PTO Generator experience with GC2410

[Duffster]

There is a small device named "Kill-O-Watt" that you can buy on eBay or elsewhere (Costco has them). You plug it into an outlet and it will show you voltage and frequency. Plug a device into it and it will show you power consumption.

On the subject of wear and tear, if you are concerned about the hours, disconnect the hour meter. I can't think of much else with such little work going on in the use of the tractor. Guys here break bearings, spindles, wheels, steering gears, loaders, cylinders, tires, hoses, upper and lower links, and even seats. If you are afraid of wearing it out, put a 540 splined shaft on a bike wheel and pedal your way to al gore's house. You ought to be able to get 540 wheel rpm out of a 10 speed with little or no worry, maybe have the old lady burn off a few kilograms in the process.

:laughing:

 

[Farmwithjunk]

I've got the QC55..... Trailer Mounted PTO Driven Generators

If you're concerned with racking up hours on the tractor, since I bought mine, I haven't had one single "opportunity" to use it.....No electrical outages. So I consider the purchase price of a PTO generator a SMALL price to pay for insurance that heavy weather will likely pass me by. (Based on the theory of "If you're ready for a disaster, they are far less likely to occur") Not one single hours accumulated on my tractors EXCEPT for powering an outdoor wedding reception 2 summers past.

 

[tsteahr]

tsteahr, very inetresting, and thanks for the review!

A co-worker called me up during the storm- his road had washed out, he was trapped, and his generator wouldn't work... surprise, surprise. (I gave him some things to try, but apparently it's going to need an entirely new control board.) And yes, he has a tractor.

How 'bout some details on the PTO generator you got?

would also like details

Me also please.

I purchased the IMD 10kw unit with the avr option: Linky
I ordered it directly from IMD located in Simpsonville, SC about 2 years agp. I worked with a very helpful fellow named Shane Huffman. He will help out with any questions before or after the sale. The major components (alternator and gearbox) are from Italy are are very good quality. (Notice the starting capacity is 20kw - lots of copper). I did not want a Made in China unit but my budget was limited so a made in USA unit like Winco was out of the price range. I ordered the generator, their matching 3PH and a PTO shaft. The total delivered price (to a local shipping terminal) was around $1500 after the TbN discount. This was a little more than a Harbor Freight unit but less than half of a comparable Winco package. I believe the Winco would be a excellent unit but for some reason their 3ph mount is more complex and much more expensive (see pics here.) The Winco generator was about $700+ more and the 3ph mount was over $400 more. Yes I know I could have made my own hitch or modified a carry all but I'm lazy and I wanted to be sure there would be no fitup issues.

How do you know when you are getting 60 hz? Is there a way to measure that?

There is a meter on the unit that displays Volts, Hz and load. I also have a multimeter that measures HZ as a independent verification.

I should mention I had to make a minor change to the gearbox. The fill plug is vented with a small hole. When operating the unit gear oil would be flung under the fill plug and make its way out the vent hole. Not a lot but enough to make a mess. My solution was to install two street elbows. Worked perfect. No more oil out the vent hole and I can remove to fill without tools.

 

[JB4310]

Thanks to Irene I had the opportunity to use my 10KW pto generator for backup power. I was without power for about a week and logged about 80 hrs with the generator powering the house. I can share some observations if there is anyone out there considering using a PTO generator for backup power.

Overall performance of the IMD 10KW unit driven by the GC2410 was excellent. The combination is much quieter than similarly sized gas powered portable units from a box store. The GC holds the set pto speed rpm for hours and never drifts. The governor is up to the task of maintaining engine speed as generator load varies. I observed approximately 1HZ variation between no load condition and full output at 10kw.

What I found surprising is the power of the Iseki motor. MF has the 2410 rated at 18.7hp at the PTO. In theory this is insufficient HP to drive a 10kw generator to full output. However the GC was able to drive the generator to the point of tripping the 40amp 240v main output breaker (trying to start a 4 ton AC unit). Based on the tone of the engine, I believe she had more power in her. My gut feeling is the GC could drive 11KW or possibly slightly more. A 12kw generator would be a reasonable match as well.

Fuel consumption was slightly under 1/2 gallon per hour with the generator delivering on average between 3kw and 6kw. I would burn about 5 gallons per 11-12 hrs.

In summary the GC makes a great power unit to drive 10kw-12kw of backup power. It is significantly quieter then a stand alone gas unit with less fuel consumption. I believe the GC maintains a smoother frequency than inexpensive gas units. My experience with box store gas units is they tend to hunt and surge rather than hold a steady rpm. This is more pronounced at light load. The GC exhibits none of this behavior.

So for those that are considering a PTO unit as a alternative to a box store gas generator, the GC will do a excellent job of driving a 10kw-11kw PTO generator.

Thanks for the review, I've got an IMD 10 kw as well but have not had the misfortune of needing it. I thought for sure with Irene I would need it, but even though over half the state lost power, mine just blinked once.

I did do some testing with it and found it required some manual adjustment from no load to full load. But I got the capacitor regulated model, not the AVR. I thought the capacitor model would be less complicated and maybe be easier to maintain and last longer. Now I think I should of just got the AVR.

