Portable Generator for temp power outages.

[Sawyer Rob]

I thought of that but running my tractor at 2600 rpm for hours made me cringe both for the tractor and the fuel consumption.

Do you honestly think your tractor wasn't designed to run at pto speeds for hours and hours??? IF mine wasn't, I send the terd down the road!

Secondly, how much fuel do you think your tractor would use? I'm betting it would use less than you would think.

SR

 

[Popgadget]

The PTO option is the best one in my opinion. I have a 25kw PTO as a backup to a 22k propane automatic. Largely because my wife insisted on having a seamless transition, and didn’t want to hook up the tractor if I wasn’t home.
I wouldn’t hesitate to run the tractor as long as was required, I would guess that it costs less to run than the propane one.

 

[Diggin It]

Hours and hours is one thing. Days and days is another.

Not sure why this keeps coming up. The PTO option may be OK for some, but it isn't for all. If you have several tractors, maybe you can afford to commit one to a single task like this.

 

[EddieWalker]

We woke up this morning with the power out and 8 inches of snow with 8 degrees F Temps.

We have 20 baby chicks in our feed room out at the barn. My wife said that we have to get them into the house to keep them warm.because there is no power for their heat lamps. I started up the little Honda generator on the 5th pull and ran my 2 longest extension cords out to the barn. Heat lamps are on and I have another heater under a metal chicken waterer.

I have another extension cord into the house to keep.our phones charged, make coffee, and now that coffee is done, my wife is steaming eggs for our dogs breakfast. 4 of them get a couple hard boiled eggs with their crockpot food, the other one prefers raw eggs over her food.

Our BBQ is propain and it's on wheels, so I moved it closer to the back door so we can fry some eggs for our breakfast.

This part of Texas is shut down from the snow. Maybe a lot of Texas is shut down? We have plenty of heat from our wood stove, but no internet, but good cell service so far.

I can see where a bigger generator would be better, but just having this small Honda is a life saver in so many ways. Small is better then nothing.

 

[Diggin It]

^^^ They're saying rolling blackouts across affected areas, but not for how long or how often.

 

[Citydude]

We woke up this morning with the power out and 8 inches of snow with 8 degrees F Temps.

We have 20 baby chicks in our feed room out at the barn. My wife said that we have to get them into the house to keep them warm.because there is no power for their heat lamps. I started up the little Honda generator on the 5th pull and ran my 2 longest extension cords out to the barn. Heat lamps are on and I have another heater under a metal chicken waterer.

I have another extension cord into the house to keep.our phones charged, make coffee, and now that coffee is done, my wife is steaming eggs for our dogs breakfast. 4 of them get a couple hard boiled eggs with their crockpot food, the other one prefers raw eggs over her food.

Our BBQ is propain and it's on wheels, so I moved it closer to the back door so we can fry some eggs for our breakfast.

This part of Texas is shut down from the snow. Maybe a lot of Texas is shut down? We have plenty of heat from our wood stove, but no internet, but good cell service so far.

I can see where a bigger generator would be better, but just having this small Honda is a life saver in so many ways. Small is better then nothing.

Don't forget to drip faucets that aren't within the heating area of the wood stove.

 

[tibadoe]

I run a Generac GP17500E. Pretty hefty for a portable - would hate to have to move it very far or very often. Got it for home power outages and powering my welder when needed. Wired up a manual transfer switch and it takes 5 minutes from roll out to throwing the switch. Powers entire home with exception of electric heat. Use the gas logs or wood stove and all is good.

Thought for sure I would need it for this past ice storm over the weekend. Got 5/8" ice with lots of power outages and trees down in our area. But we made it through with little damage (compared to others) and no loss of power. Some in our county and surrounding areas will be without power for a good week or more. I feel for them.

I did notice that once we got the generator we hardly loose power anymore. Guess it murphy's law kicking in.

 

[grsthegreat]

8” of snow up here doesn’t even stop traffic. But add ice and that’s a different puppy. We have had many ice storms over the years. Lots of power lines down. One local utility even had 2 helicopters fly low over the power lines to get rid of excessive ice buildup a few years back.

 

[PILOON]

I'm at the end of the line in a rural setting so we see all too many outages.
Usually the average is about 4 hours but once it lasted 4 days.
I have a gas unit 9000 start/7 run hooked up via a manual transfer box.
Runs my sewage pump, water supply fridge and freezer plus a few household circuits.

For cooking I have an induction hot plate and the microwave.
Bonus is that I can run internet and TV for distraction.
For heat I use 2 ceramic heaters and my slow combustion fireplace.

So far so good!

Were I younger I'd probably consider a fully automatic diesel whole house system but that time's is past.

To identify the genny powered outlets I found LED indicated outlet splitters at the local dollar store. Nice handy gadget.

 

[EddieWalker]

Apparently somebody decided it was a good idea to rely on windmills for part of our power supply here in Tezas. Now we have learned that when windmills freeze, they do not generate electricity. Now we are waiting for them to thaw out enough to start spinning again.

^^^ They're saying rolling blackouts across affected areas, but not for how long or how often.

 

[ultrarunner]

Growing up did not know a single person with a generator except a few contractors.

Fast forward and it seems every other house now has one.

Y2K was the first time I remember a run on generators.

Of course the planned power shutoffs put everyone into high gear...

