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.

 

[grsthegreat]

inverters are great. i do work for the state of idaho and they use Honda large inverter units. i believe there in the 7000 watt range. super quiet, but also super expensive. there nearly 6 grand.

ive installed lots of 22 kw generac whole house units that cost less than that inverter. noisier by far, but less expensive for alot more available power.

if i was in a campground i would definately have an inverter. during a wind storm and power outage, not so much. personally, i could care less about a low hum as long as my house is powered up, my animals have water, and i can either stay warm or cool.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Here's a shot of my home energy utility. It explains why I don't need much generator to be comfortable. I'm an old codger who grew up before AC and central heat, so I maintain my 19th century energy tech. Thanks for the tip about the shop doors, though. If I had an outage and couldn't get big equipment out it would be a real nuisance.

 

[oosik]

I have a 3K Honda generator. Use it out & about on the property. Allows me to use my heavier corded power tools. In the 40+ years out here - never even once had to use the generator because of a power outage.

Excellent maintenance will provide superior service. Our Co-Op electric utility is the best.

 

[ArlyA]

We have one of those little 2000i Honda's we got years ago. Gosh that thing is quite and easy to move around. Great for little construction jobs where some power is needed.

 

[Gem99ultra]

We have one of those little 2000i Honda's we got years ago. Gosh that thing is quite and easy to move around. Great for little construction jobs where some power is needed.

I also have a pair of those little Honda 2000 generators. Mine runs about 12 hours on 1 gallon of gas. It sure saved my as* after Hurricane Ike. We were without power for about 6 weeks due to trees wiping out all power lines as well as ripping out the main electrical box from the side of our house. During that time fuel was unobtanium due to the stations also not having power for the pumps.

Since moving from the Big City, we added a DuraMax 10K for 240V service for the water pumps. The DuraMax runs on both gasoline and propane but it sure isn't as economical as those little Honda's.

 

[rangerfredbob]

A friend gave me one of those little Honda 2000 generators too, runs great but I think the stator is bad, I haven't looked at it for a few months ago but apparently it's a thing and about $200 unless anyone has any good deals they know of on the parts... it starts right up but the error light comes on or whatever and there's no voltage output...

 

[grsthegreat]

A friend gave me one of those little Honda 2000 generators too, runs great but I think the stator is bad, I haven't looked at it for a few months ago but apparently it's a thing and about $200 unless anyone has any good deals they know of on the parts... it starts right up but the error light comes on or whatever and there's no voltage output...

Unfortunately i know nothing about inverter units. Do those units have brushes? If they do, you need to clean slip rings and brushes and see if it helps. If the units are brushless, need to check the capacitor.

most small generators ive worked on have an excitation circuit to begin power generation. But again, youd need to find a diagnostic manual to find out how to test stator and what ever other issues effect voltage on these units. Ive seen bad voltage regulators cause shut down due to no voltage production .

 

[5030]

Unfortunately i know nothing about inverter units. Do those units have brushes? If they do, you need to clean slip rings and brushes and see if it helps. If the units are brushless, need to check the capacitor.

Inverter generators employ a multiple pole head that produces fairly high DC voltage which is converted electronically to 60 HZ AC. No slip rings or capacitance involved and no matter what brand you buy, they all have to pay royalties to Yamaha Motor Corp to utilize the technology. Yamaha pioneered the inverter technology and holds the patent on it.

I believe the DC generator head is 12 pole and on most of them, it direct mounts to the end of the crankshaft.

I owned one of the first Yamaha Inverters sold here, was a 2800I and it wasn't a cheap date and the motherboard failed and replacement cost was prohibitive so I sold it on Flea Bay.

The Champion Inverter I now have for portable power around the farm, Internally, looks very similar to the Yamaha I had.

Inverters are nice but one capable of running the farm would be extremely cost prohibitive.

 

[Hay Dude]

We were without power in Houston when Ike came through about 15 years ago. No power for 9 days. Had an 11 kw Honda generator. Thank goodness. We could power fridge, all lights, and even the small AC unit in a bedroom above garage. Each day I changed the oil. Gave it the opportunity to “rest”. No idea if it needed this but I wanted to be sure to keep it running properly. actually bought the generator in 1998 during ice storm in Virginia. Still have it. Run it a few times a year and run all of the fuel out of it.

We now have a whole house generator. Huge thing. 38kw. 1000 gallon propane tank . Have not needed it a single time yet.

Did my whole house, too. 22KW. Love it.
Strokes your ego and makes you feel like a genius during those long power outages 1-2 times a year.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

Our new home will be built with standby power ready to go. Our power outages are few, but when you are spending $600k already, what's the difference