Baumalight PTO Generator

[ItBmine]

Picked up my new Baumalight TX12 PTO generator yesterday. 12KW, 24KW surge, 50 Amp. I also ordered the 3 point hitch dock instead of leaving it on the trailer. Haven't tried it yet though. Still have to measure and cut PTO shaft.

Only complaint though is the hitch dock is not quick hitch compatible. There is no clearance for the top hook no matter how I adjust it's height. So I have to take it off when I put the generator on.

 

[ItBmine]

And I guess if I really wanted to complain, I would have been more than happy to pay $20 more for them to hit the bottom of the cradle with paint, LOL

 

[McMXi]

Picked up my new Baumalight TX12 PTO generator yesterday. 12KW, 24KW surge, 50 Amp. I also ordered the 3 point hitch dock instead of leaving it on the trailer. Haven't tried it yet though. Still have to measure and cut PTO shaft.

Only complaint though is the hitch dock is not quick hitch compatible. There is no clearance for the top hook no matter how I adjust it's height. So I have to take it off when I put the generator on.

That's an awesome piece of equipment to bring home. Very nice!

I have a Kubota 7kW diesel generator but it was an impulsive purchase on my birthday a few years ago. In hindsight, something like the Baumalight you bought would have been a better choice. The Kubota is a nice generator and I have all that I need to connect it to the house, but something in the 12kW range that's PTO driven would have been a better choice I think.

On the bright side, the power here is so reliable that there really isn't much need for a generator, so portability is probably the most important consideration, and it was why I bought the GL7000. Well, that's what I tell myself at least.

 

[NCL4701]

Nice!

Some people don’t like PTO generators. I’m not one of them. Our electric utility is quite reliable but once in a while…

We had an average quality 7500W “contractor” type generator for years. Output is probably pretty dirty. Could run the oil furnace and freezers/refrigerators off drop cords but no air conditioning, no well water, no electronics.

16kW continuous clean power through a transfer switch was a HUGE upgrade. Being able to run electronics, well pump, air conditioner, etc. is a a total game changer for us: for my wife because she can go on with life as usual; for me, mostly because my wife can go on with life as usual.

 

[BAP]

You will like your Baumalight. I have mine on the trailer and like it that way, because I can unhook it and roll it into the corner under some other stuff for storage. It’s a great little generator for the couple of times a year that the power goes out. Makes plenty of power for our house on my B2920.

 

[ItBmine]

That's an awesome piece of equipment to bring home. Very nice!

I have a Kubota 7kW diesel generator but it was an impulsive purchase on my birthday a few years ago. In hindsight, something like the Baumalight you bought would have been a better choice. The Kubota is a nice generator and I have all that I need to connect it to the house, but something in the 12kW range that's PTO driven would have been a better choice I think.

On the bright side, the power here is so reliable that there really isn't much need for a generator, so portability is probably the most important consideration, and it was why I bought the GL7000. Well, that's what I tell myself at least.

Really? Those Kubota diesel generators look pretty nice. My dealer owner who also own a big dairy farm said there is a local farmer that runs his 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Has 1000 hours so far and nothing but oil changes.
I only went the PTO route so I didn't have to maintain fuel and another engine. And here in Canada the prices broke down like this:
My Baumalight was $4605 with the optional 3 point cradle.
A Kubota generator was around $9,000 I think?
And a Generac whole home standby was $14,000 installed.

So this seemed like the most cost effective way to power my house in an outage.

And Baumalight has really good customer support and will actually support you to do maintenance and repairs yourself.

I may get to try it out lots in the near future. Our local steel mill is just making the transition to electric arc blast furnaces and we don't have the power grid to run them here yet, so I can see some brown-outs coming, LOL

 

[ItBmine]

Nice!

Some people don’t like PTO generators. I’m not one of them. Our electric utility is quite reliable but once in a while…

We had an average quality 7500W “contractor” type generator for years. Output is probably pretty dirty. Could run the oil furnace and freezers/refrigerators off drop cords but no air conditioning, no well water, no electronics.

