KUBOTA BACK UP GENERATORS

[lakeside]

Craig Clayton had a good point about diesel. In this area there are two grades of diesel, summer and winter. The summer grade has more wax which isn't a great problem when the ambient temperature is in the 5c (41f) to 35 (95f) c range. However, storing summer diesel in the winter would likely see the wax gum things up. I don't think there's a problem the other way (using winter diesel in the summer) though.

If I do go with the Kobota diesel generator I'll probably make a habit of draining and refilling the tank every so often, especially in the early fall, and using the fuel in my other equipment.

 

[crazyal]

All you need to do is buy some diesel fuel conditioner with anti-gel. I'll help keep the fuel good for long periods of time and you'll not have to worry about it in the wintertime.

 

[MtHam]

I bought this very same unit, Kubota 9,875 Watt Diesel Generator, second hand 15 years ago and it is still going strong, no problems! Reasonably quiet, highly recommended.

 

[David_Kb7uns]

Just went through same thing looked hard at the 10KW Kubota Lowboy and the Generac 20KW with Nexus Load Sheddding Transfer switch. Have 4 different Kubotas so I am convinced on their product but the Generac won this time.
The generator transfer switch package was on sale at Home Depot dot com back in June for $4100 delivered plus another $3000 for 500 gallon tank, propane, piping and setting the tank. This part is still cheaper than what they wanted for ther 10 KW Kubota 3600 rpm generator. If I wanted bigger i would have to go with the 1800 rpm units and their cost goes up quickly, plus I would need to figure out a diesel tank and a transfer switch with generator controller.
You need to figure out how much use you will have and availability of your fuel source to make the ultimate decision.
The propane will store better and if you are remote you can make up a manifold with 4 or more 100 pound tanks to meet the volume requirements. The propane units do not have quite the life of a 5000+ hour diesel but if it is only standby you are probably looking at less than 100 hours a year anyway.


David Kb7uns

 

[crazyal]

So I did a little research because I was curious. A 10k Generac Propane generator uses 1.25 gallons per hour under 1/2 load and 1.93 under full load. The Kubota uses .71 under half load and 1.09 under full load. Interestingly enough that link I posted earlier only uses .41 gallons per hour for half load and .84 for full load.

In the states the average price per gallon of propane is about $2.80 a gallon and off road diesel is a little over $3. So it looks like you would save a little in fuel costs with diesel. About $2 an hour cheaper (assuming the same maint schedule) for diesel or about 500 hours of use if the diesel is $1000 more than the propane.

Like David said, if your putting less than 100 hours a year on it you may break even in 6 or 7 years.

 

[beenthere]

Here's the link:

USA. GL11000

Cheers,

Thanks
I guess it helps to have that extra 0 in the search. GL 1100 from the OP didn't do it.

Looks like an impressive back-up. Will stop by the Kubota dealer this week.

 

[Storm56]

I have a kubota GL 6500 as a backup generator. It works great and meets all of my needs. Had it about 6 years now. Watch the papers and eBay. I bought mine brand new for about $3500. Deals are out there, you just have to watch and not be in a hurry.

I am sold on the diesel. By the way Yamaha makes the generator part.

 

[2458n]

Propane in the small tanks cost 3.99 a gallon to refill. Would like to find for 2.80. Local price today at Ace Hardware Dayton Ohio.

 

[beenthere]

I priced a Generac 7000 last week (gasoline) for $900.

 

[crazyal]

Propane in the small tanks cost 3.99 a gallon to refill. Would like to find for 2.80. Local price today at Ace Hardware Dayton Ohio.

You pay a premium for the small tanks (20lbs). The local hardware store gets $15 to fill them. What most people don't know is a lot of places are only filling them to about 75% of what they normally would fill them and the new valve doesn't let the tank get empty so you're probably paying closer to $5 a gallon. I did a quick search for the national average and found $2.83 a gallon. I assumed that if you own a propane generator you would use at least a 100lb tank since under full load a 20lb tank could last only a couple of hours on a 10k generator.

Filling Propane Tanks