PTO Generator

[gks]

I am a 6 day owner of a brand new Kubota B3300SU and I'd like y'all's thoughts and advice on a PTO generator. We've been meaning to buy a generator and now that we have the tractor, a PTO generator is an option. Pros, cons, tips, etc... Please.

 

[zionview]

I had a 35KW PTO generator when we were farming. Pro: it's an awful handy piece of equipment to have around for remote repair work and welding, construction, and standby power. Con: It ties up a tractor to power it. I never liked leaving mine unattended, even when we were using it to complete barn chores and run the feeding and ventilation equipment. You also need to run it periodically to keep the windings operable and internals moisture-free. We ran ours every 3-4 months for something like running an elevator or auger at a remote location, just to keep it ready to use. A friend didn't use his for a year, and it would not generate electricity during an outage when he needed it. I would be hesitant to tie up a brand new Kubota doing what an air-cooled engine would do for much less replacement cost. We used ours on a 35HP tractor over lunch once to run the block heater on one of our larger tractors. The tractor sprung a coolant line leak, and thanks to an observant neighbor, we were able to shut it down before we lost an engine. It may be, once you price a stand alone unit against a PTO unit to fit your needs, a self-contained unit may not be that much more money.

 

[Hunter29]

How many KW do you need and what are you willing to spend?

 

[gks]

I not sure what our power needs are. It seems (and makes sense) that one can buy more power for a given amount of $ with a PTO generator. 12,500 watts can be bought for about $1300. A stand alone with the same power would be easily 3 times that.

 

[Hunter29]

Yes it would, I like 1800 rpm diesels, thats what I would go with but it depends on how much you plan to use it.

 

[brandoro]

I have a 10kw PTO generator and have only used it seriously during one three day outage. It has sat for at least a couple of years without generating and worked perfectly when needed. During the outage I only ran it for about an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening to let the fridge and freezer catch up and run the pumps. And the coffee maker in the morning. Still had the use of the tractor the rest of the day for other things. Depends what your needs are but for the average person the generator wouldn't need to run all of the time so the tractor will still be available for storm cleanup or other things. If you need power all of the time a stand alone would be better for you. I like not having more engines to maintain so like the PTO version.

 

[Bigfoot62]

I plan to get one myself. Got a couple stand alone gas generators now, but it's hard to find gas if the power is out. I have a big diesel tank and 3 tractors, so it makes more sense for me.

Just realize that 25hp at the PTO will probably not get the full potential from a 12.5K gen.

 

[Hunter29]

25HP at the pto is fine for 12kw, in fact its real good.

 

[john_bud]

The power head my be cheaper, but the power source (tractor) is more expensive to own and to run.

 

[Recoveryhill]

As I have offered, in previous threads on this subject, in an area of frequent power outages I run my house and guest apartment with a 6,500 Watt, Honda powered generator. The ability to manage load, at the transfer switch, eliminates circuits that are unnecessary and provide power to refrigeration, water pump, lights in kitchens and living areas and in my case, an electric water heater which is energized for only a couple of hours a day.

The most frequent mistake around here is to install excess capacity in a back up generator.

While I understand that needs may vary, electric heat for instance, or need to air condition during outages, most outages, even here are of short duration which makes shedding non-critical loads painless. Every few years we get a long duration outage but in those times it seems like reduced power availability is the least of our problems.

Would I like to have an 1,800 rpm diesel 12 KW genset? Well yes but I have better uses for the $12,000 it would take to own one. Each to his own but I am trying to be the voice that says a 6,500 watt gasoline generator with a dependable engine, is just fine.