On the higher capacity models, they only come AVR. And yes the people at IMD are very helpful, I bothered them with many long conversations and questions, they were very patient with me.

Their optional 3pt carrier is great too, used with a 3pt QH, makes it very simple and fast to mount it and move it.

I have an older diesel Ford tractor as a back up yard machine. Not worth much but could make an excellent powerplant for a pto genny.

JB

 

[tsteahr]

Thanks for the review, I've got an IMD 10 kw as well but have not had the misfortune of needing it. I thought for sure with Irene I would need it, but even though over half the state lost power, mine just blinked once.

I did do some testing with it and found it required some manual adjustment from no load to full load. But I got the capacitor regulated model, not the AVR. I thought the capacitor model would be less complicated and maybe be easier to maintain and last longer. Now I think I should of just got the AVR.

On the higher capacity models, they only come AVR. And yes the people at IMD are very helpful, I bothered them with many long conversations and questions, they were very patient with me.

Their optional 3pt carrier is great too, used with a 3pt QH, makes it very simple and fast to mount it and move it.

I have an older diesel Ford tractor as a back up yard machine. Not worth much but could make an excellent powerplant for a pto genny.

JB

Thanks for the pics. Mine is very similar except it's black instead of yellow. In place if your two large caps is a small (2"x3") potted board with two trim pots and a handful of electrical bits. Hopefully being resin potted the avr board will be fairly durable. They look simple to replace and Shane did say he would send out another if I ever needed it.

 

[irvingj]

Bookmarked it! Thanks much.

 

[cdaigle430]

Thanks to Irene I had the opportunity to use my 10KW pto generator for backup power. I was without power for about a week and logged about 80 hrs with the generator powering the house. I can share some observations if there is anyone out there considering using a PTO generator for backup power.

Overall performance of the IMD 10KW unit driven by the GC2410 was excellent. The combination is much quieter than similarly sized gas powered portable units from a box store. The GC holds the set pto speed rpm for hours and never drifts. The governor is up to the task of maintaining engine speed as generator load varies. I observed approximately 1HZ variation between no load condition and full output at 10kw.

What I found surprising is the power of the Iseki motor. MF has the 2410 rated at 18.7hp at the PTO. In theory this is insufficient HP to drive a 10kw generator to full output. However the GC was able to drive the generator to the point of tripping the 40amp 240v main output breaker (trying to start a 4 ton AC unit). Based on the tone of the engine, I believe she had more power in her. My gut feeling is the GC could drive 11KW or possibly slightly more. A 12kw generator would be a reasonable match as well.

Fuel consumption was slightly under 1/2 gallon per hour with the generator delivering on average between 3kw and 6kw. I would burn about 5 gallons per 11-12 hrs.

In summary the GC makes a great power unit to drive 10kw-12kw of backup power. It is significantly quieter then a stand alone gas unit with less fuel consumption. I believe the GC maintains a smoother frequency than inexpensive gas units. My experience with box store gas units is they tend to hunt and surge rather than hold a steady rpm. This is more pronounced at light load. The GC exhibits none of this behavior.

So for those that are considering a PTO unit as a alternative to a box store gas generator, the GC will do a excellent job of driving a 10kw-11kw PTO generator.

Great write up,
Unfortuntaly I had to settle for a portable Craftsmen thanks to Irene.

 

[cdaigle430]

Interesting. I've been debating a PTO generator, however I'm not to keen on racking up hours on the tractor just sitting running a generator. I'm torn on the decision and not sure if it would be cost effective. My tractor would have to run close to full throttle for 540 rpm. For a stand alone generator, you buy cost and fuel cost. PTO generator, you have buy cost, fuel cost and wear and tear on the tractor......

No worries, Diesels love to run, the more the better. It's not like a gas engine at all and as long as they are maintained properly the engine will last a long time.

A typical 7kw propane generator runs through about 1.5 gallans an hour as well so the fuel consumption he is reporting is not bad at all.

For most of us, the rear PTO hardly gets used at all anyway.

 

[Kal130]

I saw this little baby at rural king recently. They were asking $1099 I think for it. It's a 15kw. Said it required about 25 PTO/HP I think. I figured the GC would probably handle it fine. It on my wish list. I too figured utilizing my tractor engine would be far more efficient than yet another engine to keep running. I have a 5kw stand alone unit that has barely been used. It won't maintain rpm for nothing. I will only use it to run the block heater on my bigger stuff since I park them well away from line power.

 

[JB4310]

I saw this little baby at rural king recently. They were asking $1099 I think for it. It's a 15kw. Said it required about 25 PTO/HP I think. I figured the GC would probably handle it fine. It on my wish list. I too figured utilizing my tractor engine would be far more efficient than yet another engine to keep running. I have a 5kw stand alone unit that has barely been used. It won't maintain rpm for nothing. I will only use it to run the block heater on my bigger stuff since I park them well away from line power.

Theoretically it takes about 2HP per KW, so about 30 pto hp to get 15kw.

But you could run it with less hp, just wont get the full 15 kw output.

That looks nice set up on the 3pt carrier.

JB.