[Spudland_Dave]

I know I know...I was a staunch supporter of Engine Drive units...and my stance hasnt changed...while this 10kw Generator worked EXCELLENT. I dunno how much I like leaving the 3520 running at PTO speed for hours on end....
Got it from a great dealer, it was technically used...but it was never used. Pre Owned is the best description. They said I could bring it back if I didnt like it and trade it in on a JD Engine Drive Generator...My back was against the wall, we lost power Sunday night a 11:30ish and got it back Monday at 8:30. With a 3.5 month old, it was imperative we had heat at the very least...
They didnt have any engine drive units in stock, otherwise I woulda come home with one of those instead.

 

[Kennyd]

So the dealer was open at 11:30 Sunday night?

I installed a Generac 15kw automatic generator about 5 years ago...it now has just over 100 hours on it. When the power goes out, just wait about 34 seconds and the lights will be back on.

I looked at the PTO and portable setups, but wanted something to power the house if I am not home when the power goes out, my wife sure as He** is not going to hook up one of those to the tractor, or drag out a portable and get it started! SInce I work for a majot utility company (Verizon), I am often out working in the storms.

Did you make any progress with the pressurewasher project?

 

[eepete]

Dave, you know what you need, here's a picture of a hint. Just keep the mice out. If you don't like the big 45KW blue-green Onan, there's a shot of a cute little 25KW Kohler we have at the fire department. You need a generator like I need a welder.

Kennyd, I've got a good buddy down here who's a system engineer for Verizon in Raleigh, NC. We put in a bunch of amateur radio repeaters on Verizon towers before they were sold to a vertical real estate company. I'm taking one site out of service this winter.

Pete

 

[Spudland_Dave]

So the dealer was open at 11:30 Sunday night?

Sorry to be confusing Ken..
No, we lost power at 11:30pm Sunday night, I HAD to be at work Monday morning at 7:00 for project followup, so when I was done with all that BS at 10:00 Monday morning I started calling up dealers in the area...my normal closest dealer didnt have anything...well, only overpriced Honda units....JD Dealer 40 mins north, had a 5k engine drive JD unit which I felt was too small, and the JD Dealer 30 mins south had this PTO unit....All 3 dealers are excellent...I'm lucky in that respect. Dealer where I got this unit said I could bring it back for full credit towards an engine drive if I want...

Did you make any progress with the pressurewasher project?

Boy I wish I could say Yes...I just cant catch a break these days it seems...work is stupid busy and the same goes for home. I took Monday & Tuesday off next week for the specific purpose of getting work done around the house, but it appears those days just went up in smoke...looks like we'll be "going up home" with the little one for the first time...home is 300 miles north.

 

[Spudland_Dave]

Soooo..... What would you guys do in my shoes? Trade this PTO unit in on an Engine Drive? Am I just being a "baby" about leaving my tractor taching out all night?

I was THINKING about either the 6k or 8k JD units...

6k: http://www.deere.com/en_US/parts/homeandworkshop/products/generators/ac_g6000s.html

8k: http://www.deere.com/en_US/parts/homeandworkshop/products/generators/ac_g8000s.html

 

[Aaron]

I know many are against PTO powered because it ties up your machine in an emergency and you put extra hours on it but I personally like the PTO option for emergency power. Here are my reasons.

1st, if you are out of power for an extended amount of time, To me, who cares about the extra hours on your machine. Thats why i own my tractor, to be there when i need it. As a homeowner, age will be my tractors enemy not hours. If i ever do get thousands of hours on my tractor, my case to buy a new one will already be made to the CFO based on what i've accomplished, so it should be a simple sell.

2nd, If the power goes down for a long time, i always have a spare set of filters and oil on the shelf. I can't say the same for my lawnmower or other small engines.

3rd, Like #2, I have oil heat, If i need diesel, i know where to find it. I rarely keep more than a few gallons of gas on hand to keep it fresh.

4th, A stand alone unit is one more engine to maintain. Though reliable when run, small engines don't like to sit which is exactly how a generator spends most of its life. If its not working properly, you put maintenance on your "to do" list and get to it when you find the time. Depending how busy you are, it may or may not get fixed quickly. If the tractor goes down, I know it gets put close to the top of my list.


But, when an emergency comes its ready for service

 

[eepete]

Both have the same size engine, so no difference in fuel consumption at a given load. Same receptacles, breakers. So it comes down to your load, the nature of this load, and your means of connection.

A 30 amp 240 connector is good for 7200 watts. If this is the way your are going to connect to your house, then the 8KW can run the house at the full load allowed for by the connector. If your max load is in the 4KW range, the 6KW unit is fine. Otherwise you fall back on "there's no such thing as too much horse power".

The nature of the load comes down to what sorts of motors or compressors are you running. Well pumps, refrigerators, and HVAC compressors and fans need more power for a few cycles (and even up to half a second or so) to start than run. So a refrigerator that takes 500 watts to run might want 900 watts to start. My rule of thumb for HVAC compressors is you need double the power. So a 1.5 ton unit that might need 1500 watts to run needs 3KW in generator capacity. And if this is for house standby, you may have moments when the 'fridge and well pump kick on at the same time.

So I think the 8KW unit would be OK for 6KW of continuous load, and then you'd have 2KW in reserve to start up things that spin. At 6KW you've got 25 amps on the 30 amp connector, a nice safety de-rating. It's a good match for the standard 30 amp twist lock connector. The alternator will run cooler since it's bigger for a given load. And the generator itself has 33% more watts for 20% more price. And finally, I'm spending your money (but I'd get the 8KW if it was my money).

