fractal
Gold Member
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( My mind has been made up. I got a sign of sorts last night. We brought our newborn son home last afternoon, and the first night in the house the power went out. Fortunately this storm wasn't a winter storm and they were able to get the power back on in 3 hours. Had there been the kind of weather they had here last year - it could very easily been much longer. As soon as I finish this message, I am ordering the PTO generator. I will also buy a small generator that is sized to fit the pump at the pumphouse, and build a little generator house for it. )</font>
I was similarly inspired after Loma Preta back in 91. I went out and bought a small portable generator. I have since been looking at pto gensets.
Turns out that the portable generator has been more than sufficient for my needs. The only thing that has changed since getting the tractor is I carry it in the FEL instead of by hand. I am equally sure that my opinion would change if were were subjected to multi day outtages in foul weather around here.
The one thing I would add to the already extensive discussion here is ... how much fuel do you keep on hand, and how do you store it?
I keep two 5 gallon gerry cans of gasoline in a shed 100 ft from my house. That will run my portable generator for 2-4 days depending on duty cycle. I pour the fuel from them into the minivan and refill them once or twice a year. I also add stabil or the equivalent to the cans. I can also siphon some out of one of the cars. Diesel is another story. I don't store any in the shed. I use 2-3 gallons a year in the tractor so it makes no sense to store any extra. I recently purchased a diesel truck so have an average of 30 gallons in the two tanks. Prior to that a PTO genset would only have been good for a days worth of partial duty cycle before I was out of diesel and no ready supply.
Anyway, please consider your fuel situation as part of your buying decision. A weeks fuel for a PTO genset is something on the order of 30-50 gallons that I would have to "cycle" once or twice a year. I can do that now that I have the diesel truck. Can you?
I was similarly inspired after Loma Preta back in 91. I went out and bought a small portable generator. I have since been looking at pto gensets.
Turns out that the portable generator has been more than sufficient for my needs. The only thing that has changed since getting the tractor is I carry it in the FEL instead of by hand. I am equally sure that my opinion would change if were were subjected to multi day outtages in foul weather around here.
The one thing I would add to the already extensive discussion here is ... how much fuel do you keep on hand, and how do you store it?
I keep two 5 gallon gerry cans of gasoline in a shed 100 ft from my house. That will run my portable generator for 2-4 days depending on duty cycle. I pour the fuel from them into the minivan and refill them once or twice a year. I also add stabil or the equivalent to the cans. I can also siphon some out of one of the cars. Diesel is another story. I don't store any in the shed. I use 2-3 gallons a year in the tractor so it makes no sense to store any extra. I recently purchased a diesel truck so have an average of 30 gallons in the two tanks. Prior to that a PTO genset would only have been good for a days worth of partial duty cycle before I was out of diesel and no ready supply.
Anyway, please consider your fuel situation as part of your buying decision. A weeks fuel for a PTO genset is something on the order of 30-50 gallons that I would have to "cycle" once or twice a year. I can do that now that I have the diesel truck. Can you?