Do's and Don'ts and recommendation for buying a PTO driven electricity generator?

[Diggin It]

Mine has a 6 gallon tank. If I were burning a gallon an hour, I'd be refueling every 6 hours or less. In normal operation I burn about 1/2 gallon an hour, sometimes more, so I'd still be refueling every 8-10 hours.

My whole house will be connected to a 500 gallon tank, so hopefully it would be able to run several days. More if I ration on/off time. I'm supposed to do that anyways so I can check oil level. Since it's right next to the house, but under cover, I can do that unless the weather is extreme.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Mine has a 6 gallon tank. If I were burning a gallon an hour, I'd be refueling every 6 hours or less. In normal operation I burn about 1/2 gallon an hour, sometimes more, so I'd still be refueling every 8-10 hours.

My whole house will be connected to a 500 gallon tank, so hopefully it would be able to run several days. More if I ration on/off time. I'm supposed to do that anyways so I can check oil level. Since it's right next to the house, but under cover, I can do that unless the weather is extreme.

Well mine has an 18 gallon tank, and having an enclosure near the house is no big deal, so REALLY it's all about making good choices when buying a tractor in the first place and where you keep it!

SR

 

[Rustyiron]

That makes the thoughts about a larger PTO-powered electric generator seem a lot more practical and it will not be a uni-tasked since I can power stuff remotely like my welder to fix my pipe fence and other things like spinning a concrete mixer away from the house.

As a starting point, I think the diesel tractor-powered generator is my best option but, I'm probably overlooking some factors in my choice. Also, where should I start looking for a PTO-driven electric generator?

TIA,
Sid

As you can see here, everyone has their own needs, you'll figure it out what direction to go. I imagine that a used PTO genny will be hard to find in your area right now for obvious reasons, but your tractor dealers and farmers co op's should be able to find one for your if they don't have one in stock. In normal times you would be able to find one used that if for some reason you find that you would like some type of permanent installation (or anything else) you'd probably be able to sell it at or very near your purchase cost. In my mind there are 2 needs to consider, your need to run a welder and other portable electrical "stuff" around the farm for shorter periods of operation. Then there's the several day duration outages. The PTO will do both, but you need to carefully select a "small" standby generator (and study the fuel usage and duty cycles) for prolonged, several days use. It's hard to beat the "entry cost" of a PTO generator.

 

[LouNY]

They turn up on craigs list fairly often and many farm auctions will have one or two.
You can save a search on Craigs list and it will email you every time one shows up.
Many of the dealers will have few used ones also.

 

[Sid Post]

First, I lived on a farm in Huntsville, AL with well water when the F4 and F5 tornadoes rolled through and took power down for a 100-mile radius for ~2 weeks. Where I live in rural Texas now, I get a lot of short-term power outages.

This has previously taken me down the path to investigate a whole house powered Generac unit power on Natural Gas and Kohler whole house units on diesel or NG. The diesel Onan's used in the trucking industry was the most practical to me. Why?

With a tornado or unusually low temperatures, Natural Gas is often turned off for safety at the supplier by the state. Gasoline is expensive and runs out quickly when the roads close due to cold weather or tornadoes. During a tornado with downed power lines, electrical generation is also cut so the "walking wounded" don't get electrocuted.

For me, this leaves Propane or Diesel are the only viable fuel sources for weather-related electrical power generation.

I also have e lot of Solar power experience but, the batteries alone for a whole house system start at ~$8K and realistically is more in the area of ~$18K. Then there is the issue of where to put that many solar panels and the solar trackers. There is thousands of dollars of wire, power controllers, etc. as well that drive up the cost. And of course, there is ZERO portability and the risk of storm damage due to wind to the panels and electronics.

While I did not consider a light tower for electrical supply (awesome out of the box thinking btw!), a diesel powered welder was one option I did consider. However, it really doesn't have whole-house power capability.

Nate at Messick's is a good source to talk to about Winco PTO-powered options. A 15Kw trailer-mounted unit is $2300 drop-shipped to my front door. 15Kw won't run my whole house but, with a wood-burning stove and some space heaters, it will carry the house well enough to take a warm shower OR do laundry OR use the oven OR ...

The 15Kw trailer-mounted unit is sized well for my Kubota B2601. Do I really want to use it up as the motor as a Generac or similar replacement? Not really but, the likelihood of needing more than 4 days of continuous power generation is pretty low. Once every ~10 years is nothing in the life of Kubota motor of this class. If I use it up, a replacement is relatively cheap in comparison to the use I got.

I should also note, during the recent Texas ice storm, diesel was the one thing that DID NOT run out at the local "gas'n'go" places. Add normal fuel in the tractors and a 500-gallon storage tank, I should be good for a couple of weeks at least.

The light tower and similar options like the Onan truck power units are worth further investigation though.

For what it is worth for those thinking about solar, pallet quantity (25) panels are running about $0.30/watt. While that looks attractive, that only scratches the surface for off-grid power solutions. If you are just charging back into the grid, you can skip the battery expense but it still is a pretty expensive option to consider.