PTO Generator

[MacTractor]

Thanks for the input.

The issue for me I think is that I would expect an outage to be a very rare event but something that I would now rather be prepared for. This outage caught us by surprise and and the worst time (over Xmas). If I were down frequently, I would for sure buy a standby automatic unit as it would be worth the investment. The whole incident with the portable unit really put me off as it is just another engine that I have to maintain and cross fingers that it works when needed. I know the tractor works as I use it all the time. I understand it will be a PITA to unhook for snow blowing but for me it is better than having what I have going on this week.

A propane unit is out of equationtion as I do have propane for fireplace cook topktop but I would need a much bigger tank as once the snow flies, I can't get propane delivery due to a steep long driveway. (I only have a 500lb tank) I would also love a standby Kubota or other diesel Genset but the $$$ is too high compared to a PTO genset.

I will look up the Tiger Power unit. I think for me the issue in sizing comes the Q and A section here:

Voltmaster PTO15/12 PTO Generator - PTO15/12 - 12 kW Tractor-Driven PTO Generator (540 RPM)

Basically saying that if I buy a generator above the 9KW I will risk damaging the generator?

 

[Raw Dodge]

I have always thought about a pto gen but then the thought of running the tractor for hours on end was not something I wanted to do. I think that is the cheaper way to go but have you looked at stand alone units?

The only concern I'd have is having a fuel supply...if you run it hours on end,if your doing maintenance as needed it won't do anything to harm it ..after all why have it if your afraid to use it within it's designed parameters..

 

[buickanddeere]

That's probably pushing it a bit. The 2305 has 18 PTO HP. With ~2 PTO HP required per kW, that would be 9kW. I suggest the 12kW (check any website that sell PTO generators for confirmation) would work...the 15 kW Winco is probably too much...

The 2HP per KW rule of thumb is allowing for starting surges. And to avoid shortening engine life of gen sets by working the engine at 100% power continuously. The actual continuous HP demand for 1KW is very close to 1.5HP.
For a few hours of days a year. The 2305 will howl along just fine carrying up to 12KW electrical load.

 

[buickanddeere]

Always better carrying a 12KW load on a 15KW pto generator instead of 12KW on a 12.5KW generator. Particularly in the summer heat.

 

[alco141]

i have run two 90% high efficiency furnaces for 8-10 hrs at a time from my winco 10 kw generator, never had a problem with either one, your mileage may vary. did not have trouble with my satellite system, television, dvd player, so in my case with my equipment all my stuff including computers, have had no problems with my 9kw winco trifuel, i have also run the house off a generac 25 kw pto generator connected to my 19 hp pto new holland, set the generator on 62hz unloaded when i added the load it settles to 60 hz on the freq meter and 110 v, have not had any electronics blow up or any other horror stories to tell you about running my house off a generator for 8-10 hrs these are the longest power outages i have had. sold the generac to a friend that needed it a lot more than i did, thinking about a harbor freight unit as a back up.

alex

 

[alco141]

the biggest issue i had with the pto unit was my wife and daughters could not hook it up if i was not there, the winco you wheel outside, plug in the cable start the generator and throw the transfer switch. they could handle this.

 

[RFB]

I went through this decision process about 3 years ago and settled upon a dedicated genset and manual tfer switch.

I went with a manual because we get many 10 second or less outages, and sometimes several in a few minutes, that I did not want regular short run operation and changeover cycles.

The genset included a 100 gallon belly tank with a Kubota diesel matched to a 45kw generator. I bought it from Central Maine Diesel.

 

[MikePA]

I went with a manual because we get many 10 second or less outages, and sometimes several in a few minutes, that I did not want regular short run operation and changeover cycles.

The nice feature of the APC automatic transfer switch I had installed is it has a generator start delay that can be set from 30 seconds to 10 minutes. It also has a generator stop delay that has several options so the generator can run at no load for a selectable time after utility power is restored.

 

[Briar Hill Brittanys]

The nice feature of the APC automatic transfer switch I had installed is it has a generator start delay that can be set from 30 seconds to 10 minutes. It also has a generator stop delay that has several options so the generator can run at no load for a selectable time after utility power is restored.

I'm in the standalone generator with an auto transfer switch camp. Our 20kW Siemens unit starts up and runs once a week for 12 minutes. It will start up and stabilize RPM, voltage, and freq. before switching. We decided on a unit big enough to handle the total requirements of our 1800 sf total electric house. The 200A SE rated transfer switch mounts next to the meter base, connecting the meter base and main panel. No guessing if we have enough power to run whatever. It's powered by propane, and is easily made to run on natural gas by moving a lever under the air breather. After grid power is restored and the genset senses it's stable, the transfer switch does its thing. The motor will continue to run for a preset cooldown time. No problems with this unit after 5 years in operation. I have had to replace the starting battery twice, and the battery charger module once. Both conditions were brought to my attention by the diagnostics onboard the unit. It has never failed to start, run, generate, and complete the shutdown cycle either during a test, or when needed due to a power failure. We have a JD 1020 tractor, I know I need it for cleanup and other chores after a storm. I'm sure my wife could hook up a PTO rig, but why bother? I know cost can be a big factor, we did it and never looked back. First time it came on because the power was off, she looked at me with a big grin on her face and said, " best money we've spent in a long time". Hard to put a price on piece of mind. I will add, we had endured 12 days in the winter of 07, and 3 days in early summer of 08 with power outages. Oh, as far as having another motor to maintain, oil change intervals are 200 hours or yearly. Just my humble opinion. Mark

 

[Industrial Toys]

Just thought I would put in my two cents worth.

I used to have an Onan 15KW PTO genset that I bought cheap from a defunct chicken farm. It worked well and ran my entire electically heated house. Used to throw the main switch and open up a splitter box making the connections with some big booster cable clamps. NICE!

I ran it first with a 42 HP Universal tractor and later with my JD 770.

The thing is, I never liked leaving a tractor running unatended. The Universal hydraulics once failed while running the generator and I never got that repaired right again.

The 770 would have to run at full tilt and that just doesn't sit well with me. Besides, there are typically no safety shut downs on tractors. You could develop an oil leak, break a fan belt, ect! I bought a 2-1 pto gearbox hoping that I could run the tractor at half speed with very little load requirments, but that simply didn't work at all.

Now I have an Onan 7.5 Industrial genset, 1800rpm. Came out of a bookmobile and I had to get it rewound. Plus I bought a 200 amp transfer switch off E-Bay.

There really are a lot of very nice used commercial gensets available at any time it seems.