PTO Generator Choices

[Sawyer Rob]

1 gallon of lpg is ~90,000 btu 1 gallon of # 2 diesel is 134,000 btu.
so 81 gallons of propane has roughly the same energy equivalent of a 55 gallon drum of diesel.


I own my Propane tank at its currently is $1.80 per gallon. So as long as diesel is atleast $2.71 a gallon its cheaper to opperate on propane. Last year during my last 5 day outage gas and diesel were closer to $4 and propane was 1.90
Also during that outage is used my tractor a lot to clean up the mess from the storm.

Operating cost and depreciation
Oil and filters alone cost me over $1.40 an hour on the tractor mostly thanks to 17 gallons of hydraulic oil. My generator holds 1.5 quarts good for 100 hours and a $8 filter. Im sure the standby generators dont cost much more for maintaining.

You can probably repace the whole engine on a 10-12kw standby generator for about the cost of an injection pump replacement or rebuild on a diesel.


Natural gas would be my first choice but i dont have that option.

I guess a person can pick and choose the comparisons to fit their own argument...

A year ago, propane here was $4.00 a gallon and they had a 50 gallon limit! Then a couple months later it was 100 gallon limit... Farm diesel was cheaper and no limit.

Maintaince on my tractor is the price of a filter and 5 qts of oil, I don't have to change the hydraulic oil even every year, so that's a non issue...

I've never had to buy an injection pump or rebuild a diesel tractor motor so that's absolutely NOT an issue for me... I bet you my diesel tractor motor will easily out last a couple of those genset motors too... I can't even imagine running my PTO genset enough to make my diesel tractor need a motor repair!

See how things can be made to fit any argument?? lol

SR

 

[s219]

1 gallon of lpg is ~90,000 btu 1 gallon of # 2 diesel is 134,000 btu.
so 81 gallons of propane has roughly the same energy equivalent of a 55 gallon drum of diesel.

It's not quite that simple when considering tank volume for generators. First, propane tanks can only be filled to 80% of capacity, so you need a 25% larger tank to get the same volume of fuel. Combine that with the energy content, and the propane tank need to be about 90% bigger. Then there is the vaporization rate of the tank and the required flow rate of the generator. Large generators can pull quite a bit from a tank, and generally require a larger tank. Finally, while you can let a propane tank drop to 5-10% capacity and still have decent pressure for gas appliances, a generator lower limit is more like 15-20%, so effectively, you have to upsize another 25%, so now we're up to a propane tank that is 132% bigger than the "equivalent" volume of diesel.

All of that, and probably more than I understand, meant I'd need a car-sized tank to run a 21kW propane generator and have acceptable runtime. The same kW from diesel has no tank volume requirements, and a 55 gal drum is enough to get me decent runtime. Even with a couple backup drums of diesel for extended runtime, that is still less space than a lesser propane tank would need.

I was considering all options when shopping for generators, but propane ruled itself out because we just didn't have the required space next to the house.

 

[newbury]

1 gallon of lpg is ~90,000 btu 1 gallon of # 2 diesel is 134,000 btu.
so 81 gallons of propane has roughly the same energy equivalent of a 55 gallon drum of diesel.


I own my Propane tank at its currently is $1.80 per gallon. So as long as diesel is atleast $2.71 a gallon its cheaper to opperate on propane. Last year during my last 5 day outage gas and diesel were closer to $4 and propane was 1.90
Also during that outage is used my tractor a lot to clean up the mess from the storm.

Operating cost and depreciation
Oil and filters alone cost me over $1.40 an hour on the tractor mostly thanks to 17 gallons of hydraulic oil. My generator holds 1.5 quarts good for 100 hours and a $8 filter. Im sure the standby generators dont cost much more for maintaining.

You can probably repace the whole engine on a 10-12kw standby generator for about the cost of an injection pump replacement or rebuild on a diesel.


Natural gas would be my first choice but i dont have that option.

It seems you are attempting to turn the OP's thread about PTO Generator choices into a general discussion of why you don't like PTO generators for your situation.

I project my M4700 is going to cost me about $400 every 600 hours of use for filters and 10 gallons of UDT2. My B7610 will cost far less. It's too bad your tractor requires so much fluid, But then it would be REAL overkill to buy an M8540 to run a 10KW generator, wouldn't that run a 40KW generator?.

Diesel is running $2.42/gallon in Fulton now. It's too bad if your diesel costs more.

This is a tractor forum, most of us have tractors. Running a PTO generator is real easy to do IF you have a tractor. There are arguments against PTO generators but just because YOUR fixed costs running your M8540 are fairly high it doesn't mean others would have to pay those costs.

PTO generators, especially if gotten for a bargain are well worth it. Minimal maintenance, no carb or fuel problems, easy to move around.