Pretty amazing how the 6KW Yanmar Diesel cost of $3849 is so much more than the gas. Aaron's comments make sense, I'm just restricting my thoughts to the two generators you presented. I'll agree and counter on the fuel availability with this: If you get a gas siphon for your cars, you'll have a good source of fuel for an outage.

Pete

 

[Spudland_Dave]

Pretty amazing how the 6KW Yanmar Diesel cost of $3849 is so much more than the gas. Aaron's comments make sense, I'm just restricting my thoughts to the two generators you presented. I'll agree and counter on the fuel availability with this: If you get a gas siphon for your cars, you'll have a good source of fuel for an outage.

Yeah, if the Yanmar diesel one was a little cheaper, I probably wouldnt be questioning things. Seriously I keep ZERO plain gas at home. I have nothing that runs on gas...everything is Diesel or 2 stroke (if I could find a Diesel Leaf Blower, Chainsaw, and trimmer I'd be happy)...even then, 1 gal of 2 stroke mix lasts me all year and then some...So Aaron's point of fuel does factor in. Heck Monday when I left for work, all the local gas stations were without power and closed....Even if I would have has a gas gen set, I woulda been SOL...well, unless I siphoned the vehicles like you mentioned.

What I want to run... Deep Well Pump...its on a 220v 30A circuit, Freezer (older then me, works great..sure it sucks the juice), Fridge and Furnace w/Power Venter...Few lights are nice to have, but not as necessary as heat & water.

Your absouletly correct, when I fired things up, EVERYTHING started at once...didnt even phase the tractor or Generator at all...I knew that would happen so I turned on each breaker one by one to minimize the startup draw.

Another thought I had....How about making a 1.5:1 or 2:1 speed increaser for the PTO. Safe to say I have MORE power then needed for a 10k generator...that way I could at least let the tractor not turn so many RPM's....

This would be the perfect application for a 4x20 with ePTO....

 

[ddivinia]

I have s Generac 40kw with a v-6 Chrysler. It has been a pile of crap.

D.

 

[Spudland_Dave]

So, after a few "Sleepless" nights because I've got this gen situation on my mind, I think I'm going to be checking on the logistics of trading in the 10k PTO for the Engine Drive 8k I posted..
Not exactly a perfect solution...but better then nothing.
In a perfect world, I woulda gotten my Kubota running before all this happened:

 

[Nuru]

So the dealer was open at 11:30 Sunday night?

I installed a Generac 15kw automatic generator about 5 years ago...it now has just over 100 hours on it. When the power goes out, just wait about 34 seconds and the lights will be back on.

I looked at the PTO and portable setups, but wanted something to power the house if I am not home when the power goes out, my wife sure as He** is not going to hook up one of those to the tractor, or drag out a portable and get it started! SInce I work for a majot utility company (Verizon), I am often out working in the storms.


Did you make any progress with the pressurewasher project?

KennyD, once I get back on better footing $$$$$, i am gonna look at getting a natural gas generator for my house. We don't lose power too often, but when it happens, it ends up lasting for hours. I bought a UPS for my models and routers, but I really want a full fledged house generator in the future.

 

[Nuru]

So, after a few "Sleepless" nights because I've got this gen situation on my mind, I think I'm going to be checking on the logistics of trading in the 10k PTO for the Engine Drive 8k I posted..
Not exactly a perfect solution...but better then nothing.
In a perfect world, I woulda gotten my Kubota running before all this happened:

I looked and am still looking at diesel gens and natural gas gens, an am wondering if anyone here has any inputs on which is better?

Natural gas gens are much quieter and cheaper.
Diesel Gens are more portable/are portable and louder (even with a weather cabinet)

 

[deputy11]

Spudland Dave, I tried to purchase the 10kw gen from my JD salesman but he wasn't interested. Said that gen was rated for their Xxxxx series units and my 3520 was probably too big for it. What's the deal? Ended up getting a 10kw from IMD which I'm very happy with. I don't intend to run it all night when power goes out but don't believe there's any reason not to if I do. Really has me wondering why they weren't interested in selling the gen unit at JD, though.

 

[Brian]

Welcome to Deere Talk Duputy11.

The 10K PTO generator is made for thier X700 sieries, but there is no reason it would not work behind a more powerful machine! I am looking at something like that to use on my 4520 with the economy PTO setting.

 

[Spudland_Dave]

Deputy, Brian is absouletly correct...there is no reason to not use this Gen set behind ANY tractor with a 3pt hitch and PTO. Seriously, the only "issue" I see is the short drive shaft...as you can see I had to remove my iMatch to get it to work because the shaft was too short to use it with the iMatch. Its funny how things change from dealer to dealer...they had this PTO Gen hanging off the back of a 4600 when I picked it up.

If I had the ePTO like Brian I'd keep it, it worked AWESOME.....but I've already made deals at 2 dealers, by next weekend she's gone...just gotta decide what I want to replace it with now.

A) Original selling dealer will take it back and return my money. (They arent "into small OPE"...so while they stock and sell PTO Gens, they arent hot to trot when it comes to any OPE)
B) Another dealer will give me same money on trade in towards a JD or Honda Generator.

So Now I'm just debating whether I pay the extra $350.00 to get the JD 8k Engine Drive Generator, or take the cash and run down to Home Depot and get a 10k for 1399.....or I buy something else online.

 

[deputy11]

I thought there should be no reason the JD 3pt gen would not work so I guess JD lost a sale and an IMD salesman who was willing to answer all of my questions got it. Anyone that is interested in a pto gen, I highly recommend the IMD units, reasonable prices and fast shipping. Come with a built in volt and hz meter. Thanks for the replys!