Generator PTO generator feedback

[CamshaftLF]

I have a tiger power 10k it runs everything the house and garage,and a well pump, have it mounted in the garage, have a small door made that i take off and back the bota up to it and hook the drive shaft up and a way we go. longest i'v been with out power is 6 to 7 hrs. love it wouldn have anything else. as for worrying about the tractor coming apart there that chance but very rare one unless it a very old machine all of the compacts are very reliable mine is 13 yrs old and doesn't use any oil. as for the gen it has all the electric bells and whistles. its your money what ever u decide i will be happy for you !!!!

 

[Earl Ohl]

I have a tiger power 10k it runs everything the house and garage,and a well pump, have it mounted in the garage, have a small door made that i take off and back the bota up to it and hook the drive shaft up and a way we go. longest i'v been with out power is 6 to 7 hrs. love it wouldn have anything else. as for worrying about the tractor coming apart there that chance but very rare one unless it a very old machine all of the compacts are very reliable mine is 13 yrs old and doesn't use any oil. as for the gen it has all the electric bells and whistles. its your money what ever u decide i will be happy for you !!!!

I also have a Tiger Power. Mine's a 15 KW. Messick's sells them, but I got mine from Eckroth in Orwigsburg, Pa. Messick has a good detailed description of them on their website.

I really believe that most of the guys that post negatively on PTO generators don't have one, never did have one, and never used one. That's just my opinion based on some of the comments I've read on TBN over the past few years.

I also have a stand-alone portable generator, an Arctic Cat 4.5 KW. I know you can't compare it to a 15 KW. But it is more of a PITA than it is good. You'd better get ALL the gas out of it after each use. You'd better have FRESH gas when you want to use it. Stabil helps, but it seems not as good as it did years ago. Maybe it's the gas we're getting nowadays. Another thing is where (how far) do you go to get gas when the power is off. We don't have any stations in our township anymore. I have oil heat (275 gallon tank) and have a 55 gallon drum filled for tractor use and so have plenty of fuel for the tractor.

We have an event here that we do each year called "A Night in the Country". The Ambulance Corps, Fire Companies, local businesses, & charitable groups set up fund-raising & informational stands. They use portable generators for lighting. This is one place a stand-alone generator is good for IF YOU CAN GET IT TO START! You should see some of these people when theirs won't start. Small gas engines, especially ones that don't get used & maintained regularly can be a problem when you need them.

I've been around & operated several stand-alone generators over the years (almost 51 years old) & none have impressed me. On many of them the lights flicker & they don't seem to put out good "clean" power. That's just what I've seen over the years.

On the Tiger Power PTO generator I have, I can't tell the difference if I'm on Met-Ed or the generator except for the fact that I can hear the tractor running.

 

[RickB]

I really believe that most of the guys that post negatively on PTO generators don't have one, never did have one, and never used one. That's just my opinion based on some of the comments I've read on TBN over the past few years.


On the Tiger Power PTO generator I have, I can't tell the difference if I'm on Met-Ed or the generator except for the fact that I can hear the tractor running.

A man after my own heart.
There's a lot of guys here willing/able to throw a lot more money at infrequent power outages than I ever will. My Winpower PTO unit and manual DPDT transfer switch serves me very, very well when I need it.

 

[Earl Ohl]

A man after my own heart.
There's a lot of guys here willing/able to throw a lot more money at infrequent power outages than I ever will. My Winpower PTO unit and manual DPDT transfer switch serves me very, very well when I need it.

Thanks Rick. Your post reminds me of another thing. No matter which type generator you have, it's important to have the proper transfer switch. It may save someone from an electrocution.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I was very close to buying a pto genny but opted for a Troy Built stand alone unit. I am glad I did. Its 8550 watt and runs our well pump, propane furnace, and all the lights, micro, stove, dish washer, washing machine but no dryer, ect we need. It ran once for 8 days strait for just shutdowns every 2nd day to change the oil. Oil change recommendation was every 50 hours. It has also been used for a 6 day outage, a 3 day outage, and 6 or so 1 day outages. It has burnt 9 gallons a day no matter what I was doing. The trick for me is having fuel on hand.

The first big outage we had in 2005 was 8 days and I only had 20 gallons of gas. I had to drive 2 hours to find fuel. Same thing the next day but that time I took a 55 gallon drum and filled it. I now keep about 100 gallons on hand and if I do not use it in 6 months or so I run it though the cars and trucks and buy fresh.

