Diesel Generator or PTO Generator?

[Olympus]

I'm trying to decide whether I need a good generator or not. I have a portable gas genny but it's loud and not big enough to run my whole home. I also have been moving away from gas and towards diesel. I now keep a 40 gallon barrel of diesel at all time. So a diesel genny makes more sense.

My question is whether I should get a PTO genny and use my tractor to power it or just get a complete portable diesel unit with engine and genny both. The PTO I'm looking at is 7200 watts rated and it's $900. The complete unit is 6500 watts rated for $1150.

I have two concerns with the PTO. My tractor is 23hp and for 540rpm that would require running at almost full throttle. I'm worried about that being hard on the tractor engine for extended periods line 5 to 7 hours at a time. My next concern is my tractor is brand new and I don't want to rack up lots of hours and wear my tractor out quickly.

My concern for the complete unit is whether 6500 watts will be enough for my whole home and also the additional worry about another engine to regularly maintain. I keep my tractor ready at all times and it always fires right up. I don't know if the complete unit would be the same.

Any advice would be appreciated. Been at the house 2 years and never had a power failure more than a couple hours, that's why I'm leaning toward the PTO since it's higher wattage and lower price and the need for usage may be little. We have buried utilities.

 

[IXLR8]

My first reaction is, if you have only lost power for a few hours over 2 years.... get some candles, a battery powered radio, 5 gallon pail for water if you are on a well and call it done. If you have medical needs to have power, then get the portable unit. I spent a lot of time debating the same thing, I decided to get a portable unit. If we are out of power long enough to bother to hook up the generator, there is a good chance I will need the tractor. I am away for 2 weeks a month and my wife can't hook up a pto generator to the tractor but she can start a portable unit. You need to sort out the wattage of your home, then decide what must you be able to run, then what would you like to run.. then that will tell you what size generator you will need.

 

[genusCastor]

I went through this routine a few years ago and decided I didn't want to tie the tractor up, plus the fact that I'd need to get the tractor from the shed to the house, in the event of an extended outage. I ended up getting a Home Depot [Ridgid] gas 10kW. I would have preferred diesel, but was too cheap to fork out that much $ just for a generator. Since that time I bought my first welder to learn and play with, and in hindsight, what I probably should have done was buy a good diesel welder and use it for a generator.

Have fun shopping.

- djb

 

[KubotainNH]

There's lots of wattage calculators out there to size a gen. I prefer the minimum and ease of hookup so have a 4000w gas inverter unit that is electric start. The plus with the inverter is it runs at the speed needed for the draw which of course saves gas, it is also very quiet. I have town water so can live without having 220v. I have a 6 pole transfer switch with a plug near where the gen lives. I could easily talk the wife through setting it up via a phone. Personally, I would not want to tie up my tractor. You may want to look at propane ones also if you already have that at your house. There's many options in that realm and none of the gasoline issues.

 

[George2615]

A PTO generator will tie up your tractor but would run the whole house. I had a 5KW gas generator (6250 surge). It would run my whole house except the A/C window units. When I was looking to get a larger generator I also needed to replace my old AC buzz box welder. I don't have natural gas here and only a small propane tank for the cook stove so that ruled out a guardian generator for me. I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone and bought a Miller Bobcat 250 NT welder / generator. Its 10KW and will run my whole house including the A/C units plus it is a decent welder. Diesel generators are usually close to twice the price of gas powered ones.

 

[zzvyb6]

I don't subscribe to the notion that 'it ties up your tractor'. How so ??? If you need the tractor, disconnect from the alternator and take care of business. I actually have both types of systems and the tractor hook up is easiest. My Winpower is always parked at the disconnect. In Winter, you need water and heat and maybe some cooking. In Summer, you need water and A/C and food. So hookup, run the furnace to get the temps adjusted, fix dinner and then take the tractor into town for some beer and pretzels. If your house looses all its heat within 30 minutes, put the axles and wheels back on and move it south.

But is it tied up ? No way. If it takes more than a minute to disconnect or reconnect your temporary power you need more help than a tractor or a generator standing by....

 

[George2615]

I don't subscribe to the notion that 'it ties up your tractor'. How so ??? If you need the tractor, disconnect from the alternator and take care of business. I actually have both types of systems and the tractor hook up is easiest. My Winpower is always parked at the disconnect. In Winter, you need water and heat and maybe some cooking. In Summer, you need water and A/C and food. So hookup, run the furnace to get the temps adjusted, fix dinner and then take the tractor into town for some beer and pretzels. If your house looses all its heat within 30 minutes, put the axles and wheels back on and move it south.

But is it tied up ? No way. If it takes more than a minute to disconnect or reconnect your temporary power you need more help than a tractor or a generator standing by....

I guess it depends on how he uses his tractor. If it just sits parked most of the time then using it to power a PTO generator would not be a problem and not really tie it up. But if he uses the tractor for farm work and its the only one he has then it would be tied up using it to power the house or barn when he needed it for other jobs.

 

[DarkBlack]

I don't subscribe to the notion that 'it ties up your tractor'. How so ??? If you need the tractor, disconnect from the alternator and take care of business. I actually have both types of systems and the tractor hook up is easiest. My Winpower is always parked at the disconnect. In Winter, you need water and heat and maybe some cooking. In Summer, you need water and A/C and food. So hookup, run the furnace to get the temps adjusted, fix dinner and then take the tractor into town for some beer and pretzels. If your house looses all its heat within 30 minutes, put the axles and wheels back on and move it south.

But is it tied up ? No way. If it takes more than a minute to disconnect or reconnect your temporary power you need more help than a tractor or a generator standing by....

Yeh, pitch black ,cold house in the middle of a raging snow storm. To prevent that... some would call that having the tractor "tied up"...

 

[techman]

I was concerned about the tractor being unavailable in bad weather (snow) since I use it to snowblow 6/10 of a mile driveway. I started with a small gas, then a 7KW gas gen. With a diesel tractor I rarely kept fresh gas around, which became a concern. Knowing that diesel has a nearly unlimited shelf life, I next upgraded to a 2 cyl, 3600 RPM Duetz aircooled diesel, rated at 8 KW. Ran well, but loud and it was tough starting mid winter. I last upgraded to a 9.8KW kubota driven water cooled 1800 RPM unit. Maybe overkill, but it uses common filters, etc as my tractor. I must say it is relatively quiet, powers the whole house, summer and winter, and on average uses 0.3 g/hr with AC or heat running. I have a 50 gal tank dedicated to the genset and another 50 gal for the tractor. Several years old and no regrets.

paul

 

[MikePA]

Yeh, pitch black ,cold house in the middle of a raging snow storm. To prevent that... some would call that having the tractor "tied up"...

I certainly would.

If people need a generator to power their house the entire time electricity is out, then it's not a 'notion to be subscribed to', it's a requirement.