16kW continuous clean power through a transfer switch was a HUGE upgrade. Being able to run electronics, well pump, air conditioner, etc. is a a total game changer for us: for my wife because she can go on with life as usual; for me, mostly because my wife can go on with life as usual.

View attachment 164401 View attachment 164402

Nice! I was using a 3500KW Champion for several years and running extension cords all over the house. I mainly just ran the well pump with it and fridge and freezer. Any heat or cooking needs we have a wood stove.
I don't know much about this "dirty power"
Maybe I was just lucky but I used to plug my tv, wifi and laptops in to that Champion and never blew anything up?

Does it make a difference by having the transfer switch on the meter base?
Do I need to worry about anything with the PTO generator?

 

[ItBmine]

You will like your Baumalight. I have mine on the trailer and like it that way, because I can unhook it and roll it into the corner under some other stuff for storage. It’s a great little generator for the couple of times a year that the power goes out. Makes plenty of power for our house on my B2920.

In a way I like the trailer, but my thoughts were if I was never not home and my wife needed to use the generator, it is easier for her to move a single unit on the 3 point hitch. And then I don't have to worry about her lining up the driveline.

 

[NCL4701]

Nice! I was using a 3500KW Champion for several years and running extension cords all over the house. I mainly just ran the well pump with it and fridge and freezer. Any heat or cooking needs we have a wood stove.
I don't know much about this "dirty power"
Maybe I was just lucky but I used to plug my tv, wifi and laptops in to that Champion and never blew anything up?

Does it make a difference by having the transfer switch on the meter base?
Do I need to worry about anything with the PTO generator?

I’m not the electrical brainiac some on here are so I’m not sure I could explain the dirty power thing very well. I know part of it is sine wave v square wave or clipped wave or something. Some electronics don’t like anything other than sine wave. That and there’s a pretty standard frequency and voltage tolerance coming from the utility so if the generator can stay in those tolerances it’s good. If it can’t, some stuff doesn’t like that.

I had a licensed electrician hook up the transfer switch that patches it into the service panel to make sure it meets code. He was very knowledgeable about generators but knew nothing about tractors. He was convinced there was no way it would hold voltage and frequency with varying loads. He spent some time with it monitoring frequency, voltage, and wave form while we put a variety of loads on it, including starting the A/C and well pump at the same time. He was pretty surprised it performs electrically like the standby generators he routinely installed.

Only differences I know of is it has a gearbox that of course requires oil, it runs off a tractor instead of a dedicated engine, and you have to set the tractor’s RPM correctly to produce the appropriate voltage and frequency. That’s pretty easy on mine because it has voltage and frequency gauges that are easily read while adjusting engine speed. I sort of assume any PTO generator would be set up with similar gauges.

Edit: Having the transfer switch hooked into the service panel allows us to run everything normally. No drop cords to run (except the big one from the generator to the transfer switch). Just have to remember you don’t have the usual 200A service so can’t run electric water heater and A/C and electric dryer and electric oven and well pump all at the same time.

 

[BAP]

In a way I like the trailer, but my thoughts were if I was never not home and my wife needed to use the generator, it is easier for her to move a single unit on the 3 point hitch. And then I don't have to worry about her lining up the driveline.

I can understand your concern with your wife using it if she isn’t used to using the trailer. The PTO shaft with the trailer is a concern. You can’t turn to tight and you have to make sure it is parked such that the PTO shaft is straight.

 

[skeets]

That is a sweet set up, I have been kicking the PTO thing around for a long time, I know one of the tractors will start, the gen set maybe not so much.

 

[Like Tractors]

Picked up my new Baumalight TX12 PTO generator yesterday. 12KW, 24KW surge, 50 Amp. I also ordered the 3 point hitch dock instead of leaving it on the trailer. Haven't tried it yet though. Still have to measure and cut PTO shaft.

Only complaint though is the hitch dock is not quick hitch compatible. There is no clearance for the top hook no matter how I adjust it's height. So I have to take it off when I put the generator on.

I chose a Winco 27KW PTO generator to replace my Winpower 10KW, I kinda like it. A tractor with an electronic governor keeps frequency and voltage right on the initial set point under varing loads.

