Buying Advice PTO Driven Generator

[brownew304]

Does anyone have any experience with a PTO driven generator. I'm in the market for an all purpose generator for use around the farm and if / when TSHTF to run essential appliances (i.e. freezers). I have a Branson 4720i (42 HP at PTO). Here's a link to something I'm looking at:

16,000 Watts Max/15,000 Watts Rated Tractor-Driven PTO Generator

Any and all info is appreciated - thanks in advance.

 

[brin]

Do a searchon this site for PTO Generators and you will find a world of information.. I have a 20KW PTO generator with 40KW surge and it works great.. I don't know how good Harbor Freights unit is but PTO generators are great. Mine works fine in power outages and for remote power around the farm.

 

[atgreene]

I bought a 15 kw a few years back. Used it on a regular bassis to power my entire house and garage, some storms for 30 hours or more.

Pluses: Tractor always started to run it. Knew I didn't have to worry about a small engine not starting or gas for a generator.

Big enough to run everything.

Minuses: Sucked hooking the thing up. I always had something hooked to the tractor, so in a downpour/thunderstorm/sleet/snow etc... I had to go out, unhook the brushhog, blade, rake, scraper, spreader etc... etc.., fuel the tractor then hook it up. I had the gen sat on a platform so I could back right up to it. Still a PITA though.

The tractor wasn't always nearby. Often it would be in the hayfield or on a jobsite. Real pita then. Hook up the trailer and haul it home, take off the implement (see above).......

Loud. The gen makes a fair amount of noise. My nearest neighbor is 600' +- away, but still, on a hot humid night I prefered to leave it running so I could run the ac and get some sleep, otherwise I could hear other neighbors gens running further off:confused2:.

Have to be home to hook it up. I work 3 jobs, 2 with Fire Depts. If it's bad weather chaces are I'm responding somewhere. Left my wife to have to deal with it if I'm stuck at a call.

I finally had enough last year after over 4 outages in Aug totaling 36+- hours w/o power. Due to my sons special needs I opted to purchase a 6.8 kw auto start diesel Yanmar with auto switch. No more issues. 50 gallon fuel tank in the basement, burns 1 qt +- per hour and does everything we need to do. Yanmar Powered 6,500 Watt Diesel Generator

The propane vs. is even cheaper, but the cost of propane is crazy compared to off road diesel. Glad I bought it, someday I will upgrade the gen set to a larger unit, but the switch and wiring is there to stay.

BTW, we installed the gen in Oct., that week the power co came through and did a major tree trimming in the entire area. Power outages went from several a month to 4 times in the last year now.

Good luck.

 

[jimgerken]

I started out with a gas engine unit. Used it for a few years and sold it, it always needed the carb cleaned, even though I used Stabil. They just set around too long before uses sometimes. So I switched to PTO type. When shopping, I wanted accurate waveform and voltage control, not just capacitor-referenced voltage, but actual active voltage control.

I bought from these guys:
GenPower
VERY nice unit! Came in a perfect 3-point hitchable cage, with driveshaft, and powercord. It has 4" large voltage and frequency meters, mounted on the housing for the solid state voltage control circuitry, which is shock mounted on top of the generator. All copper-wound, 1800 rpm rotor, as good as it gets, in my opinion.

I have used it a few times now and the operation is flawless.

If you do call them, try to make it part of the deal to get about 20 feet of power cord instead of the ten feet they would otherwise give you. You supply one plug, they supply the proper one for the generator end.

 

[Soundguy]

ditto what the others said.. there have been MANY pto gen threads here.

I have a northstar ( northern tools ) 12.5kw model and my stepfather has the 25kw model.

as another user stated. I KNOW my tractro will start.. that's why I went that direction.. plus it's cheaper per kw to get one without a whizzbang gas buring lawnmower engine attached to it..

soundguy

 

[Diamondpilot]

Not sure if you have a Rural King store in your area but mine has that same generator for $999.99.

Chris

 

[brownew304]

Thanks for the great info - I'll do more research but going with a PTO driven generator.

 

[atgreene]

LOL, timely thread, yesterday afternoon during a rain storm we lost power. Auto start was some nice to hear kick on, still only the 5th? time or so since we installed it.

