3-Point Hitch John Deere 3-point hitch 10 KW PTO Generator

PerryWhite · May 27, 2004

Does anyone out there own the John Deere 3-point hitch
10 KW PTO Generator? I am considering getting one and would like to know about your experiences. I would be using it on my 4310.

tough451 · May 27, 2004

I have a 23 kw gena rac that I use to pull my chicken farm when the power is out. I can promise you when the chickens go this thing stays it is easy to use and would pull my whole house easily.

Jim_Fisher · May 28, 2004

Perry,

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Does anyone out there own the John Deere 3-point hitch 10 KW PTO Generator? I am considering getting one and would like to know about your experiences. I would be using it on my 4310. )</font>

I have a 15kw PTO generator that I purchased from a local manufacturer, Martin Machinery in Ephrata, PA. I've had the unit about five years and have used it during eight or ten power outages, some of which lasted for several days. I have also used it for other tasks as a portable generator.

When I purchased it I owned a John Deere 4200, which I traded on a 4300 in 2000. Both tractors are hydrostatics

I mounted the generator on a three point carrier that I purchased at Central Tractor.

Conventional generator wisdom is that you want to buy a little bit more generator than tractor. If the load exceeds the available horsepower, the voltage will drop a bit and the tractor engine will labor but there is very little chance of damage to the generator. If, however, the load exceeds the generator capacity but not the available horsepower of the tractor, the generator will likely be damaged.

My recollection of the research that I did prior to purchase is that a pto generator requires about two horsepower per kw of output. You should probably verify that since I am relying on my memory of an event that occured in late 1998.

For that reason, you may want to consider a larger generator.

Hope this helps!

Jim Fisher

PerryWhite · Jun 4, 2004

Thanks tough451 and Jim,
What I neglected to say as that I was the April winner of
the $1000 parts giveway from John Deere and I am trying to
decide what to buy at my local JD dealer so that's why I am
considering the JD 10KW generator. Since I already have
the 430 loader, RB1072 rear blade, 59 inch front mount snow blower and a 413 rotary mower I am not sure what other
3 pt attachment I might need. I don't need a box blade
or landscape rake and I have two hydrostatic lawn tractors
On agco allis with 44 inch deck and one Simplicity with 50 inch deck and they enable me to get into the smaller places to mow that I just wouldn't be able to do with a 4310 with either a rear mount mower or mid mount mower. With the two orange lawn tractors, it takes my kid and I about 40 minutes to mow everything we have. I have been out of town for the memorial day weekend and when I got home late Monday night I had to leave again for a two day seminar.
When I got to the office on thursday... a lot of catch up so I
haven't been able to stop by the Deere Dealer.
Anyway, I am looking forward to my $1000 shopping spree
at the local dealer.

soaraway · Jun 4, 2004

I've got a 3 point 25 KW generac on a 4700 HST. Some points to be aware of are: 1) 2 pto hp per KW, 2) match tractor pto rpm (750 rpm for john deeres or 1,000 rpm for others) to generator gearbox, 3) generators spin @ 1800 rpm with 4 poles (windings) or 3600 rpm with 2 poles (windings). The 4 pole machine weighs about double and costs about 50% more. 4) Be sure to have a good electrican help you verify the correct wiring of your coupling. My set was not wired like the manual says. Generac distributers are fairly widspread. Part supply from the factory has been very good. I had to replace some minor componets damaged in shipment.

soaraway · Jun 6, 2004

oops - deere pto speed is 540 rpm

EastTexFrank · Jun 6, 2004

I'd love to have your "problem". /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif That pto generator would be at the house in double quick time.

Having just spent two days without power (big storm with 80 mph straight line winds) and running the heck out of my little 3600 watt gas generator, I was starting to look at a 10KW PTO generator for the Kubota B2400 (18 pto hp). I'll be very interested in any replies you get.

Hap · Jun 7, 2004

How much does a John Deere 10KW cost?

qni51 · Jul 25, 2009

What are they quoting for the 10 KW Deere PTO Generator. I have been looking at the Northern Tool 7.2 kw and 13 kw. $829 & $1300 respectively.

Plus add cost of drive shaft assembly.

Don't plan on mounting it solid on a concrete foundation. Remember it needs to be movable.

SPENCE

radman1 · Jul 25, 2009

This is a little off topic but my company has a generator on our building. Some people thought it would be a good idea to put one on when we built it. I was against adding it but was voted to put it on. It has never been used except for starting it every few months for maintenance. I has a big motor and last week I asked the maintenance guy how big and how much power. He looked it up. It is a 19L (1150 cu in) Cummins diesel with an estimated 475 hp to 650 hp depending on how it was set up. Has a 500 kilowatt generator. It is noisey. We send out notices to the surrounding neighbor hood when we are going to start it. Keeps down the complaints. Has a total of 70 hours in 10 years. Anyone want to buy it? You could still use your CUT for other jobs during power outages. The local electric company has offered to buy the electricity from us if we want to run it. I guess it helps with their peak demand issues.

mfreund · Jul 25, 2009

I would love to own it but I would first have to buy a small city and line up a semi tanker full of fuel!!

I looked at PTO generators for my house but the wife would never be able to get it hooked up and set right when I am at work. I am saving up for a whole house one that comes on automatically and runs on propane.

qni51 · Aug 5, 2009

For my 2 cents. I have to have emergency power for my EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS station. the PTO unit will be great for around the micro farm but for home and EMCOMM I have a Onan 5.5 KW which is like the ones used for motor homes. Caution. Get the lowest RPM you can. Their life span is much longer.

