PTO Generator

[SteveM]

I agree with the engine speed comment. When you are mowing it doesnt feel to bad spinning that motor fast. But park it and run it at PTO speed for a few minutes. I personally would be dying to go pull that lever back. I was also told to never leave a tractor running unattended, by an old farmer. Turned out he once left a big deere on a pto generator, while eating dinner the fan belt broke (fluke) and the machine overheated terribly. So I would not be comfortable sitting in my house while my tractor was out there blaring away at 2,000 rpm... /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[v8dave]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( </font><font color="blueclass=small">( .....You need a 540 RPM PTO speed to get 60 Hz power. 540 RPM is usually obtained at a higher engine speed that most of us are comfortable with letting our tractors run for a major portion of a day.....)</font>

Why? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

I thought that diesel engines ran best at full bore, and that is where they liked to be.

A company that I worked for had a LARGE whole bulding backup generator that I've seen run continuously for a week at full bore. These systems come on and the engine goes to full speed right away.

Obviously your are concerned about engine wear, but is your your engine so untrustworthy that you are afraid to run it for a few hours at the speed it's meant to operate at? )</font>

Ah, I see you fall in the outside the "most of us" concern about slower engine speed. I was very careful to state it the way I did, so as to not include everybody. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

I personally don't have a problem with running my tractor at higher engine speeds. But, there are lots of readers here that are. I got just the opposite set of opinions about running my Kubota B7610 at PTO speed for a few days while running my backhoe. I do so in order to get maximum dig power and quick cycle time. However, a significant number of comments were made about how much easier it would be on the tractor if I ran it slower. Sometimes I slow down, but not always.

Now, having said that. I am not so sure I'd be willing to go out in the rain and wind and set up my tractor and let it run full throttle (which is PTO speed on my unit) for a full tanks worth of operation--unattended.

If a standby generator is only needed "a few hours at at the speed it's meant to operate at." I'd question whether or not a PTO generator is the correct approach anyway. As you note: a true standby generator is set up to come on instantly and run days at a time.

I experience 3 to 4 power failures a year that last more than an hour. The last one was 18 hours and I was out of town. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif I don't expect my wife to dismount the backhoe (or what ever), connect the generator, drive to the power panel, hook-up and then have to disconnect every 8 hours to drive the fuel tank and fill up.I want my standby power on all the time. So, I am choosing an 1800 RPM diesel standby power unit designed from the get-go to run unattended for days at a time.

I still remember my 8th grade beginning shop instructor saying: "there is a proper tool for every purpose" as he was trying to keep us from using screw drivers for prying. (Utter failure on his part, by-the-way.) Sometimes, you need a real standby generator. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Dave

 

[v8dave]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( . . .
I thought that diesel engines ran best at full bore, and that is where they liked to be.
)</font>
Not sure which "best" you are referring to. But, I'll try at best fuel efficiency.

Diesel engines run most fuel efficiently at or near their torque peak.

Some, but not all, tractors have their full throttle speed above the torque peak, This is so as they are lugged down the torque increases and hopefully an equilibrium is reached where the load matches the torque available and work will continue. If not, you get "behind the power curve" and the engine will likely stall unless you disengage.

While we use the term "behind the power curve" all the time it is actually misnamed--it's the torque curve not the Horse power curve that you fall behind.

Dave

 

[MicroPilot]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( ......I want my standby power on all the time. So, I am choosing an 1800 RPM diesel standby power unit designed from the get-go to run unattended for days at a time.

I still remember my 8th grade beginning shop instructor saying: "there is a proper tool for every purpose" as he was trying to keep us from using screw drivers for prying. (Utter failure on his part, by-the-way.) Sometimes, you need a real standby generator. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Dave )</font>

I agree that a dedicated system is the way to go, escpecially for extended outages, however a PTO Gen. Set makes sense to me if all you are really concerned with is a few hours of power.

I'm interested in this approach from the perspective of gradually building a backup power system so that I don't have to shell out all the money at once, and even possibly converting a PTO generator to operate with a dedicated engine.

The backup power system of my dreams would use a battery bank for my primary backup, with renewables (solar and/or wind), and a diesel generator. Just need mo money!!!

 

[v8dave]

Here is some information I've run across in my generator research.

This place Generator Joe has the most complete range of generators I've found on the net. And, they post their prices!

Here is another place that publishes prices and appears to be the lowest price I've found for a complete standby genset. Genex Look at their SDMO units. Genex SDMO

This outfit has a selection of solar/battery, wind and gas/propane/diesel generators. NoOutage.com

And finally here is a place for the do it yourself crowd. UtterPower

Dave

 

[ByronBob]

Typically (Read typically) my power goes out in the winter. Ice storms the last 10 years have hit us hard. First one in 91 was a 10 day affair. Lately we had one last April which was 5 days. A typical thing might be 6-10 hours. In the winter at 10 degrees my house would be a refrigerator in 2-3 hours. I couldn't plow my driveway in a storm with a PTO generator running. Doesn't seem practical for me however in other cases maybe. Use is the key here. I wired the house so the tractor was available for it's other uses like the snow removal in the winter.

 

[RichNJKubota]

I went thru all the pros and cons and in the end price was the determining factor. I needed at least a 15Kw unit and the PTO variety was $1200. Got a demo unit at a small discount. The engine/generator was at least $1000 more.
I've used the PTO generator twice now and don't have any regrets.
The PTO generator is only run for an hour or two and then shut off. This gives time to use the tractor for other things. There is no need, in my case, to run the PTO gen 100% of the time.
I bought a cheap 1000 watt inverter at BJ's to to run the small stuff like a lights or TV. It runs off the car battery and the car gets started once in a while to charge the battery.
Rich

 

[texbaylea]

I have used a PTO generater for a number of years. The longest span was 10 days. I have a 14hp Kubota B6100E driving a 7kw generator. More importantly I made up a test set with a frequency meter and a volt meter. It takes nearly full throttle to reach 60 Hz. I have run this Kubota this way for 10 days stopping only to refuel. Don't fear long term operation at the torque peak. That is what diesels are designed to do. Almost all tasks I do with this tractor are at about 95% full throttle.

Vernon