 

[daybreak1998]

Howdy,
Buying a PTO generator is a lifelong decision. Go with a better grade generator. I would also recommend you upsize the PTO generator. It's one of those pieces that will last you a lifetime and pass on to kids and their lifetime. A PTO generator can sit there and not be used for a long time. You have your tractor, and/or tractors all running and maintained. You will always have maintenance cost, nothing is life is free. Think about what your electrical needs are, and get a PTO generator that will be at 50% capacity, that way you will have room for future growth. You really do not need to buy one, and turn around and sell it a year later to then buy a bigger unit. A bigger unit will also spin behind a smaller HP just fine. You might not get the full capacity, but it will work.
I have a Tiger Power 30kw pto generator. I power a good portion of the farm with it. The PTO generator plugs into my central farm distribution, which covers well, house, shop, barns etc.. I always have a tractor available to run it.

Some ideas for connecting to your house can be found at this post of mine here generator transfer switch choices

Tiger Power PTO generator 30KW running prime with 90KW surge (AVR rated)

 

[AndyMA]

Howdy,
Buying a PTO generator is a lifelong decision. Go with a better grade generator. I would also recommend you upsize the PTO generator. It's one of those pieces that will last you a lifetime and pass on to kids and their lifetime. A PTO generator can sit there and not be used for a long time. You have your tractor, and/or tractors all running and maintained. You will always have maintenance cost, nothing is life is free. Think about what your electrical needs are, and get a PTO generator that will be at 50% capacity, that way you will have room for future growth. You really do not need to buy one, and turn around and sell it a year later to then buy a bigger unit. A bigger unit will also spin behind a smaller HP just fine. You might not get the full capacity, but it will work.
I have a Tiger Power 30kw pto generator. I power a good portion of the farm with it. The PTO generator plugs into my central farm distribution, which covers well, house, shop, barns etc.. I always have a tractor available to run it.

Some ideas for connecting to your house can be found at this post of mine here generator transfer switch choices

Tiger Power PTO generator 30KW running prime with 90KW surge (AVR rated)

I ended up buying this 12 kW generator for $1299 delivered PTO Driven Meccalte 12000 13750 Watt Generator Head with Outlets PTO12 | eBay

and this trailer for $287 delivered Winco PTO Trailer W10PTOS W15PTOS | eBay

The Italian generator comes from a large ganerator factory that makes a lot of generators up to 300kW and has good reviews for making a quality product.

Now all I need to do is figure out what length PTO shaftI need

The generator should be here in a week. Wish me luck.

By the way the reason I only went with a 12 kW generator is that my total load including minisplit heating and A/C i under 5 kW. My house is 100% LED and ZeroNet with a 15 kW Solar PV System

I'll probably tie in with a interlocked main breaker since my solar is tied in as a line side tap

I also want to be able to run it on my 24 HP JD X748SE and not have to run my 75 HP NH TN75D

Regarding tie in. I design solar systems for a living and regularly tie in solar with both manual and automatic transfer switches. My solar system also provides 3kW of 120 V with no grid present if the sun is bright enough.

SMA Secure Power Supply SUNNY BOY 3000TL-US / 3800TL-US / 4000TL-US / 5000TL-US / 6000TL-US / 7000TL-US / 7700TL-US

Now all I have to do is tie it all together. I went with the trailer since I think it is faster to hookup


Andy

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I ended up buying this 12 kW generator for $1299 delivered PTO Driven Meccalte 12000 13750 Watt Generator Head with Outlets PTO12 | eBay

I also want to be able to run it on my 24 HP JD X748SE and not have to run my 75 HP NH TN75D
Andy

Andy, you can run a bigger PTO gen set with a smaller tractor, no problem at all... You just can't get MAX power out the the gen set with the smaller tractor...

I run my 15KW with my 12.5 PTO hp compact more than with any other tractor...

I think you will like your new PTO powered gen set... they are very handy to have around!

SR

 

[newbury]

<snip>
I think you will like your new PTO powered gen set... they are very handy to have around!

SR

And on a general note just KNOWING it is in your possession eases the stress when the power goes out.

SWMBO routinely would fret when the power went out, and light candles all around the house. Usually the power would be back on within 15 minutes. Since I bought my first generator about 15 years ago and showed her how to run a few lights and the frig she's ceased fretting and lighting candles. She knows if power goes out for a while we can fire up the generator. And in those 15 years, despite one to several power outages a year, I've only fired it up once, and that was when it was close to a "maintenance run" anyways. And I only ran it for about an hour.

 

[AndyMA]

Just received news the trailer should be here tomorrow and the generator on Saturday

Then hopefully I can figure out PTO length

 

[buickanddeere]

Well, I have the 15KW Winco, it surges to 18K, it's been a good unit and I'd buy it again.

I like the idea of buying bigger than I needed, as I have no idea what the future will bring, and I can put it on a bigger tractor and run my welder, with lights lighting the area and someone running a side grinder if needed... I can also run it with a smaller tractor when I need less power and save some fuel.

If you are buying one for emergency use, don't try to save money by buying a lower quality unit!

SR

I'll 2nd that.

 

[buickanddeere]

I have my fathers 15kw Winco generator now and it's worked flawlessly for 30 years. I too would go with extra power rather than just enough.

I'll 2nd that as well.