Tom_H
Veteran Member
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( why would you want to fire it up just to use a power washer?)</font>
Because internal combustion engines do not like to sit for long periods. It takes work to maintain a fleet of tools, each with its own internal combustion engine. My goal is to have (not including the cars) just one engine to maintain: the tractor. Some things that can be run from the PTO rather than from their own engines are: generator, chipper/shredder, water pump, pressure washer, pneumatic pump with tank and tools, rototiller, lawn mower, rough cutter, siclebars, even electric chainsaws and line trimmers coupled to the generator. Since the tractor runs frequently, it's never hard to start. When some of these other things sit for a long time between uses, they can be a pain to get started. There's also the issue of stale fuel to drain, etc. I just find it cheaper, faster, and easier to hook these things up to the PTO and go.
Because internal combustion engines do not like to sit for long periods. It takes work to maintain a fleet of tools, each with its own internal combustion engine. My goal is to have (not including the cars) just one engine to maintain: the tractor. Some things that can be run from the PTO rather than from their own engines are: generator, chipper/shredder, water pump, pressure washer, pneumatic pump with tank and tools, rototiller, lawn mower, rough cutter, siclebars, even electric chainsaws and line trimmers coupled to the generator. Since the tractor runs frequently, it's never hard to start. When some of these other things sit for a long time between uses, they can be a pain to get started. There's also the issue of stale fuel to drain, etc. I just find it cheaper, faster, and easier to hook these things up to the PTO and go.