Bought my first in 1985... Honda 1000

 

[fried1765]

You might want to consider the 7500W (surge) inverter generator from Northern Tool. US QC.

All the best,

Peter

Yet another, made in China, I am sure!

 

[fried1765]

I have a 32 year old electric start Honda ES6500, that I bought new in 1989.
Water cooled, ovhd. valve,...a fine piece of machinery.
New models are apparently inverter types, and that is a good thing too.
I have NEVER bought ANYTHING with the Honda label, that was ever less than an outstanding piece of machinery!

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I wouldn稚 hesitate to run the tractor as long as was required, I would guess that it costs less to run than the propane one.

I'd bet you are right!

I always get a kick out of guys worrying about running their diesel tractor that was designed to be run at pto speed for "days" or longer, because it may hurt it! BUT, they feel just fine running a screaming little gas motor, that wasn't designed to be run for days on end, and they are fine with that? lol

I'd not be afraid to take my diesel tractor and put it at pto speed and run it for weeks if needed!! AND that includes my little yuppie tractor...

SR

 

[Popgadget]

I have a 32 year old electric start Honda ES6500, that I bought new in 1989.
Water cooled, ovhd. valve,...a fine piece of machinery.
New models are apparently inverter types, and that is a good thing too.
I have NEVER bought ANYTHING with the Honda label, that was ever less than an outstanding piece of machinery!

I also had one of those. It’s actually overhead cam, driven by a timing belt. I had mine jump time and not start twice due to mouse nests. When I cranked it the nest went around the pulley and knocked it out of time. At least the second time, I knew right away what was wrong.

 

[coobie]

Looking for advice on Generators. We don't lose power for any length of time here; in 3+ years it's never been out for longer than 3-4 hrs and my neighbor who has lived here for 40 years said it's never been out as far as he can recall more than a day. (We moved from N Jersey where it's not unusual to lose power for days. After Sandy we didn't have power for 10 days. After Irene (I think) we were w/out for 1 week)

I searched the threads and found nothing recent.

I have a Porter Cable 5350w unit that is starting to show it's age. It has a 10HP B&S.

All the units I've been seeing are made in China and I trust their engines as far as I can throw them. While their design is fine (as they stole it from honda) their QC is +/-.

I'm thinking about 5-7kW would be sufficient as I'm looking to run my well pump and some refrigerators, fans and lights. As my home is all electric (except the cook top) I'd never be able to run the whole house w/out enormous expense.

Any experience or advice is appreciated.

Hard to beat Honda generators

 

[Popgadget]

Yup, but they are hard to find right now, especially the larger ones.

 

[EddieWalker]

My little Honda generator has been running for the last 26 hours. I top it off every 5 to six hours. I set my alarm for 3 am this morning to add gas to it. Our baby chicks will die if they lose heat.

This morning we set a new all time record cold temp at -6 F that broke the previous record set back in 1930.

The generator also powers a light inside out home, keeps our phones charged and we where able to watch TV. We turn off the TV to make coffee. Dinner was cooked on the propane gas grill out on our porch.

Not knowing how much longer Texas will be shut down, or how many more days we will be without power, I can see.the advantage to having a bigger generator. We are surviving, but.we are also sacrificing and sort of barely getting by.

I've used about 4 gallons of gas so far. When I empty the first gas can I'm going to try and get to the gas station half a mile away. I have no idea if it's open, or not. I'm going to drive my Kawasaki Mule since the news is full of people sliding off of the roads.

 

[fried1765]

My little Honda generator has been running for the last 26 hours. I top it off every 5 to six hours. I set my alarm for 3 am this morning to add gas to it. Our baby chicks will die if they lose heat.

This morning we set a new all time record cold temp at -6 F that broke the previous record set back in 1930.

The generator also powers a light inside out home, keeps our phones charged and we where able to watch TV. We turn off the TV to make coffee. Dinner was cooked on the propane gas grill out on our porch.

Not knowing how much longer Texas will be shut down, or how many more days we will be without power, I can see.the advantage to having a bigger generator. We are surviving, but.we are also sacrificing and sort of barely getting by.

I've used about 4 gallons of gas so far. When I empty the first gas can I'm going to try and get to the gas station half a mile away. I have no idea if it's open, or not. I'm going to drive my Kawasaki Mule since the news is full of people sliding off of the roads.

If the gas stations have no power, they cannot pump gas.
Access to gas, can quickly become a problem.
If you buy a larger generator you should consider propane, with several 100lb. tanks at a minimum.

 

[grsthegreat]

Its amazing how fast people’s opinions on larger generators changes after a long power outage. My biggest sales years always followed ice storms and wind storm outages. I was a small 1 man shop and the year I sold 58 GENERAC whole house systems nearly drove me nuts. Worked 7 days a week. Swore never again.
One of the reasons I decided to retire. I do like getting the calls a month ago thanking me for the generator after surviving 3- 5 days with no utilities and 15f outside.

I woke up to 4 inches of new snow. About 20 now. So not bad. Last few days it was below 0 wind chills in morning. Gets old fast.

Feel sorry for Texas. There not use to this like we are. I have a cousin near Georgetown texas. They have rolling blackouts and lots of ice damage.

I fing it amazing that very few service stations have backup power up here in Idaho. When we get these 5 day outages, most stations can’t dispense fuel of any kind. That’s why I installed a 1000 gallon buried propane tank. Just for piece of mind.