Diesel Generator or PTO Generator?

[Olympus]

I've backfed into my panel at my last house. It's just me and my wife and I gave her a good lecture about the panel and she said she'd never touch the panel. It's not ideal, but as long as I'm the only one touching stuff, I felt safe.

I'm thinking big enough to run our a/c in the house.

 

[Soundguy]

Ok.. so lets boil this down. You bought a tractor to work with. It reaches it's rated hp at or very near the engine speed needed for 540 pto speed ( by design )... and.. you are AFRAID to use your tractor as it was designed.

You do realize the tractor does not know if it is mowing ( 540 pto rpm ) for 7 hours.. or turning a pto genset for 7 hours.

It's all pto rpm and laod. Your machine was DESIGNED to run at rated hp for extended intervals. Yor car? not so much... it is designed to make hp to get you on the freeway, and then back off for travel. if you ran your car floored for extended times.. it wouldn't last. Luckilly.. the people that built your tractor designed it to make it's hp on a continous basis.

No.. i wouldn't strap myself down to a small dedicated engine 6500w genset. if you want to run your house.... your machine is more suited to a 10-12k genset .

All that said.. if you are afraid to run your tractor.. I suggest selling it, buying a lawnmower and a dedicated larger genset for the house with the money.

( you do realize those dedicated gensets run for extended intervalvs makeing the same hp your tractgor engine would.. right? and you somehow think it's fine for those engine to run but not your tractor? which.. IMHO.. likely has a better engine than the whizz-bangs they stick you with on lawnmowers and gensets anyway.

I'm trying to decide whether I need a good generator or not. I have a portable gas genny but it's loud and not big enough to run my whole home. I also have been moving away from gas and towards diesel. I now keep a 40 gallon barrel of diesel at all time. So a diesel genny makes more sense.

My question is whether I should get a PTO genny and use my tractor to power it or just get a complete portable diesel unit with engine and genny both. The PTO I'm looking at is 7200 watts rated and it's $900. The complete unit is 6500 watts rated for $1150.

I have two concerns with the PTO. My tractor is 23hp and for 540rpm that would require running at almost full throttle. I'm worried about that being hard on the tractor engine for extended periods line 5 to 7 hours at a time. My next concern is my tractor is brand new and I don't want to rack up lots of hours and wear my tractor out quickly.

My concern for the complete unit is whether 6500 watts will be enough for my whole home and also the additional worry about another engine to regularly maintain. I keep my tractor ready at all times and it always fires right up. I don't know if the complete unit would be the same.

Any advice would be appreciated. Been at the house 2 years and never had a power failure more than a couple hours, that's why I'm leaning toward the PTO since it's higher wattage and lower price and the need for usage may be little. We have buried utilities.

 

[Notforhire]

It's not ideal, but as long as I'm the only one touching stuff, I felt safe.

I'm glad you feel safe. How safe do you think the guys feel that are trying to restore your power?

Bill

 

[Olympus]

I think my issue is that I baby my tractor. It's brand new and has 40 hours right now. When I mow with it, it's running at 540rpms for about 2 to 3 hours at a time only. I only have 6 acres. If I had an older tractor I probably wouldn't have a care in the world. It's just the fact that I bought my first brand new tractor in my life and I certainly don't want to hurt it or wear it out quick. It needs to last me a long time.

 

[Soundguy]

Do you really need to power the entire house during an extended emergency outage?

That's a big issue. Most people don't understand that you don't need full 24/7 power, whole house in a power outtage. and in case of emergency or mass destruction.. you are better off NOT doing that, so you can ration your fuel. Here in florida in 04 and 05 when the bad bad bad hurricane season hit. many areas had no power for 2 weeks. that meant no fuel.. that meant you powered up the genny every 4 hours and ran the reefers for an hour, pumped up water for the well, perhaps reheated some water for a shower, and cook some food, listen to news.. then shut back down to conserve fuel. Also have to practice good resource management. Don't stand there with fridge open for 10m deciding what you want to eat. A reefer that is powered up an hour ever 4 hours will be fine untill it gets empty.

At least in my area.. the average person wouldn't last till the 'end of the week as we know it. let alone longer. No much mismanagement of resources. waste.. etc. You see some people with gennies going 24/7

 

[Soundguy]

I think my issue is that I baby my tractor. It's brand new and has 40 hours right now. When I mow with it, it's running at 540rpms for about 2 to 3 hours at a time only. I only have 6 acres. If I had an older tractor I probably wouldn't have a care in the world. It's just the fact that I bought my first brand new tractor in my life and I certainly don't want to hurt it or wear it out quick. It needs to last me a long time.

running it within it's specs should not hurt it or wear it out. That machine won't know the differenc ein 3 hours of mowing or 3 hours of making power.

No reason you need 24/7 power generation. an hour or so at a time, spaced out by a few hours is good resource management during an outtage and possible fuel shortage.

Are you afraid to drive your car on trips of mor ethan a few hours? ( you know.. that will eventually wear it out.. right? )

 

[EddieWalker]

For what it costs and how long you will need it, I went with a small Honda gas generator. It's only good for 13 amps, but it's quiet, uses just a little bit of gas and it's very reliable. When I lose power, it can be for a couple of hours or several days. All I really need power for is to turn on the lights and the TV. I heat with a stove so the house is warm and I can heat up water for bathing. It's kind of like camping.

I always have something attached to my tractor and I would hate to have to deal with removing an implement every time I needed to use my generator. I like portable and easy to put away.

Eddie

 

[Olympus]

I wouldn't be running 24/7 either. I don't live in an area that will flood. I'm wanting to power the a/c because I've been out for about a week in the heat of the summer and it was miserable in the house. I'd like to be able to cool the house off at night if that happened again.

 

[Threepoint]

I'm glad you feel safe. How safe do you think the guys feel that are trying to restore your power?

Bill

Amen. This is the big safety problem. The guys and gals that are out getting the power back on at all hours of the day and night are already doing dangerous work. They don't need to worry about electrocution from gensets jury-rigged to backfeed the house and barn wiring.

 

[prosperity]

I've pondered the same question and did lots of research. I always have lots of diesel available here - depending on the time of year anywhere between 500 and 1000 gallons (heating fuel tank). I don't keep gas around for anything since I don't need it and hate that it doesn't store well. Also as said above, if you need gas in an extended power outage you probably won't be able to get any.

I went the alternative route - no generator at all. We have a spring overflow that is 10' from the front porch - easy enough to dip 5 gallon buckets and have all the water we need. We now heat with an oil furnace, but still have our wood stove that has heated our whole house for many years. I make sure I keep at least 2 full cord of firewood in the wood shed.

We have an electric stove for cooking - bought a Coleman 2 burner propane stove for cooking and heating water. For lights in the winter, I have a couple Aladdin kerosene lamps.

Our power goes out frequently during bad storms but normally not longer than 10-12 hours. I have heat, water and can cook and see - that's all I need. I don't understand the folks who have mentioned that they have to have TV - why? Read a book!