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

[52wej]

Ive got a 17kw propane backup with auto switch, been out of power since Saturday morning. Propane tank ran empty last night with delivery scheduled yesterday but not showing up. PTO generator is much easier to refill and stockpile fuel for. I will be getting a generator plug added to run a smaller generator in the coming weeks once the local electricians get caught up. In central VA supplied by Southside Electric Co-Op, they have gotten about 1/3 of their customer restored to power since Saturday.....

I also am on SEC. My daughter is one of those still out. I think someone from the SEC coop told her they still had 43% of customers out as of yesterday afternoon. The amount of ice damage in this region has been significant. My dad told me that back in the depression the large power companies, Dominion and AEP which both are within two miles of me, would not extend the lines across country to all of the little farms. It took the coops like SEC through the REA to get people the power. THE reality is that SEC has a lot more line to maintain per customer than some of the bigger for profit utilities. So a significant ice storm really hammers them. W. Jones

 

[Diggin It]

^^ Some counties along teh KY/WV line are still over 60% out:

PowerOutage.US

 

[zzvyb6]

For what you pay for the Generac generators, you could buy a second tractor used and dedicate it to just having electricity, running water, heat, A/C, clean clothes, dinner, garage door openers, internet service and no frozen pipes.

Heck, I can run my Winpower off of my 23 H.P. diesel lawn mower if I need the tractor to run down to the Stop N' Go for some pretzels. I'm pretty certain the propeller heads will try to inform me that 23 h.p. won't run a 25 kW pto generator, but I have black & white pictures to prove that it works just fine.

 

[Diggin It]

For what you pay for the Generac generators, you could buy a second tractor used and dedicate it to just having electricity, running water, heat, A/C, clean clothes, dinner, garage door openers, internet service and no frozen pipes.

I'll end up around $4500 or so once my generator is installed and operational. Other than something old and nearly worn out, I doubt I could get a tractor and PTO head for that. Then I'd still have the issue of getting it in place, connected and running during a storm, or over icy/snow covered hills in sub freezing weather. And then I'd still have to fuel it every few hours.

 

[07wingnut]

We debated using a pto generator for backup but decided that the option of an independent generator was the way to go, freeing up the tractor for dealing with the crap that is usually causing the outage. Deciding what type of generator normally depends on the most convenient type of fuel available, and here that does not include propane or NG. Most of those whole house screamers that are sold these days are not very durable, Generac comes to mind, and now Champion. Good luck trying to get service on those when mechanical problems develop. Diesel was the most logical for us, as we need diesel for the tractor as well. What we have now is an eight kw light tower that is powered by a D1105 kubota engine with over 10000hrs on the meter. It runs at 1800 rpm and can reasonably be expected to last another 5000hrs which means it will outlast us by many years. Bonus, the light tower has its own 50 gallon fuel tank, which is also the fuel tank used to fill the tractor.

It was clean when picked up, but got a little contaminated on the way home.

 

[JethroB]

We debated using a pto generator for backup but decided that the option of and independent generator was the way to go, freeing up the tractor for dealing with the crap that is usually causing the outage. Deciding what type of generator normally depends on the most convenient type of fuel available, and here that does not include propane or NG. Most of those whole house screamers that are sold these days are not very durable, Generac comes to mind, and now Champion. Good luck trying to get service on those when mechanical problems develop. Diesel was the most logical for us, as we need diesel for the tractor as well. What we have now is an eight kw light tower that is powered by a D1105 kubota engine with over 10000hrs on the meter. It runs at 1800 rpm and can reasonably be expected to last another 5000hrs which means it will outlast us by many years. Bonus, the light tower has its own 50 gallon fuel tank, which is not also the fuel tank used to fill the tractor.View attachment 687153View attachment 687152

It was clean when picked up, but got a little contaminated on the way home.

That's a nice rig and a great way to repurpose equipment. :thumbsup:

 

[52wej]

ZZ you are correct that a smaller tractor will pull a larger generator........ as long as the total load does not exceed the HP requirements. My 30 hp ran a 25 kw winco unit for 168 hours straight since last Saturday but we made sure the load never exceeded 15 kw, especially with starting larger motors. I have seen tractors jump up and down trying to start a heavy load. But diesel motors do love to run on a constant load like that. And FWIW my daughter got her power back almost 1 week to the minute after going out last Saturday. So our generator has been lovingly tucked back into its shed!! w.jones

 

[Sid Post]

I wonder how the natural gas supply for home generators is holding up in Texas. Anybody have direct experience down there ?
That's why I stuck with a diesel tractor powered Winpower 25 kW job. Plus I can get my neighbors well, furnace and battery chargers going at any time. Once my house is warm, It will stay that way for 4 hours. So I can use the tractor for a 4H parade or whatever your 'critical tractor needs' are that everybody talks about. You can pull trees out of the road, plow snow or teach driver's ed with a truck. No tractor really needed.

BTW: I was told that a log cabin would stop a .50 cal. Ain't so. My Barrett will penetrate a 12" dried oak log at 150 yards and still have enough momentum left to dent a (full) beer can.

Many wellheads froze solid and stopped NG flow. Pumping stations to keep the pressure up failed and stopped NG flow as well.

 

[LittleBill21]

ZZ you are correct that a smaller tractor will pull a larger generator........ as long as the total load does not exceed the HP requirements. My 30 hp ran a 25 kw winco unit for 168 hours straight since last Saturday but we made sure the load never exceeded 15 kw, especially with starting larger motors. I have seen tractors jump up and down trying to start a heavy load. But diesel motors do love to run on a constant load like that. And FWIW my daughter got her power back almost 1 week to the minute after going out last Saturday. So our generator has been lovingly tucked back into its shed!! w.jones

any idea on the fuel burn per hour? and average load?

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I'll end up around $4500 or so once my generator is installed and operational. Other than something old and nearly worn out, I doubt I could get a tractor and PTO head for that. Then I'd still have the issue of getting it in place, connected and running during a storm, or over icy/snow covered hills in sub freezing weather. And then I'd still have to fuel it every few hours.

Once again, you are not accurate in your post...

Are you going to put your whole house generator in the back shed? Maybe in the back of the barn?? A tractor and pto generator can be placed in an enclosure near a house just like the generator you bought.

How much fuel do you think a tractor will use running a generator? Mine uses less than a gallon an hour, so if I have to fuel the tractor every few hours, I guess you think a tractor only has a three gallon tank! lol

SR