 

[BAP]

I’m on my Baumalight generator power right now. At 4:52am, the power went out just before my wife’s alarm went off for work. I went out and hooked up the generator so that she could get ready for work. Power company estimates another couple hours before power is restored. It’s been 6-7 months since I have used it. Handy to have when needed.

 

[Sidekick]

Anyone else ditched the noisy generators and switched to solar backup. I replaced my 15k generator with a 12k inverter, couple batteries, and 10 panels. Turned out it has also cut my electricity bill in half by keeping all our critical circuits on it through the transfer switch. Zero noise or fuel required. Can go 4 days without sun or forever with a sunny day slipped in. Don't miss the noise or paying for fuel. We have often outages for a couple hours that was he'll on appliances.

 

[ItBmine]

So, I realized today, luckily before I cut the PTO shaft, that I would not like the 3 point cradle I bought for it. So I unbolted it AGAIN and put back on the trailer.
Their 3 point cradle is NOT quick hitch compatible. Even with my adjustable top hook. No way I could make it work.
So I realized I was going to HATE taking my QH on and off every time I want to use an implement. Easier to take trailer off.

 

[ItBmine]

So now a question for those of you with a Baumalight TX. Is it normal for the voltage gauge to bounce around and fluctuate 10 volts? It is impossible to keep it at right on 120.
Driveline was straight, no vibration.....but I only had a light load plugged in to it just to try it.

 

[BAP]

So now a question for those of you with a Baumalight TX. Is it normal for the voltage gauge to bounce around and fluctuate 10 volts? It is impossible to keep it at right on 120.
Driveline was straight, no vibration.....but I only had a light load plugged in to it just to try it.

Mine is pretty steady once I get it set to the correct point. Couple of things to be careful with.
1) the quick hitch and PTO shaft. On my tractor, the PTO shaft will hit the quick hitch in a turn if you aren’t careful.
2) If you leave the tractor hitched to the generator for days not running, I hitch up the 3 point hitch arms with a piece of chain because my Quick Hitch will settle down onto the PTO shaft if I don’t and I don’t want to bend the shaft. I have a few times hooked up the generator and left it hooked up for a while when we were in a bad stormy pattern so my wife could start if needed. She can’t hook it up but can start it up if it’s in place.

 

[ItBmine]

Mine is pretty steady once I get it set to the correct point. Couple of things to be careful with.
1) the quick hitch and PTO shaft. On my tractor, the PTO shaft will hit the quick hitch in a turn if you aren’t careful.
2) If you leave the tractor hitched to the generator for days not running, I hitch up the 3 point hitch arms with a piece of chain because my Quick Hitch will settle down onto the PTO shaft if I don’t and I don’t want to bend the shaft. I have a few times hooked up the generator and left it hooked up for a while when we were in a bad stormy pattern so my wife could start if needed. She can’t hook it up but can start it up if it’s in place.

Thanks BAP I did already think of that...chaining the hitch up because yes it will hit the PTO shaft if lowered.

I just spoke to them at Bauma. They told me the gauge flickering is normal and should steady out when I put more load on it.
So we'll see how it is once I get the transfer switch installed on the house.

And they don't want to take the cradle back, so maybe some day I'll widen the lower pins and refabricate the top pin for it to work with my hitch since I already paid $787 dollars for it.

 

[hedgerow]

We I started farming in the late 70's most all of my equipment was pull type and about the only thing three point was a blade and a round bale carrier. Then in the 80's and 90's most of my equipment went three point. Then the 2000's came and equipment kept getting bigger went from a 8 row mounted planter to a 16 row pull type planter. Now all my big equipment is pull type. I don't even have my quick hitch or my three point arms on my two biggest tractors. They are just in the way. I had a PTO generator for years on a cart. I ran it a lot on a old JD model A that had no three point.

 

[armylifer]

@ItBmine, It is probably a little late to mention this but you might consider mounting the generator on a carry all that is QH compatible instead of using the cradle that came with your generator. There is currently a carry all available from Tractor Supply for $229.49 https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/countyline-carry-all-2128210

I have seen them go on sale for less than that, in the past.