pto generator?

[DarkBlack]

Well there goes some of the value of my arguments

Where can you find a $600 portable unit that will run the whole house?

Lowes, HD, etc.. I guess it depends on if you mean a 'house' or a small factory. My 5k watt generator runs my average sized house just fine during outages.

 

[roadhunter]

Thanks for all the info guys. I think I'm going to go with the PTO. My wife don't want to spend 6-7 thousand on a hole house generator. 2 of my neighbors have the hole house and 250 gallon propane tanks, they only last 2 days and there empty. When the power was out for a week they had a hard time getting propane delivered, and they told me they spent a small fortune because the propane company charged alot to come out.

A home generator that burns 125 gallons per day? Holy crap that is a lot of fuel IMO.

 

[newbury]

Gasoline is terrible as far as storing long periods. Diesel is better but can still have problems like algae. Not sure what your point is on CNG or propane as it stores better and is easy on the engines. Are you implying that propane can go bad if stored for long periods?

Are you implying that diesel in my tractor is going to go bad and I can't run my PTO generator?

Diesel stored for long periods can go bad. This would be a potential risk with a homeowner stationary unit with a attached fuel source. It will take years (decade???), but the fuel will go bad. This being a PTO conversation, I'd hope you could find some other use for your tractor before then.

My point exactly. Apparently I needed a sarcasm emoticon.

Lowes, HD, etc.. I guess it depends on if you mean a 'house' or a small factory. My 5k watt generator runs my average sized house just fine during outages.

Your average sized house has far less energy demands than mine.

I've four houses in the south, avg sq ft 2,000 plus, each has central a/c, electric stove, etc. the STARTING requirements for the a/c alone is about 5KW. Heck, the 10K btu window unit in my apartment requires over 2KW to start. A freezer takes about 1.3KW. If you can run your house "just fine" on 5KW that's great, less power to you.

(Numbers pulled from Portable Generator Size | Generator Calculator | Briggs & Stratton)

Checking Lowes they list one generator for $599 and it's a 5.5K, they've got another on sale same size.

 

[roadhunter]

Are you implying that diesel in my tractor is going to go bad and I can't run my PTO generator?

Not implying anything about your tractor . I was simply pointing out the fact that Diesel can go bad if it sits around long enough. I was responding to pmsmechanic as well.

 

[grsthegreat]

Holy cow... the 45KW water cooled unit just arrived. i thought the 22KW air cooled was large. This thing is huge. Now i have to install it next week. The smaller one is a 22KW i have to install later this month. My shop is getting cluttered with generators. I have 3 more on order.

 

[buickanddeere]

Safe depends on your aversion to risk. If you aren't going to be sitting on the tractor and it overheats or loses oil pressure then you aren't there to shut it off. Chances of that happening are very slim. Can you afford to replace the motor?

Install some Murphy switch gauges. They aren't cheap but they work. They are also relatively easy to install and will protect your investment. I just went to their website Murphy by Enovation Controls and looked at whet they all have. It might be a bit of a challenge to find what you need but if you have a local supplier they can help you sort things out. In southern Alberta they are very common on irrigation engines which can run non stop for weeks at a time.

As far as a PTO generator goes I don't have any experience yet but am in the process of building my own. Store bought ones are designed to run at 540 pto speed and I don't need full power so I'm designing one that runs at approx 300 pto rpm. I'm only planning on useing it for running my shop and having showers, washing clothes etc. during power outages. The rest of the time my yard can comfortably run on a 2200 watt Yamaha generator that we use for camping.

Running the generator at 60Hz geared up for 300 instead of 540 won't save 1/2 a gallon per day. Why bother? new problems now with lagging governor response. There will be frequency swings and exaggerated brownouts during motor starts.
It's also going to a be a one of a kind b*stard design that somebody else will over speed to 180% of rated. Worse yet the damage to electrical loads.

 

[pmsmechanic]

Running the generator at 60Hz geared up for 300 instead of 540 won't save 1/2 a gallon per day. Why bother? new problems now with lagging governor response. There will be frequency swings and exaggerated brownouts during motor starts.
It's also going to a be a one of a kind b*stard design that somebody else will over speed to 180% of rated. Worse yet the damage to electrical loads.

Why bother? Because I like a challenge and less rpm's = less wear. Lagging throttle response should be taken care of by the old baler flywheel that will be one of the pulleys. We'll see how that works out. If I'm wrong then it won't be difficult or expensive to make the required pulley changes.

One of a kind design doesn't bother me as most of my stuff is that way. I think differently than most people. The only thing that does worry me is the overspeed possibility and I honestly do not have a solution for that other than gearing it to run at 540. But it isn't built yet and who knows what my mind will come up with in the mean time. There is a possibility that someone reading this will have an elegant solution and is willing to share it.