Chris

 

[SPYDERLK]

I put my NorthStar 12/13kW PTO gen on a pressure washer cart with pneumatic tires, and rigged the cart for 3ph use. I store the assembly inside and roll it out to the tractor when needed. Plenty of fully portable power for general farm use. The only time any planning is necessary is compressor startup while doing hi amp welding.... Or if I run it on Mighty Mouse which only has 10PTOHP.
larry

 

[gerard]

Have you ever run out of fuel on diesel engine? That is the thing I would worry about using tractor as a drive for a generator. It is a big hustle to restart after refueling. Or is it not? Never happened to me but read about the procedure somewhere on TBN.
Otherwise for field use or occasional usage during power outages tractor driven generator is fine. If you could add low fuel shutoff I don't see a problem. Just an opinion.

Fule usage is fairly steady when running on constant load and rpm so you have a good idea when you need to refuel. No reason to run out of fuel BUT if you do, it's not a big deal to get er going again. My wife ran mine dry once. Had to crack the bleed valve on the fuel filter until fuel ran out and I think I did the same with one of the injectors at the end of the fuel line, then cranked it over. Runs a little rough at first until all the air's purged but it wasn't as hard as I thought.

 

[JB4310]

I've got a 10KW from IMD which advertises here on TBN but their link doesn't work?

Of course we haven't lost power since so no real world experience, did do some heavy load testing and found it does require some attention to deal with varrying loads.
We never really lose power for very long, in my whole life the longest we lost power for was maybe 2 days and that was 30 years ago.
But for me it was more for piece of mind.

The main criteria for me was it had to be oil fired since I always have heating oil on hand.

I got mine with the 3pt frame, and with QH it would be a simple hook-up.

JB.

 

[Dead Horse]

I am going to hazard a guess that much depends on how you use the genny as to if the PTO version is best or not.

I have a relatively small genny, 6500 watts. It has a honda engine with an automatic "throttle control" for when the load drops. I keep it in the garage right next to the GenTran outlet. When we lose power, even the bride can open the garage door, wheel the unit outside, plug in the extension cord and fire it up. It is an electric start, gasoline engine. The GenTran switch is in the basement next to the power panel, and it is stupid proof.

We have power outages often enough in the white mountains of NH that the fuel in this thing remains pretty fresh, (plus the tank is sealed). I keep the battery on a trickle charge and it has not let me down in ten years of use.

My tractors are in the barns, no closer than 1/2 mile from the house. My bride is not and "outdoor gal" and operating a tractor is not on her top 100 things to learn how to do, let alone rigging up a PTO genny.

Finally, we often lose power because of a storm........ in that case my boys are ususlly busy wth other chores and can just be standing around running a genny.

On occasions I have needed the genny to be someplace else... the fact that it is self contained and on wheels makes that a **** of a lot easier than if it was PTO driven.

For this family, a honda motor driven, somewhat portable genny was the right choice. Plus it is so big and heavy you don't have every deadbeat bumming neighbor asking to borrow it.

 

[whistlepig]

Is it OK to get these PTO generators wet while they are running? Could you leave the tractor and generator running out in the rain?

 

[gerard]

Is it OK to get these PTO generators wet while they are running? Could you leave the tractor and generator running out in the rain?

Most of them are somewhat rainproof. Tiger says as long as the rain isn't more than 15deg off vertical it can be run outside. That said, in a windy situation or strong snowstorm, mositure is going to get in the louvers and in places you don't want it to. I would either back the genset into the garage or create an enclosure to keep the weather off it. Even with twistlock plugs, a heavy rain and that much juice mixing is not a good idea.

 

[whistlepig]

Most of them are somewhat rainproof. Tiger says as long as the rain isn't more than 15deg off vertical it can be run outside. That said, in a windy situation or strong snowstorm, mositure is going to get in the louvers and in places you don't want it to. I would either back the genset into the garage or create an enclosure to keep the weather off it. Even with twistlock plugs, a heavy rain and that much juice mixing is not a good idea.

I appreciate your honest reply. This was the clincher for me going portable. I did not want the generator or tractor running outside in the pouring rain. I have no way to keep them dry. As it is now I have to haul my portable to my back covered deck. But the generator will be dry there and can run all night with out worry.

 

[SPYDERLK]

I appreciate your honest reply. This was the clincher for me going portable. I did not want the generator or tractor running outside in the pouring rain. I have no way to keep them dry. As it is now I have to haul my portable to my back covered deck. But the generator will be dry there and can run all night with out worry.

so you cant easily rig a cover from the ROPS? or back the gen under an overhang? I guess you dont need much power. A 10kW "portable" would be an issue.
larry

 

[tshep]

How do the PTO types regulate load?
Do they just leave the tractor running at what ever throttle achieves 540 rpm, (and waste the extra hp) or somehow load the tractor so it can respond?

Based on what little I have observed (Honda size and also factory sized) they all communcate the load applied back to the throttle somehow - that seems like the biggest advantage to a package over an unwatched PTO.

