I look at it the other way. First, if there's a storm and the power is out I'll likely need my tractor for something other than producing power. Second, why put a lot of hours on an expensive tractor when you could put them on a much cheaper generator? Third, my tractor is a lot louder than my generator, especially at the higher RPM's needed to run a PTO generator.
Whole house generator
- Thread starter Ridgewalker
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I look at it the other way. First, if there's a storm and the power is out I'll likely need my tractor for something other than producing power. Second, why put a lot of hours on an expensive tractor when you could put them on a much cheaper generator? Third, my tractor is a lot louder than my generator, especially at the higher RPM's needed to run a PTO generator.
Retired Iron Peddler
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I'm away from home some of the time and there are other times when we are both away from home for a period of time. It would impossible for my wife to hookup the tractor and generator by herself, and when we were both gone, it wouldn't work automatically or by remote control.
We have two high efficiency heat pumps with digital controls that would be sensitive to variances in voltage and harmonic distortion along with computers, a microwave oven, front load washer/dryer, dishwasher, TV/DVR, and electric range controls. Tractor driven PTO generators are not known for clean, steady, low harmonic distortion AC power.
Bill
tsteahr
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Neither are box store portables or low end 3600rpm (Generac) standby units. My limited experience with pto vs box store is the pto maintains frequency better than a box store portable unit. Didn't have a scope for harmonics, but I have a hard time believing there is much difference in AC noise.
hr3
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I think you will find that most newer generators regulate the voltage electronically now instead of a manuel governor. Sooo they are very accurate,,
Dargo
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Same here. Or, it's after a terrible storm or tornado and I need the tractor for other things. It would actually be very rare for me to need generator power for my home for an extended period of time and not need my tractor. I'm glad some people can find such a setup useful. I'm sure it is less expensive. However, I'm very pleased having a completely self contained Yanmar diesel powered 65,000kW generator with a 400 amp service rated automatic transfer switch. I basically opted to spend a little more money and have more convenience and the use of my tractor. Well, it was actually quite a bit more for that size generator. My 400 amp service rated automatic transfer switch alone cost more than what most people have quoted for their entire "whole house" system.
It seems like when we have a really bad snow storm I almost always end up breaking a blade or something by finding man hole covers that I was never told were there etc. It's nice to be able to run my shop as normal using welders, plasma cutters, air compressors etc. during those times. Before, if I broke something and we had a really wide power outage, I was pretty well out of luck if I broke something. My little portable 8500kW Honda generator was great for keeping the furnaces running, refrigerators running and a few lights, but I sort of like having my A/C in the summer too. I'm too old and spoiled to sleep if it's over 100 degrees in the bedroom.
grsthegreat
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85K geny..... what do you have, your own grow room to kep lit up hehe:laughing: :laughing: :laughing:
Dargo
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Nah, only 65k. Hey, I gotta pay the bills somehow :laughing: Just kidding, obviously. Still, I had two months in a row this summer during our really, really hot spell when my utility bill was 4 digits.
Just a big family and big house, guest house and barns. I gotta feeling if we have another ice storm where the power is out for weeks at a time I'll have a huge family for a while!Retired Iron Peddler
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Tractors have mechanical governors that don't respond quickly to load changes on the generator which cause voltage spikes. Voltage spikes are hard on the microprocessors in the newer appliances and HVAC systems as is harmonic distortion.
Yep, there probably is not much difference in the harmonic distortion between tractor PTO generators, some of the box store portables, and lower priced 3600-rpm standby generators. I imagine the Chinese built "knock off" portable generators are probably the worst offenders.
Bill
tsteahr
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I believe the performance of the governor depends on the tractor. I found the governor in my newer tractor maintains rpm very accurately. I don't have experience with older, vintage tractors but I would not be surprised if the governors are not as responsive. I also suspect the greater inertia of the power train in the tractor helps to stabilize frequency with large load changes. My experience with inexpensive box store units is the limited inertia results in a drop and surge in frequency during heavy load start. I believe the governors on most box store portable units are mechanical as well, although it has been a number of years since I have had a portable stand alone unit.
During Irene, I had several neighbors with new box store units. These units would surge and hunt to maintain rpm, mostly at light load. They seemed to be stable when given a load, but when lightly loaded I could hear the engines surge and cycle. (Gets rather annoying late at night). In contrast, the tractor RPM stays very stable, regardless of light or heavy load. No cycling or hunting. Set the engine speed to PTO rpm, verify frequency, and it will stay at that speed for hours without varying.
Voltage seems to be pretty well controlled with the newer electronic AVR (automatic voltage regulation) units, even with small changes in speed. The capacitor based voltage regulation is not quite a responsive, but AVR seems to be pretty good at maintaining voltage with changing load. At least what I could see with my Fluke meter.
jonyyuma
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65KW, did you buy it used or surplus from a business? I had a buddy whom made a real deal on one from a hospital that was upgrading. He bought the whole rig with the switch for chump change.. It is Cummins powered, so very reliable .