Generator PTO Northern Tool generator and tacometer

[Soundguy]

You are breaking the laws of physics.. as we know.. only 'scotty' is allowed to do that.

If his tractor tach indicates 2200 rpm is the correct 60hz frequency.. then that's where it will ALWAYS be due to the locked gear ratio from the tractor engine to the pto shaft.

He may need to increase the THROTTLE to keep the rpms at that point.. but he will not need to increase the RPMS past that to make up for load... only throttle.

soundguy

The tractor's engine is not running at full rated load when you are looking at the cycles on the generator. Try putting a FULL load on the generator. You'll most likely have to increase your rpm's to keep the cycles up and they'll be closer to where you say they should be. Your tractor still may not be running at full load however. It could have more power than the generator requires at it's max load to keep 60 cycles.

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[bncsauve]

I checked, there is a tach cable, so I'm guessing there is probably not a simple calibration. Thanks to everyone for their input. I guess I'll just have to learn to live with it

 

[markwmo]

I just finished building a 3pt hitch mount for a new 7200 watt Northern Tool generator I bought. All went well and I decided to do a test run. All was great except for the tractor tachometer reading. The tach should be reading 2600 rpms to get 540 at the PTO. I ran the rpms up until the volt meter on the generator was reading center of the green band. (only 2200 rpms on the tach. ) Then I plugged in a salamander type heater into the gen. It started right up and ran great. I then took a hand held meter and measured the gen output while the heater was running. It was right on at 118v and freq. fluctuating between 59.99 and 60 hz. Seems perfect except tac. is 400 rpms below what it should have been. Based on the two volt meters and frequency meter, I'm guessing the tach is off. I wonder if it's adustable. The tractor is an LK2554 Kioti. Anyone else have inaccurate tach experiences? This implies that I have been running my pto attachments like snow blower, leaf vac. and finish mower at roughly 18 percent over speed, or 638 rpms. Seems kind of excessive.

I've been considering buying that same generator from Northern. Did you also have to buy the PTO shaft from them or did you find another one that would work?

 

[Soundguy]

My pto shaft on my northern genny is a eurocardan from TSC.. way cheaper than northern's shaft plus shipping.. just had to get spline to spline.. vs spline to smooth.. etc..

soundguy

 

[bncsauve]

Like soundguy, I used a standard pto shaft. I am just using the one that came with my snow blower. I expect the ones on my leaf blower or finish mower would work as well. I built my 3 pt hitch mount sized to the snow blower shaft. The location of the lift pins on the mount to the input shaft on the generator determines the length of shaft needed. Or, as I did it. I knew which shaft I wanted to use and located the pins appropriately. For my money, the Northern Tool generator is a very good value, but the shafts seem to be a little high.

 

[Mickey_Fx]

IMO some are loosing focus of the question the OP was asking. I think the question is: "can I get the tach calibrated so it reads accurate."

Yes you can, try and find a speedo shop and they should be able to calibrate.

If you can't find a shop close by or price is a Little steep, you might want to give thought to buying an electronic tach for a diesel. Tiny Tach offers one. About $100 and offers many additional functions. Transducer attaches to one of the fuel lines from the inj pump and senses the pressure pulses in the fuel line. It also turns off/on automatically.

Hope this answers your question.

 

[Soundguy]

IMO some are loosing focus of the question the OP was asking. I think the question is: "can I get the tach calibrated so it reads accurate."

Yes you can, try and find a speedo shop and they should be able to calibrate.

.

That may or may not be true. IF it is a mechanical tach.. he might be.. if it's a cluster tach with electric pickup.. he may not be..

soundguy

 

[bncsauve]

Thanks Mickey Fx and Soundguy. I believe the tach is mechanical as it has a tach cable. The gage is part of a cluster. Maybe when the weather is warmer and I have the dash off, I will take a look at it to see if anything is obvious. I guess it depends how the cable is converted to gage reading. Electrical pickup, rotating mass, friction ? I don't have any experience with the guts of a tach.

Thanks again

 

[Soundguy]

If it has a cable it is a mechanical pickup.. not electrical pickup.

Once inside.. hard to tell .. I've seen eyes and magnetic and straight gear.. all depends... and I'm not familiar with your unit..

soundguy

 

[GeneD14]

I have the same Northern Tool PTO generator. I found a way to get about 15-20% more power out of it. I painted the frame that it mounts on orange and put Allis Chalmers decals on it!