I've heard this point made before--that having a diesel genset is an advantage because gas quickly sells out, but diesel is in much less demand.

I can't for the life of me figure out why all gas stations don't supply themselves with a backup generator to run the pumps during a power outage. It's not like they won't have the fuel to run them!