PTO generator at max torque or max HP?

[Sawyer Rob]

746 divided into 15000 is 20.10 so that is power needed for 15000 but there not much allowance for surge I have some but you have too manage loads.

That works every time on paper, but it doesn't in real life!

SR

 

[Ken Kegris]

It works for me, Like I said you need to manage your loads I use 3 4800 watt heater elements and a 1500 watt heater turned on low and have no problem, Runs my whole house.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

The 746 doesn't account for parasitic losses. You cannot use that number to figure out the MAX you can get out of your tractor.

That doesn't mean the generator won't work, it just means you can't use that number to find the MAX...

SR

 

[dcarman]

A generator has to be run at a very specific rpm. Frequency will be to high or too low if not. There is nothing that will kill electronics faster than bad frequency. 60 hz or death for most electronics and electronic controls here in the USA.
Generators generally have very good speed controls to maintain rpms exactly. A tractor doesn't have a good a governor on it to begin with then to try and run the generator with an underpowered tractor for the job is a recipe for disaster. The tractor should have 30- 40 % reseerve power to handle Inrush loads from such things as motors starting or the such. To small a tractor would not be recommended! Bad idea!

 

[sea2summit]

My PTO generator can produce more electrical power than my tractor is capable of producing mechanically. That simply means my tractor is the limiter, not the generator. I still have plenty of power to spare if I am a little careful. So quite rationally I do things like turn off the heat pump and rely on the gas furnace and wood stove. Turn off the freezer and refrigerator at startup then start them separately to avoid combined surge loads. I check the frequency meter on the generator and adjust the RPM of the tractor after each refrigeration unit is restarted. Since all my lights are LED at this point their power consumption is negligible and I cook with natural gas. Don't use the big screen TV on generator (too expensive). Use a laptop instead which is already set up to take variable voltages (look at its brick). And I turn the tractor off at night (seldom gets that cold in Western Washington). What I don't have to do is fiddle with a small engine all the time to make sure it is still running when I need it. Nor do I have to keep gallons of expensive no-alcohol gas sitting around getting stale. I always have diesel. My generator sits in the back of the shop with stuff piled up on it. I pull it out every two or three years when I need it, check the oil (it's always fine), plug it in and power up. Way easier than pulling the rope on my Powermate.

Difference between you and the OP is he is not planning usage around the limiting factor of the tractor.

 

[can do]

If I'm looking at the correct tractor you have 15.5 PTO HP so 12KW isn't possible in any configuration. It might support a 12KW surge load but I wouldn't want to plan on it or do that to the engine very often.

Hey sea2summit I've a ? about pto generators & anybody else who wants to jump in feel free ! I'm considering buying a pto generator from Northern tool & Equipment , Here are some of the specs it's a North Star 12,000 rated watts 13,000 surge watts 24 HP required ,540 rpm . It will be hooked up to a 2018 M-F 1526 rated at 24.8 HP & 20.1 at the pto at 540 rpm, Would this do the job as far as the tractor? & I already did the home work on what is needed to run certain necessary items in the house & this would be more than enough.

 

[LittleBill21]

Hey sea2summit I've a ? about pto generators & anybody else who wants to jump in feel free ! I'm considering buying a pto generator from Northern tool & Equipment , Here are some of the specs it's a North Star 12,000 rated watts 13,000 surge watts 24 HP required ,540 rpm . It will be hooked up to a 2018 M-F 1526 rated at 24.8 HP & 20.1 at the pto at 540 rpm, Would this do the job as far as the tractor? & I already did the home work on what is needed to run certain necessary items in the house & this would be more than enough.

your not going to get full power as stated above, its roughly 2 pto hp per kilowatt, thus the 24hp requirement for the full wattage.

your looking at around 10k max, maybe a touch lower.

 

[sea2summit]

Hey sea2summit I've a ? about pto generators & anybody else who wants to jump in feel free ! I'm considering buying a pto generator from Northern tool & Equipment , Here are some of the specs it's a North Star 12,000 rated watts 13,000 surge watts 24 HP required ,540 rpm . It will be hooked up to a 2018 M-F 1526 rated at 24.8 HP & 20.1 at the pto at 540 rpm, Would this do the job as far as the tractor? & I already did the home work on what is needed to run certain necessary items in the house & this would be more than enough.

There’s folks in here much smarter than me, but general rule 1.5-2 HP per KW is what you need. There’s an exact HP to KW conversion but you need to account for all the mechanical loss before you get power to the generator (PTO shaft, bearings, etc). So 2HP per KW is safe, 1.5 HP to KW is probably possible. Obviously when you go to bigger units you probably have to worry less about mechanical loss so 1.5 HP to KW becomes very achievable. But like I said, I’m not overly smart on it.

 

[LouNY]

My only concern with the gen sets from Northern is that most of those are 2 pole units that need to spin at 3600 rpm,
so the step up gearing from 540 to 3600 rpm is quite large, 6.666 to 1.
The 4 pole heads only need 1800 rpm so the gear box is only running a 3.333 to 1 ratio.
I have seen some of the other brands of small pto generator heads with the 2 pole generators and they are not as stable as the 4 pole units
even in the same size range.

 

[can do]

My only concern with the gen sets from Northern is that most of those are 2 pole units that need to spin at 3600 rpm,
so the step up gearing from 540 to 3600 rpm is quite large, 6.666 to 1.
The 4 pole heads only need 1800 rpm so the gear box is only running a 3.333 to 1 ratio.
I have seen some of the other brands of small pto generator heads with the 2 pole generators and they are not as stable as the 4 pole units
even in the same size range.

The only thing I'm mainly asking is 24 HP enough? & all it states is required HP 24 HP. & I guess that's engine HP not HP at the pto & it doesn't state that is required at the pto & that was at 540 rpm only required with 24 HP or more .