Generator I found an unused PTO generator

[Rara Avis]

That's what 2 tractors are for!

soundguy

Beat me to it...Justification for increasing tractor quantities...

 

[MikeD74T]

Some pto generators have fuses that may not be readily visable. You may want to look that one over again. MikeD74T

 

[BobRip]

Beat me to it...Justification for increasing tractor quantities...

Excellent point.

 

[denisd]

If it was NEVER used, it probably still has the factory protective/anti-corrosive coatings on the components, which would favor a buy decision.

I've had to "flash" a generator and it's pretty straight-forward. The gen sat for 6 months, lost its field, and I restored it in about 1 second per leg with a wire lead from its own battery applied to the AC output. It worked fine after that (until I overloaded it and ruined the alternator, another story).

You didn't mention make or model. Some really cheap Chinese generators aren't worth the fuel to haul home. They break down early. Help and parts are impossible to find.

Remember that you need to run your tractor at a steady high idle to drive a generator and get 60 Hz AC. Consider the fuel cost, compared to getting a 2-3 kW portable gas generator for $600-700.

 

[Soundguy]

But 10kw is hard to beat when you need it.. vs the 3kw whizzbang jobs..

soundguy

 

[Egon]

Some of those 3K Honda EUE whizzbangs probably put out cleaner power than most 10K units unless you pay an arm and a leg for it.

 

[Soundguy]

Some of those 3K Honda EUE whizzbangs probably put out cleaner power than most 10K units unless you pay an arm and a leg for it.

I can't speak for the honda units.. but my northstar 12.5kw pto gen running onthe back of my 1955 ford 660 puts out -AS- clean and accurate power as my utility grid. I use a graphing o-scope meter and freq counter to check, data can be dumped to the pc to check time lapse capture. I honestly see a bigger hit on the power att he well connection at my house, than the well connection on the back of my pto get... probably du tot he fact that I'm only running 8' of HD wire to my well from my gen head, and at my house there is 80' of line running from the house breaker panel out to the well... much more v-drop at my house.. etc.

soundguy

 

[Egon]

Sometimes utility power ain't all that clean. Have you considered switching over to generator power full time for real good clean power.

 

[arrow]

This was a Winco unit. According to the widow, her husband bought it in 1983 and never ran it. We had hurricane Bob in 1985 so I 'm having a tough time believeing it never ran. Her husband died in 1987 so it probably sat for at least that long. She is selling out and moving to Florida to live with her sister. If I knew more about this stuff I could of seen if some one had fried it before. As I said at least I found out this wasn't for me.

 

[Soundguy]

Sometimes utility power ain't all that clean. Have you considered switching over to generator power full time for real good clean power.

At todays fuel prices, living off grid would be ludicris for my power needs.

soundguy