I was stationed off the coast of Korea during the war and our 2.5 KW Genset powered by a 1800 rpm B&S 5 HP cast iron block engine which ran 24 hours on/24 hours off for 18 months with practically no maintenance and was running great when I left. We alternated between "A" unit and "B" unit. A 2400 or 3600 rpm generator would have a much shorter life span.

Nuru · Aug 23, 2009

This is a good thread. I am considering getting a 15 - 20kw generator to cut in when we experience outages. I did not know about the low rpm preference. I did realize they do require some level of maintenance - yearly I guess?

qni51 · Aug 23, 2009

Nuru

Are you going to be the only one running it? Will your wife need to be able to hook it up and start it. Will you need the tractor during power outages for other things. Do you want to put that kind of hours on the tractor for a possible extended period of time.

In that power range, if you are considering a power unit then I suggest you think about a diesel generator. I think they generally run slower. Some of the big diesels run as slow as 316 rpm as I recall. Maintenance on them will vary with time running.

I think Onan has a small diesel about 8 kw but apparently you want something larger than that.

Nuru · Aug 24, 2009

qni51 said:
Nuru

Are you going to be the only one running it? Will your wife need to be able to hook it up and start it. Will you need the tractor during power outages for other things. Do you want to put that kind of hours on the tractor for a possible extended period of time.

In that power range, if you are considering a power unit then I suggest you think about a diesel generator. I think they generally run slower. Some of the big diesels run as slow as 316 rpm as I recall. Maintenance on them will vary with time running.

I think Onan has a small diesel about 8 kw but apparently you want something larger than that.

I am actually not looking at a tractor powered model, but a self-powered diesel model with a 20 hp engine. And I think I will get one that is mounted on a trailer, transfer switch, etc. So if I am not home, the switchover is just automatic. If I can scrape up the funds, I will also get another tank for fuel storage and fill my tractor and the generator's tank off of that storage tank.

sunnyside360 · Aug 25, 2009

Nuru said:
I am actually not looking at a tractor powered model, but a self-powered diesel model with a 20 hp engine. And I think I will get one that is mounted on a trailer, transfer switch, etc. So if I am not home, the switchover is just automatic. If I can scrape up the funds, I will also get another tank for fuel storage and fill my tractor and the generator's tank off of that storage tank.

I took the plunge a couple years ago and bought a new 15 KW Generac Home Standby Generator on the internet. Think it was around $2900 and shipping was either included or not very much. Prices are probably a little higher now. Mine runs on LP gas but there are others that run on gasoline, natural gas or diesel fuel. It was fairly easy to install.
There is no manual intervention involved -- all automatic. It even starts itself once a week and runs for 12 minutes to exercise itself. When main power goes off we have power from the generator in about 15 seconds which runs everything in the house except clothes dryer and A/C unit.
Power outages are not uncommon out where we live so we're not without many conveniences for long when it does occur.

kennyd · Aug 25, 2009

sunnyside360 said:
I took the plunge a couple years ago and bought a new 15 KW Generac Home Standby Generator on the internet. Think it was around $2900 and shipping was either included or not very much. Prices are probably a little higher now. Mine runs on LP gas but there are others that run on gasoline, natural gas or diesel fuel. It was fairly easy to install.
There is no manual intervention involved -- all automatic. It even starts itself once a week and runs for 12 minutes to exercise itself. When main power goes off we have power from the generator in about 15 seconds which runs everything in the house except clothes dryer and A/C unit.
Power outages are not uncommon out where we live so we're not without many conveniences for long when it does occur.

I have the same 15kw Generac burning LP for 4 years now, And it now has about 80 hrs on it (I added a Hobbs meter to it)I also installed it myself. I highly recommend them.

Rob-D · Aug 28, 2009

I'm just finishing up my solar system here. I have a stream and good wind. I had thought about a three point generator but I really don't need it now except to run the Miller 210 MIG and the plasma cutter.
We lose power often enough that it is worth it for me and my bills will drop considerably when the system is up but it's not cheap!
I bought a small diesel generator as a back up but it's noisy so I don't use it much ( I hate noisy machines). I have a little Honda EU2000 I think is the number. Now that's a sweet little bugger. Easy to move around and quiet.
I don't like the idea much of running my tractor hours up and the fact that you lose the tractor when you may need it most during storms and power failures. The farmers around here have several tractors so they don't have the single tractor problem and when you have a barn full of cows that need milking you better have power to do it!

All that said back up power is a good idea regardless which way you go.

Rob

mfreund · Aug 28, 2009

kennyd said:
I have the same 15kw Generac burning LP for 4 years now, And it now has about 80 hrs on it (I added a Hobbs meter to it)I also installed it myself. I highly recommend them.

kennyd and sunnyside360,

How did you size your generator?? I am looking at the Generac 17kw but am not sure if it is overkill. I have a 1000 gal lp tank.

I have a well, Geo-thermal heat, electric water heater, and electric stove. I think they would require more capacity than normal houses.

kennyd · Aug 29, 2009

I used some online calculators, as well as my budget to determine size. When I bought mine, the 15kw was the largest air-cooled unit they made. The next step up was a 20kw water-cooled unit and the price went up dramatically. You also have to look at the number of circuits available in the standby panel sine the Generac's do not include a "whole house transfer switch", but rather a separate breaker panel that you rewire the circuits you want protected to.

My water heater, range, dryer, and backup to the heat-pump are all LP, so my only major draw is the well pump. I also have a 1000g LP tank.