KUBOTA BACK UP GENERATORS

[lakeside]

I realise this is a bit off the topic of tractors but there is some much knowledge out there on Kubotas that I thought I'd ask.

I'm looking at buying a backup generator for my cottage. I've pretty well narrowed the field down to either a Generac propane fed generator or a Kubota GL1100 diesel.

Any thoughts on the reliability on the Kubota? Do any of you have a backup generator you comment on??

 

[beenthere]

No help here, but I am also looking and interested in your feedback.

 

[Craig Clayton]

Here are a few thoughts about the subject. There are pressure and volume charts for propane cylinders in the colder temperatures so as the temp goes down the propane available is not there. In the summer the propane will last to the end. The diesel fuel has a storage life of years??, But at - ?? C the diesel needs to be warm or it may not start. I was looking at a diesel by Baldor at 3000 W continous but they are not giving them away. So I went with a 5000 W Coleman gas on price alone. The diesel will run forever. Several years ago we lost the hydro for 4-7 days and after feeding a standby twice aday the fun wore off.
My thoughts are to go with the smallest diesel that will do the least amount of load so you will use the least amount of fuel.
Craig Clayton

 

[crazyal]

How long does a generator run on a 20lb propane tank? I guess that would be the biggest worry I would have. Diesel can be bought at almost any store but propane is harder to get and in a pinch you make have to use 20, 30, or 40 lb tanks that you can bring to a place to fill up. Around here Home Depot has a 24 hr propane exchange but it's an hour away.

I was looking into getting one of these:
Kubota 9,875 Watt Diesel Generator
The place selling them is with in driving distance so I can avoid shipping charges and since I'll put it in a shed of some sort I don't need the skins.

 

[dcyrilc]

How long does a generator run on a 20lb propane tank? I guess that would be the biggest worry I would have. Diesel can be bought at almost any store but propane is harder to get and in a pinch you make have to use 20, 30, or 40 lb tanks that you can bring to a place to fill up. Around here Home Depot has a 24 hr propane exchange but it's an hour away.

I was looking into getting one of these:
Kubota 9,875 Watt Diesel Generator
The place selling them is with in driving distance so I can avoid shipping charges and since I'll put it in a shed of some sort I don't need the skins.

Their price on the transfer switch is a bit excessive. Also, don't forget that you'll need to do something to vent the exhaust fumes out of the shed. Nice looking unit.:thumbsup:

 

[crazyal]

Their price on the transfer switch is a bit excessive. Also, don't forget that you'll need to do something to vent the exhaust fumes out of the shed. Nice looking unit.:thumbsup:

The prices on the fuel tanks is also a little high.

 

[dcyrilc]

The prices on the fuel tanks is also a little high.

I didn't have any personal reference to that, but I paid just over $100 for my Seimens 100A automatic transfer switch.

 

[lakeside]

I have a 400 liter (105 US gallon) propane tank but a couple of factors in my decision is the cost to get gas line technician to hook up generator and laying the gas line. If I go with a diesel generator I can run the power cable from my garage to the house panel in an already in place 4" plastic conduit without having to dig another trench. Where I am, rocks go from from 1" to 4 feet with more four footers than pebbles.

Another thing against propane is you can carry diesel in a jerry can but it's kind of hard to move propane in a jug.

I already have a G1800 and a B26 so I'm already sold on Kubota, it's just their generators I don't know about.

 

[beenthere]

lakeside
Do you have a link to the GL1100 ? On google, it seems elusive to my search. Thanks

 

[lakeside]

Here's the link:

USA. GL11000

Cheers,

 

[lakeside]

Craig Clayton had a good point about diesel. In this area there are two grades of diesel, summer and winter. The summer grade has more wax which isn't a great problem when the ambient temperature is in the 5c (41f) to 35 (95f) c range. However, storing summer diesel in the winter would likely see the wax gum things up. I don't think there's a problem the other way (using winter diesel in the summer) though.

If I do go with the Kobota diesel generator I'll probably make a habit of draining and refilling the tank every so often, especially in the early fall, and using the fuel in my other equipment.

 

[crazyal]

All you need to do is buy some diesel fuel conditioner with anti-gel. I'll help keep the fuel good for long periods of time and you'll not have to worry about it in the wintertime.

 

[MtHam]

I bought this very same unit, Kubota 9,875 Watt Diesel Generator, second hand 15 years ago and it is still going strong, no problems! Reasonably quiet, highly recommended.

 

[David_Kb7uns]

Just went through same thing looked hard at the 10KW Kubota Lowboy and the Generac 20KW with Nexus Load Sheddding Transfer switch. Have 4 different Kubotas so I am convinced on their product but the Generac won this time.
The generator transfer switch package was on sale at Home Depot dot com back in June for $4100 delivered plus another $3000 for 500 gallon tank, propane, piping and setting the tank. This part is still cheaper than what they wanted for ther 10 KW Kubota 3600 rpm generator. If I wanted bigger i would have to go with the 1800 rpm units and their cost goes up quickly, plus I would need to figure out a diesel tank and a transfer switch with generator controller.
You need to figure out how much use you will have and availability of your fuel source to make the ultimate decision.
The propane will store better and if you are remote you can make up a manifold with 4 or more 100 pound tanks to meet the volume requirements. The propane units do not have quite the life of a 5000+ hour diesel but if it is only standby you are probably looking at less than 100 hours a year anyway.


David Kb7uns

 

[crazyal]

So I did a little research because I was curious. A 10k Generac Propane generator uses 1.25 gallons per hour under 1/2 load and 1.93 under full load. The Kubota uses .71 under half load and 1.09 under full load. Interestingly enough that link I posted earlier only uses .41 gallons per hour for half load and .84 for full load.

In the states the average price per gallon of propane is about $2.80 a gallon and off road diesel is a little over $3. So it looks like you would save a little in fuel costs with diesel. About $2 an hour cheaper (assuming the same maint schedule) for diesel or about 500 hours of use if the diesel is $1000 more than the propane.

Like David said, if your putting less than 100 hours a year on it you may break even in 6 or 7 years.

 

[beenthere]

Here's the link:

USA. GL11000

Cheers,

Thanks
I guess it helps to have that extra 0 in the search. GL 1100 from the OP didn't do it.

Looks like an impressive back-up. Will stop by the Kubota dealer this week.

 

[Storm56]

I have a kubota GL 6500 as a backup generator. It works great and meets all of my needs. Had it about 6 years now. Watch the papers and eBay. I bought mine brand new for about $3500. Deals are out there, you just have to watch and not be in a hurry.

I am sold on the diesel. By the way Yamaha makes the generator part.

 

[2458n]

Propane in the small tanks cost 3.99 a gallon to refill. Would like to find for 2.80. Local price today at Ace Hardware Dayton Ohio.

 

[beenthere]

I priced a Generac 7000 last week (gasoline) for $900.

 

[crazyal]

Propane in the small tanks cost 3.99 a gallon to refill. Would like to find for 2.80. Local price today at Ace Hardware Dayton Ohio.

You pay a premium for the small tanks (20lbs). The local hardware store gets $15 to fill them. What most people don't know is a lot of places are only filling them to about 75% of what they normally would fill them and the new valve doesn't let the tank get empty so you're probably paying closer to $5 a gallon. I did a quick search for the national average and found $2.83 a gallon. I assumed that if you own a propane generator you would use at least a 100lb tank since under full load a 20lb tank could last only a couple of hours on a 10k generator.

Filling Propane Tanks