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I am looking for information on generators for home power backup that can be attached to a PTO on a portable engine that sees regular use such as a garden tractor. I don’t find much out there for information on this. It seems logical to be using an engine for other needs and then for those rare times that the power goes out, back the tractor (diesel) up to the gen and attach (belt?) to PTO. Load on gen transfer to engine problems? Experiences and references appreciated.
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Dyna makes PTO generators. Northern (www.northern-online.com, they also have a great paper catalog) carries them.
Supposedly, for each 1KW of electrical power you want the generator to output, you need 2HP of tractor PTO output.
I was planning on getting a house generator this year (probably LPG-powered), but have put it off for a year. The Y2K hysteria has caused generator prices to rise, and availability to be non-existant. We'll just risk another winter of losing power when bad storms hit.
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Fejj;
BarryO gave you good advice, except Northern has discontinued much of the generator line.
Go to The Electrical Advertiser for complete rundown on Winco PTO generators. The specs will list the required power source.
Direct, not belt drive is usually used on generators systems. The high demand is better suited for direct (power shaft) coupling.
If you go with a PTO powered generator make sure to secure the generator per the manufacturer's recommendations. My father once loaned a tractor to run a back-up generator. They didn't secure the generator (trailer unit). When they connected the load, the generator flopped around similar to a landed fish. Fortunately, the PTO shaft snapped before someone was hurt.
DON'T skip over installing a transfer switch.
Cheers;
JE
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A word of caution. I know of two people that blew their engines on small tractors. One was running a generator & the other a water pump. The load is constant on the engine. No chance to loaf for a short time. Find out the max constant load your tractor can handle.
Ron
*"DON'T skip over installing a transfer switch."E.G. http://www.gen-tran.com
*While it's tempting to minimize the number of engines in our lives, it's hard to properly match an engine's HP, speed, and torque to that of the load. Hence one often has separate engines for the chain saw, generator, tractor, lawn mower, car, truck, outboard, etc. One thing that is standard among many of those systems is 12-volt DC and lead-acid batteries. What do you need to run? For home back-up power, the fridge is the biggest load. If you can get by without opening it for 4-6 hours, a $100-$200 invertor will run a few lights, the computer, etc. Check the fan on your furnace. That's a nice thing to keep going. Solid-state invertors cost about $0.15-0.20/watt for the smaller ones (psuedo sine wave output) and for 20-60 minutes can be run off of a car battery. For longer times, you can get lead-acid storage batteries or run your car to provide continuous 12 volts (up to 300 to 600 watts). -David
*Check with dairy equipment dealers in your area,most sell,install, and service p.t.o. generators.Talked to one today and said it would be next yearbefore he could get a Winco and 2 or 3 monthsto get a Generac.
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I am looking for information on generators for home power backup that can be attached to a PTO on a portable engine that sees regular use such as a garden tractor. I don't find much out there for information on this. It seems logical to be using an engine for other needs and then for those rare times that the power goes out, back the tractor (diesel) up to the gen and attach (belt?) to PTO. Load on gen transfer to engine problems? Experiences and references appreciated.