An Inverter? No way. 4000 w PTO generator maybe. I have a 10kw generator for that duty.
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I've thought about doing just that but didn't find it practical. Too much set up time, and to darn loud with the constant drone for hours on end.
I ended up with a Honda EU7000I fuel injected. Can barely hear it, no carb/fuel problems, fast and portable. Works great for me.
I ended up with a Honda EU7000I fuel injected. Can barely hear it, no carb/fuel problems, fast and portable. Works great for me.
I might do just that. Honda makes excellent equipment (I'm biased as I have a 2005 Honda 1300VTX) and I know that it will be there when I need it most (you'll NEVER find an unreliable Tecumseh in my toolshed).
Thanks!
You could buy this.
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Same here except I have the previous model EU6500. There are TONS of threads discussing the pros and cons of using the tractor with a PTO generator. You have to really think through the setup process of establishing emergency power. In the middle of a bad storm or other disaster you need to have your tractor sitting outside, basically screaming running wide-open for the duration of the outage. Keep in mind the consistency of the engine RPM is going to dictate the consistency of your power. You need to take steps to make your PTO generator weather resistant because chances are it is going to be running during a heavy rain or ice storm. You need to have AC feed cables long enough to reach from the breaker box to wherever the tractor will be parked while running. And it goes without saying that the tractor will not be available to perform any other storm related cleanup duties while it is being used to generate power.
While using the tractor to drive a PTO generator sounds exciting, in the end it really isn't all that practical. For portable power out in the field somewhere - yes. Powering the house in times of need - no.
A portable standby generator has lots of pros all over the tractor route. You can get clean perfect sine wave power from the inverter based generators and units like the Honda are so quiet you can barely hear them 20 feet away. And with Econo-throttle they idle down when the consumption drops allowing them to sip fuel. They can be deployed and run for days on end while the tractor remains available for other duties like cleanup - and the tractor remains safely tucked away in the garage for simple extended power outages.
I'll consider if it includes the coffee can rain cap..
That's what I thought too until this past winter when our power failed in the pre-dawn hours and the temperature was zero degrees F. BOTH of my Honda generators refused to start (EU6500 and EU3000). Meanwhile my Ariens riding mower with the el-cheapo Briggs & Stratton single cylinder 17HP engine started right up in zero degrees like it was summer time.
Me and Honda were no longer buds after that morning. I'm still a fan of Honda equipment but I now keep a can of starting fluid on hand in case we get another outage during extremely cold weather.
Took the words right out of my mouth... my thoughts exactly.
I will add, spend the money on a GOOD inverter unit like the Honda. DON'T buy a modified sin-wave El cheapo unit, carbureted, let it sit for a year and a half, wheel it outside and try to start it. It probably won't. You need to exercise and cycle the fuel. I run mine occasionally, it's so quiet that it isn't a nuisance to do so.
I had the El cheapo unit before and you could tell it was dirty power. It didn't like to start certain things and my CFL's used to ficker. Anything electrical sensitive was iffy at best. I said the heck with it, spend the money now and be done with it!
This is very tempting, but customs agents can be very difficult people at times.You could buy this.
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Run Synthetic Oil problem solved. My Compressor and Generator starts at any temp now in my un/heated shop! Before I used to keep a light bulb near the crank case.
Obviously I haven't put enought thought/research into this yet, but that's why I'm reaching out to this forum. Yes, the tractor would be dedicated to powering the house and not available for anything else during the bad weather/crisis. That would not be convenient at all. Yes, a PTO driven generator sounds like a great idea, but with all that you've said, it turns out that it's not such a great idea afterall. Obviously, a portable/stand-by unit is the way to go. I'm really leaning towards a Honda (my lawnmower has a Honda motor and it starts first pull every time.....and it's 12 years old!). I'll pay through the nose for the generator, but that's what you have to do in order to buy quality.
I bought a used 8,000 watt Older Onan 2 cylinder 1800 RPM Generator out of a RV for $200.00 been using it for many years and it is nice to run at 1,800 RPMs much slower running then the 3600 RPM ones! I figure I only use it every other year or so for a few hours at the most. I have run it for a full weekend 24 hours a day at a Ham Club Set up to run Radios with. The gasoline carbs will cause you problems the first time you let old fuel stay in it and the easier they are to work on the better. My Onan is Multi-Fuel uses Gasoline, Natural Gas or Propane, I start it once each pre/winter whether it needs it or not. No way am I starting it every few weeks or each month! I have owned it for over 10 years now and probley would have had to fix the Starting Winding inside it doing so. It still fires off each time then I run it out of fuel and leave the carb dry. New fuel every year before winter with Sta/Bil in it.
I was using 10W-30 dino oil. After my zero degree episode I changed the oil in both generators to Mobil-1 0W-30 full synthetic. It definitely allows them to turn over easier but I'll have to wait till this coming winter to see if it makes any real difference with starting.
Goon rule of thumb is to let it run dry, drain what's left in the carb, then fog the cylinders. Oh, and if it has a battery, install a permanent trickle charger.
I tried this, but found I still had issues with the float. The problem with ethanol gas is it leaves a white residue behind when it evaporates, it also ruins any rubber components.
I've found running and cycling fuel to work well with carbs. Ive also found fuel injection to be superior to all above.
Just as a general FYI on this sort of thing, the rule of thumb for calculating DC current (amps) required to run an inverter is inverter rated watts divided by 10. So a 4000 watt inverter would require almost 400 amps DC at 12v, Most of these CUTs have 35 to 55 amp alternators in them. No where close to enough oomph to run that sort of thing.
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