Power inverter Question

[glennm]

Hi
I have an RTV 900 and I would like to do some pruning on my trails. I see Remington makes a nice inexpensive electric tree trimmer that requires 8 amps. I'm wondering if you guys think I would be able to use it successfully with an inverter on the RTV?

 

[nikdfish]

My personal opinion is that an inverter large enough to service an 8 amp 120v draw (i.e. constant 960 watts + startup) is going to be large enough to drain a battery pretty quickly. I don't think an RTV generator/alternator would be able to keep up. I think you'd be better served by a small generator.

Nick

 

[SPYDERLK]

I use a 1000 Watt inverter on that very saw. With an automotive sized battery in the vehicle, never a problem for trimming. 6 or 8 cuts thru a 12" tree youll need time for the charging system to recover.
larry

 

[BobH]

I've got a 2000 watt inverter in my 1100 and use the same saw. It work out fine and I even use it to cut up the limbs when they're on the ground, no bending over. You have to remember it only draws power when it's cutting, not like a gas saw thats running all the time. Bob

 

[glennm]

I like the idea of an inverter and that saw. I was looking at a schumaker 1000 watt inverter. I won't use it a lot, just the few branches that are in the way. Sound like it will work ok?

Where did you guys mount the inverter?

 

[SPYDERLK]

On the hood of all 3 Kubotas. We keep one of those rubber horse feeding pans over them when not in use.
larry

 

[TOMMYHPX4X4]

i used a power inverter with my hpx and ran the tv's fans and a lamp for the huricane and it was a 750watt power inverter .as long as the engine is running you'll be fine.infact i used to run a extention cord and use my saws-all to cut up scrap metal in the dump .never had any problems and if i'm right don't the rtv's have a high idol knob?if so thats even better .you could easily run an 1100 watt inverter off it with no problem.

 

[SPYDERLK]

i used a power inverter with my hpx and ran the tv's fans and a lamp for the huricane and it was a 750watt power inverter .as long as the engine is running you'll be fine.infact i used to run a extention cord and use my saws-all to cut up scrap metal in the dump .never had any problems and if i'm right don't the rtv's have a high idol knob?if so thats even better .you could easily run an 1100 watt inverter off it with no problem.

Hold on. P=IE, so the amps you need for full load ... 1100W is I = 1100/12 ... More than 100A counting efficiency. The automotive sized battery runs the inverter. The charging system keeps up if it can. Most charging systems are not capable of supplying 100A regardless of engine speed. The battery goes down and youve gotta wait.
larry

 

[TOMMYHPX4X4]

it didn't work that way with my hpx.it charged better when i idoled it up just a bit and when i left it just idol at regular idol speed the batter voltage would drop faster. it's the same as in car stereo competitions they have to rev the engine to get maximum voltage output to run the amps. same thing on my rhino i can idol and it will show 12/13 volts but if i rev it up the voltage output jumps to 14.3. go to your car or truck and put a voltage meter on the alternator and check the voltage you will see what i'm talking about . now you can run the inverter all day long without having battery drain but if you rev the engine of idol it up the charging system will put out more than when it's at a slow idol.

same thing with my deisel truck when i start it the volts drop down to 8 volts but if i rev the engine they jump up to 12 /14 really fast.

 

[TOMMYHPX4X4]

something else to think of is when you first start a car or truck it will idol up a bit for a few minutes this is because of the battery drain from starting it so the computer in the car send a signal to the alternator making it rev a bit higher to get the most output from it to recharge the battery .as soon as the battery reaches it's full charge the car will go back down to regular idol. you only have to idol it up maybe 2 or 3 hundred rpms to reach the maximum output there is no point in racing the engine. from what i read most alternators max out at about 1500 rpms after that they even out .but at idol the alternator isn't puching it's maximum voltage thats why i always idoled my hpx up a bit to get the most output i could from the chargeing system.