Ice Storm 2012

[nybirdman]

Well we just got grid power back on after 26 hours...temps have been at about zero.Don't know how any-one could cope without a generator.Set up my PTO generator on my L4240 Kubota.At PTO speeds I was burning about a gallon per hour,10K big enough to run our whole house and detached garage.
I shut down at nite,I have back-up heat.No problems everything when well.
I was glad I have enough fuel on hand,there were no stations that had power.
We all learned our lessons after the ice storm in 1998,we were down for four days but some folks four weeks.

 

[Thomas]

Now how does that old country song go...Country boy can surive.

Glad your back to normal,and I'll keep my fingers cross for warmer temps your way..melt some ice.

 

[creekbend]

I have experienced two ice storms. It was a good thing you had supplies and a heat source. Advance preparation really paid off for you and your Family.

 

[RickB]

Guess we lucked out. Only a couple flurries.

 

[Kyle241]

Agree on the generator. We escaped the freezing rain just North of you and got a lot of snow instead. Also remember the '98 ice storm all too well. We were without power for 4 weeks! The army came by every once in a while to check on us but our trusty wood stove got us through. Ever since, DW has demanded a generator and she is right!

 

[Harvey9]

Glad to hear you were prepared, so many are not.

Harvey

 

[bennatti]

I agree about the importance of a generator...we lost power for 9 days during the ice storm of 98...thanks to the wood stove we had heat...but no power = no water....we installed a standby generator the following spring.

 

[whistlepig]

It's a lot of hassle to be prepared for such a thing but well worth it when the time comes. We had an ice storm in February of '11 and lost power for four days in minus zero wind chill. A generator is kind of a necessity in the country.

 

[Ken45101]

The big advantage of a PTO generator IMO is that it can run on diesel which is easier to store in larger quantities than gasoline, which tends to go bad.

Too many people buy generators for the "long term outage" and don't think about where they are going to get 50 or 100 gallons of gasoline during a major outage.

Good to know you were only using a gallon per hour of fuel.

If I had a diesel generator, I would be set fuel wise, I just had the tank filled up this week with 175 gallons of diesel ($$$). However, we only have a gas generator we bought for camping. But with the wood stove and rural water, we don't really need much electricity.

Ken

 

[Dana Warner]

During the October storm in New England our power was out for 7 days. I ran my small B7100 at high PTO rpm and slowed the engine down to power my 7kw generator. Voltage was checked often but did not waver once the RPM was set. I only used about 1 to 1 1/2 gallon for 6 hours. The tractor ran our heat and a few lights about 16 hours a day. Just surprised you burned so much fuel.

 

[nybirdman]

During the October storm in New England our power was out for 7 days. I ran my small B7100 at high PTO rpm and slowed the engine down to power my 7kw generator. Voltage was checked often but did not waver once the RPM was set. I only used about 1 to 1 1/2 gallon for 6 hours. The tractor ran our heat and a few lights about 16 hours a day. Just surprised you burned so much fuel.

My L4240 is 44hp,it does not have a two speed pto;engine rpms were about 2300.I didn't feel it was too bad on fuel,I keep pretty good tabs on use all the time.Running my tiller,I use about 1.25 gal.per hour.$4.00/hr in fuel use is worth it to me to run my whole house/garage and not freezing up.
In the spring when I am hatching/brooding pheasant;I can't be with out power at all.
My son useing a gas 3000 k generator used more fuel than I did just to run his heat,a few lites and the fridge.

 

[wdchyd]

Looking at this thread looks like we dodged the bullet....during these figid temps today, i'll have to crank up the gen for good luck today....:thumbsup:

 

[Zebrafive]

One gallon per hour is reasonable for 10K of power. Glad you had enough fuel on hand.

Last outage we had I used a 6K gas generator and it used at least 1gal/hr, maybe more.

I plan to install a standby unit propane powered.

 

[crazyal]

I was lucky on 98. We never lost power while most around us did. It's funny how quickly those elected to lead forget the lessons of the past as our gov wants to shut down our nuclear power plant and rely on getting power from Hydro Quebec. The same lines that were toppled by the ice.

We got a few inches of snow this weekend but nothing out of the normal. Only lost sat tv because the snow started off real wet then froze to the dish. I've got a 4200w Honda that I've toyed with replacing. But I keep leaning towards a Kubota stand alone 10k vs a pto gen.

The stand alone Kubota burns about .4 gal/hour on half load. nybirdman, any idea how much power you were using when you were burning 1 gal/hour? Any guesses how many hours you put on your tractor over the last few days operating the pto generator?

 

[Rockgod]

Some how we lucked out and kept power. With all the rain and quick temperature change things could have been a lot worse. Every school in the area closed because of the ice.

 

[nybirdman]

Crazy:thumbsup:Al
Just checked...I put about 14 hrs. on the tractor to power the gen-set.
Peak use I was at 7k..that was on start up.With this gen(and I assume all) you have to keep a minimum speed to maintain correct voltage;so you can't throttle back or you would have low voltage.I am not an electrician,my brother in law(who is and electrician) was here when we started.He had installed my switch...like I said everything worked perfect.
I know there is a lot of debate here between Pto and stand alone gen-sets,I made my choice and happy with it.

 

[Briar Hill Brittanys]

Crazy Al
I know there is a lot of debate here between Pto and stand alone gen-sets,I made my choice and happy with it.

Yes, it's all about choice. I made mine, too, 20 kW standalone, auto transfer switch, propane powered. No worrying about fuel storage, propane can sit for quite a while. Our unit exercises weekly to ensure when needed, it will perform. I only have one tractor, it's not tied up on the genset when needed for other tasks. If my wife and daughter are home alone during a power failure, they just wait the minute or so for the system to come up, then all is as before. With a "full" tank of propane, about 9 days continuous running at half load. After the grid is back up, it's a seamless transfer. The maintenance is horrible, oil change every year, or 200 hours whichever comes first. It is funny how a lot of folks that have endured a BAD ice storm, only do it once without a generator of some kind. We were without power for 9 days during a "catastrophic and historic" ice storm in January of 2007. My wife tells me all the time how happy she is we have it, and the peace of mind it gives her, knowing we'll have power when we need it. Mark

 

[crazyal]

If I didn't have a small gas generator that is enough to get by with I would have done something before now. I keep going back and forth between a stand alone and pto. I'm trying to figure out how many hours I put on a generator a year and if I would need the tractor for anything else during that time.

 

[RFB]

Al,

I have a larger stand alone diesel genset from Central Maine Diesel. They supplied a nice unit, customized to my needs with a sound enclosure and belly tank. I am addicted to Orange and so I bought Kubota. We have many outages in my neck o' the woods, some for 5 or more days, and often with several feet of snow needing plowing, so I went with standalone.

Here is a Kubota unit that you might be interested in: http://www.generatorsales.com/order/Kubota-12000-Watt-Diesel-Generator.asp?page=KB1200

 

[bennatti]

Al,

I have a larger stand alone diesel genset from Central Maine Diesel. They supplied a nice unit, customized to my needs with a sound enclosure and belly tank. I am addicted to Orange and so I bought Kubota. We have many outages in my neck o' the woods, some for 5 or more days, and often with several feet of snow needing plowing, so I went with standalone

A also bought my standby/back-up power system (propane) from Central Maine Diesel (a Winco unit)....about 13 years ago...since then they changed their name to CMD powersystems Generator sales and service. For all your emergency power needs call CMD Powersystems, Inc. [ Home Page ] Great people to deal with...of course in my case they are only about 30 minutes drive from here