PTO Generator

jcasper

New member

Equipment
B7510
Aug 24, 2012
14
0
0
Hillsboro
I need a generator for backup power. I need to be able to power my 2HP well pump, some lights, fridge, freezer, etc. I'm looking at a PTO generator because they're cheap. My house is wired already, we did that When we built it last year with shutoffs on the panel.

If I were to buy a 12-15KW generator how well would that work behind my little B7510 tractor?

I plan to buy an enclosed generator down the road, I just don't have the $$$ this year.
 

skeets

Well-known member

Equipment
BX 2360 /B2601
Oct 2, 2009
14,189
2,852
113
SW Pa
Jcasper a really quick lession that these guys gave me on PTO gen sets,
First of you need 2 hp at the PTO for every KW of power so if your PTO is rated at say 15hp a 7.5kw is as big as you could go. Ok not a bad size to run the house on,, Now think about how long your planning on running it a lot of hours onthe motor,, also and I dont know where your from,,, if your power goes out and its winter you have to shut the gen set off to plow or what ever. A good portable one will run as well or better than the PTO simpley because it is built to run as a gen set. Yeah I know its one more thing to maintain but in the long run its not to much and besides if the guy down the road looses power you can load it up in the truck and one man hook it up, or take it to camp by the lake or what ever picnics and such. And if you want a 10kw take a look at the Genarec a pretty good unit for the money.. its your call and your money I changed my mind and went back to the portable gen set
 

jcasper

New member

Equipment
B7510
Aug 24, 2012
14
0
0
Hillsboro
Jcasper a really quick lession that these guys gave me on PTO gen sets,
First of you need 2 hp at the PTO for every KW of power so if your PTO is rated at say 15hp a 7.5kw is as big as you could go. Ok not a bad size to run the house on,, Now think about how long your planning on running it a lot of hours onthe motor,, also and I dont know where your from,,, if your power goes out and its winter you have to shut the gen set off to plow or what ever. A good portable one will run as well or better than the PTO simpley because it is built to run as a gen set. Yeah I know its one more thing to maintain but in the long run its not to much and besides if the guy down the road looses power you can load it up in the truck and one man hook it up, or take it to camp by the lake or what ever picnics and such. And if you want a 10kw take a look at the Genarec a pretty good unit for the money.. its your call and your money I changed my mind and went back to the portable gen set

I think I've heard the 2HP rule before. I don't lose power too often, but when I do I'm one of the last on the street to get it back. I understand about needing the tractor for other things, but I'm in Oregon, we don't get a lot of snow here. If we do it's rarely enough to need to plow.

In a perfect world I'd have a 15-20KW standalone generator. I'll look around at the generic and see what I can find.

Thing about the tractor is I'm usually pretty confident it will start and getting fuel is easy because I can pump it out of my truck if necessary.
 

Eric McCarthy

New member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
Kubota B6100E
Dec 21, 2009
5,223
6
0
42
Richmond Va
A few other key factors too is when a storm hits you cant predict if you'll loose power or not. And a tractor is NEVER anywhere close to a house when you really need it. If you leave the tractor in a barn or shed and the power is out you'll have to feel your way around to the tractor, then find the generator, take off whatever is on the tractor and hook up the gen.

A portable generator is so much nicer and easier to hook up. Plus if you get caught out and away from home a portable is easy enough your wife can crank it up and have it running in no time. I mean do you really want you wife driving your tractor and hooking up a gen. Also by the time you get a tractor gen you have to put it on something and with the little trailer kit that costs extra you've actually spent more money that route.
 

Kytim

New member

Equipment
B6000DT, B7100DT,Snowplow, RM360, Scoop, Cultivator, Carryall,Disk, plow
Aug 14, 2009
848
9
0
Western Ky
Or, you could do what I did.....

Own 2 Kubota's!
 

lilguy

Member
Nov 7, 2011
166
11
18
Illinois
I have two Kubotas, over 30 years old both and I never used them to power home. Bought a 8kw Dayton IC genset and installed a 20 gal fuel tank. Refuel and check every 24 hrs and its run for up to 10 days at a time without a miss. You screw around with enough issues during an outage, getting my tractors is just one more thing to add to the pile.
Now the dairy farmer that rents our land has a 80kw that runs off one of his IH
field mules but he has to keep a 200 head of cows going 24/7.
 
Last edited:

RDR

New member

Equipment
M5400,B6100E,K008,L175,TG1860Diesel,JD355D,3)Leyland 154D's,YM2000,IH1466
Oct 13, 2009
147
1
0
Danevang, Tx.
I have to question the 2hp per 1000 watt rule. My 18hp diesel lawnmower with a 54" deck will easily cut what a 19.5hp gas mower with 42" deck won't. The blades on the gasser were sharper than the ones on the diesel.
 

Eric McCarthy

New member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
Kubota B6100E
Dec 21, 2009
5,223
6
0
42
Richmond Va
Diesel puts out more torq then a gas banger does. Case in point just the other day I helped a friend of mine bush hog 3 acres of grass he hasn't be able to mow for a few months due to his mower being down. It came down to a Kubota B6100E 14hp diesel with a Lanpride finisingmower which I own versus his Craftsman 24hp Briggs and Stratton OHV twin cylinder mower with a 54 inch deck. My Kubota ran circles around his Crapsman and I was easily mowing threw tall stuff that in some areas came over the hood of my tractor that he couldn't tackle with his mower.
 

hodge

Well-known member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
John Deere 790 John Deere 310 backhoe Bobcat 743
Nov 19, 2010
2,860
369
83
Love, VA
There are many variables about why a diesel mower does better than a gas powered mower- such as torque, the gas mower has a deck that cuts much closer than a bush hog or a finish mower, belt drive and pulley sizes versus gear/shaft, etc.- I don't think that you can directly correlate the power to mow to running a generator. I know for a fact that if you load a generator more than the engine can pull, it will stall it out. And, the tractor has to power the generator at a constant RPM- it can't fluxuate a bunch. So, being able to pull a larger generator and maintaining the RPM'S in a narrow band are two different things. I believe that regardless of the type of engine, it is a fair estimation.
 

skeets

Well-known member

Equipment
BX 2360 /B2601
Oct 2, 2009
14,189
2,852
113
SW Pa
RDR, the 2 HP PTO required is an industry standard, could you over size it sure but then you run into problems with the surge, this would give you some really large spikes inthe power wave and could do damage to frequency sensative equipment like puters and stuff, there for te 2hp would be the min to matain a gen set under a surge load like motors starting