PTO Generator

[bdhsfz6]

I have a Baumalight 12KW PTO generator that I've been using for many years. As others recommend, I don't use it 24/7. I run it during the day during peak demand times for showers, cooking, A/C etc. I plug it into a transfer switch in the garage which feeds the main breaker panel in the house. That way, exhaust fumes aren't a problem. At night, I use a small 2KW gas generator to power the refrigerators, freezer & furnace.

I looked at stand alone whole house generators but most run on propane which I don't have. The cost of installing a 500+ gal propane tank plus the cost of the generator was more than I could afford. The PTO generator was only about a quarter of that cost. I already have a 1000 gal home heating oil tank which would fuel the tractor / generator for nearly a month. The 500 gal propane tank would last maybe 2 weeks and at a considerably higher cost.

To reduce my fear of running an unattended tractor, I park it and the generator in view of my home security camera which I can monitor with my smartphone. When zoomed in, it can see the gauges and warning lights on the tractor dash.

 

[mo1]

I think the answer if a PTO powered vs. standalone portable vs. dedicated backup generator is the best choice depends on the situation. I have a 12 kVA PTO powered unit mounted to a 3 point carryall. This feeds into the house through a 50 amp inlet box right at the corner of the garage exterior and there is a main breaker interlock in the breaker panel to switch between utility power and generator inlet. It's a very manual setup but inexpensive and done to code.

It gets run briefly every few hours to refill the pressure tank from the well, run the refrigerator and freezers for a cycle to keep them cold, and if it's winter, run the propane furnace blower for a cycle to keep the house from getting too cold. That doesn't take too long and I sit on the tractor for the handful of minutes these things run. The tractor gets shut off when the well pump/refrigerator/freezer/furnace cycles complete. A PTO generator fits this usage well as it's an intermittent but fairly high load. The larger the load that needs to be run intermittently, the more sense a PTO generator makes if somebody already has enough tractor to run it.

People who want to have power on all of the time, or have an automatic setup, would do better with an automatic standby unit. People who have only small 120 volt loads (as we would if we didn't have the well pump) would do better with a small portable generator as it's less expensive than a PTO unit, there aren't exactly "small" or "cheap" PTO generators.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

You are going to get 50 more responses and about half will recommend PTO generator and other half will recommend stand alone.... Just buy what you think best for your situation...I personally am in stand alone generator half as I may have to use tractor for some work and if its tied up with running generator its going to be a problem....

Sounds like a good excuse to get another tractor.

 

[LouNY]

I'm with the PTO genset users, mine is a 25 KW that I've had and used frequently.
My outages have varied from less then an hour to over 10 days. On long outages I run the generator
around 16-20 hours per day. I do have more then one tractor so I'm not worried about tieing the tractor up.
Nor do I worry about the tractor running unattended, if it were to drop oil pressure or water while working hard
it's likely to be a major repair with me in the seat or not. I would like a set of Murphy switches but have never
bothered getting a set. Mine has been run with several different tractors over the years, a couple even had
540 adapters used on the 1000 rpm shafts. The large ones did fine with that the mid sized (60HP) didn't like it.
One of my tractors has the 540E which works great. I've seen mine get buried by a snow storm while it was running,
went out in the morning and shoveled snow from around it (carefully) then plowed with the other tractor and brought
up a barrel of fuel to refill it with.

 

[metalbender]

If it was only a warm climate thing, a pto gen would be ideal. Up here with the extreme cold and the tractor tied up with a blower, a stand alone is really the only solution. Need to keep two small water supply buildings heated plus the well pump is 220 volt. The one I have is quite heavy and caused my face plant last power outage.

 

[vsteel]

I love my PTO generator, I don't have a stand along generator and if I was going to get one I would get a small inverter in the 2kw range for running really small things when I didn't want to fire up the tractor.

There are not really any cheap PTO generators because they are built to a much higher standard than the super cheap box store ones. If you are going to be hooking a generator to a tractor they figure you are going to be running it longer than an hour or two a year. The PTO generators only come in heavy duty and up to prime, the cheap crap doesn't exist in this segment.

I hear people panic about running it without Murphy switches but tractors have been running pumps, generators, hammer mills, and other loads for a long time without someone on the seat. Not worried, I just check on it once and a while. People worry about putting hours on the tractor, I bought my tractor to use.

For the frequency if you search my name I have a post on adding a good digital meter that will give voltage, current and frequency self powered by the generator. I have all of the details of the meter and how I wired it in with pictures.

Tying up the tractor, I don't run my generator 24/7, I use it to generate power, get things done and then I can unhook and use the tractor for other things, I then plug it back in when I need to have power and am done doing those other things or want to take a break.

 

[LouNY]

They are still not to bad;
https://www.powersystemstoday.com/l...pto-generators/153004?LocationID=350004455626

I mean a 15KW for $2700 or a 25KW for $4600,
or used for less.

 

[Robin Veerman]

Just reviving this thread as I’m looking for a 12-15 kw pto generator… Keep the stories coming.

 

[07wingnut]

We used to have a 45kw Generac pto generator to run the farm, things like vacuum pumps, silo unloaders and belt feeders, when the power went out. The tractor was a CIH 885 which runs to about 72hp. However, you don't want to be running that type of scenario when your load is a few things in your house like lights etc, so when the heavy lifting was done, we would switch the pto to the 1000rpm shaft and run the tractor at half the revs, essentially idling, instead of running full out. Much easier on the tractor, fuel consumption, and wear and tear on the ears.

 

[Robin Veerman]

What’s the difference for 510 rpm vs 540 rpm that some generators have on their specs?