Finally bought a small generator.

[CloverKnollFarms]

I’ve researched a lot of smaller inverter types, and between Predator, Westinghouse and Champion, those seem to have the best overall reviews. I may have gone the Westinghouse route, via Amazon, had I not needed it immediately.

I will say, the reviews of the Predator units are very good. This morning I decided to just use the recoil start to see how that would go. Not wanting to pull the 100lb unit across the porch, I barely rolled it over, and I’ll be damned if it didn’t sputter to life on one meek pull!

Looks like we will get about 24 hours from 5 gallons of fuel… and we only run it for about +/-12 hours per day.

 

[newbury]

change the oil after your done, the small engines throw a pretty good amount of silver in the oil initially.

Change the oil at first chance after 10 hours or so running time.

 

[RjCorazza]

None of my generators are "silent" types, and I wish they were every time I fire them up.

On my 5kW Yanmar clone diesel I went as far as adding a second muffler. It really didn't do much to reduce the noise level. Sigh. OTOH, it has been a great generator when we have needed it, and quite fuel efficient.

I'm think of adding a 2000W inverter to the tractor for portable power for jobs around the ranch. Any experiences?

All the best,

Peter

I installed a 1700w inverter in my previous camper with 230 amps of battery to power it. It worked fine, but 2kw sucks a lot of battery power in a short time. Full load that inverter will be using over 160 amps from the 12v electrical system, which your tractor is not likely to come close to supporting for long. For short intermittent use it's certainly doable, but it's still going to put a very heavy load on the tractor's alternator and battery.
If you decide to move forward, make sure to look into the cable and fuse requirements, and try to keep the inverter as close to the battery as possible.

 

[Torvy]

Storms went through right before father's day out on the property. Lots of trees down, power was out for about a week. I was already planning to get a Generac whole house (18-20kw) propane generator.

This post makes me think I should have one of these, too. (Or at least some type of portable generator for remote work)

 

[D.Vance]

We live in NE Mo. Have a 22kw generac propane unit for the house. Carries us just fine, we do try to moderate the loads, but it allows us to live normally during outages. No problems in 4 years. I change the oil and filter annually, would change after 25-30 running if we ever had an outage of long duration.
Have a 3 pt pto 10kw I use on a compact tractor for the farm buildings and out in the fields. It provides both 240 and 120 volts. Very handy to be able to use power tools in the bush. It handles a mig welder with no problem, electric concrete vibrator and lights, no problem. Electric jack hammer puts close to its limits.

 

[bigtiller]

None of my generators are "silent" types, and I wish they were every time I fire them up.

I'm think of adding a 2000W inverter to the tractor for portable power for jobs around the ranch. Any experiences?

All the best,

Peter

I had one of those and occasionally I needed more than the 13 amps it continually made so I bought a second one and a jumper wire for more power.

And wouldn't you know it, the next year or so, Honda came out with a light weight 3000 watt inverter that would be perfect for me.

I sure wish I had one of them instead.

 

[two_bit_score]

I always service a generator and run it dry after using it. I also bag the exhaust to keep the daubers out.

Good reminder.

 

[two_bit_score]

Sounds like my luck @bigtiller.

 

[ponytug]

@RjCorazza & @bigtiller Thanks!

Mainly I want it for intermittent use of a pole saw or an electric chain saw while tree trimming. Both run around 1400W, or 120-ish amps at 12V, so more than my 60A alternator will put out, but not for long. The tractor runs a chipper, so the 60A alternator is going. I take the points of large cables and good fuses seriously.

All the best,

Peter

 

[MAX-24-Dean]

None of my generators are "silent" types, and I wish they were every time I fire them up.

I'm think of adding a 2000W inverter to the tractor for portable power for jobs around the ranch. Any experiences?

All the best,

Peter

I used to charge a 420 Amp hour battery set and run tools with a Yamaha Ef2400is (2400 watt) inverter generator, put a little over 5,200 hours on it before I had any problems with it. It was my only source of power for several years.
Others have reported more hours than this on there Honda or Yamaha inverter generators.
I bought another Ef2400is and use it to run power tools around the property, 100 hours on the meter and expect it to run for my lifetime. It is a liitlle heavy at around 70 pounds.
Also had a Honda 2200 watt inverter gen. and it was lighter, less than 50 pounds and much easier to move around. It was stolen, but it had close to 900 hours on it. very dependable.