Generator I found an unused PTO generator

[RickB]

The lady said her next door neighbor stated to her that these new cost over $1000 so she wants $500 and she would not allow me to take it back to my house to put on my tractor as she no longer has any tractors. I asked if it did not work would she give me my money back. She said sure so I got this thing home and attached and it turns it but it will not even power my drill up. How long can a PTO gen t sit w/out being used. I though about forever but am totally ignorant about gens. I wanted a PTO gen so as to not have to worry about starting it once in awhile like a gas gen.

Fire it up, plug a cheap 1/4" single speed drill into it and turn the drill chuck by hand. The drill will probably 'flash' the generator and you may be in business.

 

[BobRip]

I wanted a PTO gen so as to not have to worry about starting it once in awhile like a gas gen.

But you do need to start it. One of my generators manual says run it once every 3 weeks to drive moisture out. You will probably need to do the same for yours.

 

[Soundguy]

Fire it up, plug a cheap 1/4" single speed drill into it and turn the drill chuck by hand. The drill will probably 'flash' the generator and you may be in business.

Make sure you hold the switch to the drill on when you do this.

I bet you could also use a cordless drill chucked tot he cheap drill, hold the trigger and let it power up that way.

soundguy

 

[Gator6x4]

Make sure you hold the switch to the drill on when you do this.

I bet you could also use a cordless drill chucked tot he cheap drill, hold the trigger and let it power up that way.

soundguy

A cordless drill coupled to a electric drill works fine.....use a small 1/8 inch piece of wooden dowel to connect the two drills together at the chuck. A small stick will also work. You want the dowel or stick to break and un-couple the two drills when the generator starts charging and the electric drill starts to spin.

 

[arrow]

Thanks for all the tips. I tried the drill trick and still no charge. I brought it back and the kicker of it was she was reluctant to give me my money back. How does she know I didn't break it she said. Thankfully I had written that part of the agreement into the bill of sale and threatened small claims court. She conceded and I gave her $50 bucks for her anguish. Some people got more trouble in their lives than you can shake a stick at and thsi lady has some. I'm just going to buy new. For $300 more it isn't worth it to me to go thru these kinds of hassles. Thanks again.

Lou

 

[Soundguy]

Too bad it didn't work... would have been a nice find.

I usually try to power my pto gen up once every couple months, though i have gone 6mos with no problems..

soundguy

 

[arrow]

It did teach me I don't have the patience to go get the tractor,bring it to the barn, hook up the pto for the multitude of little power glitches and maintenance running. I'm better off with a good portable with hook ups in the barn so I don't have to move it and just yank on a cord. Especially if you have to run a pto gen like you do a regular gas gen periodically. I thought the pto gen would be a buy it , don't have to look at it until you need it thing.

 

[frank_f15]

It did teach me I don't have the patience to go get the tractor,bring it to the barn, hook up the pto for the multitude of little power glitches and maintenance running. I'm better off with a good portable with hook ups in the barn so I don't have to move it and just yank on a cord. Especially if you have to run a pto gen like you do a regular gas gen periodically. I thought the pto gen would be a buy it , don't have to look at it until you need it thing.

Very smart move, you really don't need the hassel

 

[BobRip]

It did teach me I don't have the patience to go get the tractor,bring it to the barn, hook up the pto for the multitude of little power glitches and maintenance running. I'm better off with a good portable with hook ups in the barn so I don't have to move it and just yank on a cord. Especially if you have to run a pto gen like you do a regular gas gen periodically. I thought the pto gen would be a buy it , don't have to look at it until you need it thing.

You probably need the tractor to do cleanup after any event where you need the generator. It's good to be able to operate both simultaneously.

 

[Soundguy]

That's what 2 tractors are for!

soundguy