 

[tsteahr]

Thanks for the great info - I'll do more research but going with a PTO driven generator.

IMD, a TBN sponsor, offers a very good line of PTO generators. They are based in Greer, SC and are very good to work with. Not much more expensive then the Harbor Freight stuff but excellent quality. They will sell directly to TBN members if you mention you saw their ad on TBN.

 

[montelatici]

I would guess that a major problem would be that it is usually raining during power outages and you can't usually put the tractor under cover near your house. Are these things designed to work outdoors in the rain?

 

[Soundguy]

tractor don't need cover.. gen might like it.. that's what cheap plastic dog houses are for.. or a tarp and some string... be creative


soundguy

 

[John47]

I bought the Harbor Freight over a year back now, not had a power outage long enough to put it on full load. I have run it on light load and worked fine.
It's one of the easiest implements to hook up to the tractor. Needs to be kept covered though, don't let it sit in the rain, it's not weatherproof.
I had a look at the windings, all copper!!
It does have a combined Liquid crystal display for hours/volts/amps and frequency, so you can set the drive speed to give you 60Hz. The output should be clean enough for home electronics, "brushless" design apart from the fields and 12 volt circuit output.

 

[Soundguy]

anyone got a link to the HF unit?

soundguy

 

[keyman1808]

I saw the HF unit but I dont think my BX24 will power it. Anyone try it yet.

 

[dex3361]

Ask and you shall receive. HF PTO GENERATOR

 

[Soundguy]

thanks! I knew somebody would have it handy.

soundguy

 

[JoelD]

As stated in similar threads, I just can't see running my tractor for days on end to run a generator. I purchased a 6K unit, with 13 HP gas motor for under $400 new. I run it regularly to keep the gas fresh and I run stabil. I've run the machine for 5 days straight (only stopping for oil changes) without a hickup. That would be 120 hours just for the one power outage.

If the machine blows up, I throw away and purchase another.

My neighbor ran the machine for 8 days straight, again without a hickup. Thats almost 200 hours. Again, that is a $400 machine.

I just couldn't see putting the hours on my tractor when these generators are so inexpensive today.

I roll it out of my garage, plug in and cover with a 4x4 piece of plywood. It just does not get much easier other than auto start.

Joel

 

[rjkobbeman]

As stated in similar threads, I just can't see running my tractor for days on end to run a generator. I purchased a 6K unit, with 13 HP gas motor for under $400 new. I run it regularly to keep the gas fresh and I run stabil. I've run the machine for 5 days straight (only stopping for oil changes) without a hickup. That would be 120 hours just for the one power outage.

If the machine blows up, I throw away and purchase another.

My neighbor ran the machine for 8 days straight, again without a hickup. Thats almost 200 hours. Again, that is a $400 machine.

I just couldn't see putting the hours on my tractor when these generators are so inexpensive today.

I roll it out of my garage, plug in and cover with a 4x4 piece of plywood. It just does not get much easier other than auto start.

Joel

I couldn't agree more. I have a few portable generators in my garage. One was a cheapy 5kw unit that I bought years ago after a big outage. Have since run the $iss out of it when I built my new home. Two are 15.5kw units I use for the new house when outages occur. Those two are expensive, but still beat the heck out of putting hours on the tractor.

 

[keyman1808]

I agree that adding hours to your tractor isnt the greatest but in the 6 years I lived in my house I have only needed a generator once for about 12 hours. That said its only for the long outages (that havent came YET) that I would like it for. And for the money of a HF unit. You really cant go wrong. Same unit as a standby would be 2 or 3 times the price.

 

[rjkobbeman]

I paid $2,000 for a 17,500 watt Generac/Guardian from Home Depot. Granted it was a sale where they regularly cost $3,000. (It was a big sale!)

I have never looked into the prices of 3ph generators... especially because I have not personally owned a tractor until this year. What do they run? I clicked on the link above, but did not see a price.

Here is what I bought, although this is a newer/updated model: http://www.homedepot.com/Outdoors-Outdoor-Power-Equipment-Generators-Portable-Generators/Generac/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xj1Zar7kZ4ph/R-100662531/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053