 

[gerard]

How do the PTO types regulate load?
Do they just leave the tractor running at what ever throttle achieves 540 rpm, (and waste the extra hp) or somehow load the tractor so it can respond?

Based on what little I have observed (Honda size and also factory sized) they all communcate the load applied back to the throttle somehow - that seems like the biggest advantage to a package over an unwatched PTO.

I know some of the stand alones have load adjustments but they all don't. I have an 8000 peak, 6500 continuous portable and I don't hear the engine throttling up or down based on load BUT I do hear the engine change briefly when a large load comes on line. I don't think the PTO ones can adjust for load. You just set it for rpm and if it's rated correctly, even at full load it should maintain the rpms. There are pro's and cons to both. I wouldn't hesitate to get a pto set if I didn't need to plow snow. Right now I always have an implement on the back so I would always have to drop one, put on the pto, then use use of the tractor. Right now I can get my generator going in less than 5 minutes. Bit of a pain running for gas but I have a friend with a large gas tank that I can use if the stations are out.

 

[JB4310]

I've been following this debate for the last few years regarding stand alone vs PTO, even though that wasn't the what the OP asked, that's what this thread has become.

I've come to conclude that it's such a divisive issue, due to the fact that the two choices have such differing characteristics, almost shouldn't even be compared side by side.

The greatest difference is their rated capacity, in general standalones are under 10 kw and pto's are over 10 kw, Pto gennys can easily be up to 20 kw and higher for very reasonable money. Of course standalone power-plants can be had up to any kw output but those are off the charts price wise and are never compared to pto's in these forums.

So it comes down to how much power do you need/want. If you need over 10 kw then you pretty much need a pto, if you need less than 10 kw you can get a whiz banger. You can always draw 4 kw off a 15 kw pto gen, but obviously can't do that in reverse.

I've got a 10 kw pto and 3 stand alones 2-6 KW. It's true it does take attention to keep the pto in the correct hertz/volts range, especially with wide load changes. Never had to adjust the throttle on a standalone even going from zero to full load.

That manual regulation of voltage, even though they are called AVR is the pto's greatest downfall. The limited capacity is the standalones downfall.

For the OP I would recommend the 15 KW pto, it's the most versatile, run the whole house/barn or anything less.
I wish I got the 15 over the 10, at 15 KW there's really no argument to be made to compare to a whiz bang standalone.

JB.

 

[Soundguy]

northern tool, 12.5kw paid 1000$ in 04, very happy with it.. real clean power according to my oscope and graphing range holding meter / freq counter.

passive ( capacative regulation to boot.. )

 

[Phineas7]

How do the PTO types regulate load?
Do they just leave the tractor running at what ever throttle achieves 540 rpm, (and waste the extra hp) or somehow load the tractor so it can respond?

My tractor (and I assume all modern tractors) uses an RPM based throttle. I set my thottle to 2500rpm then throw limbs in the grinder, which load the engine, drops the RPM's and the throttle compensates by trying to maintain 2500 rpm. Just like my stand alone generator. It doesn't really waste HP, it provides enough fuel, to make enough hp, to maintain the set RPM.

Concerning the comment about rain on a twist lock plug and worrying about the "juice". How many of you run extension cords out to your Christmas decorations that get rained on? (and it won't even trip a GF outlet) Regardless of weather it is house power, a 1kw generator or a 30kw generator, they output 120v to ground (the 220v is relative between phases, both lines are 120v to ground). IMHO the concern about light rain is mostly a corosive issue, not an electical one. Yes putting a water hose on it would be bad and would put a noticable path to ground for current to flow thru and cause problems.

 

[Redneck in training]

If the generator is running it gets warm enough to evaporate small amount of moisture sucked in with cooling air. Pure water is non conductive unless mixed with some minerals that make it an electrolyte. So rainwater is nonconductive as long as it doesn't get in contact with pollutants such as dust in the generator. But even then it will conduct very little I suppose. Perhaps somebody more knowledgeable can shed light on this issue.
I am also considering 15 kW PTO generator. We have significant outage about every ten years due to an ice storm. Other outages are short and happen just about once per year. So it is unlikely that we will need the tractor in the same time we need the power. If rain is an issue then I will make some kind of protection for the machine.
Switching between utility and generator would be probably easy in my house because I have a transformer just by the garage and it has a manual switch that can switch the house to another supply. Only issue is location of the CT (current transformer) for the power meter but I think it is "upstream" of the switch so I don't get charged for generating my own power.

 

[Egon]

So rainwater is nonconductive a

Each Raindrop Condenses on a minute particle of some type that is floating in the air.