Advice on generators

[JimS]

I need some advice on generators. I think the biggest thing I will power is an electric jack hammer and a couple of freezers during a power outage. It seems the Hondas are good but what about the less expensive Rigid. Generac, Champion, Wacker, Kipar, Pulsar, etc? Never purchased one, only used them.

 

[Billy Shafer]

Stay away from Generac. Champion has a good reputation and a good support network.I have a Kipar in my shop for a year now. Still waiting on parts.Don't know about the rest.

 

[Married2Allis]

You might need 4-5000 watts? Billy is right about no Generacs. Hondas (pricey), Rigid good ones. These are manufacturers who really care about their reputation. Northern Tool Northstar models also good.

 

[58 Deere]

I have a power horse brand sold by northern tool. It is great for the money.

 

[RM-MN]

Try to find someone with one and ask to hear it run. I have a Coleman and I need earplugs to work near it. I also have a really cheap one I got at Menards and I can hold a conversation with someone while right next to it. The Coleman is a 5000 watt unit, the cheap one is only 1200. Honda's are great if you are a contractor and expect to run one for 6 to 8 hours a day as they won't wear out as quickly as some of the cheaper ones. If you run it 6 to 8 hours a year you are paying a pretty high premium for its longevity where you probably won't live long enough to wear out the cheap one.

 

[Rick B 8N WA]

I have a Generac 5000 watt unit that is 20+ years old. Still humming along, but kind of noisy. After the latest storm I purchased a Champion 7000 watt that is much quieter. (Have only test run it so far, with a 1500 watt heater as a load). Champion specs show a much cleaner sine wave than most, <5% THD, total harmonic distortion, which is better for your sensitive electronics and uninterruptible power supplies.

Awaiting delivery of a longer cord so I can get the generator away from the house and under a roof, and a larger transfer switch allowing for a couple more live circuits in the house.

 

[Harvey9]

No doubt Honda is number 1 but costly. For the money Champion is good but a little on the loud side.

 

[Andy Martin]

I like a PTO powered generator if you have a tractor. Most people have trouble getting their generators to start and stay running when needed in an emergency but most people have a tractor that will start right up and don't use all that much fuel at a fast idle.

 

[marloweg]

we have two harbor fright 7000 w both run 15-25 hr a week on the job both are over two years old and beat all to h but they have never failed .ya i know cheep china junk well just about all are made by the same company they just change the paint and the name. the two we have are Honda knock off's.also have a little 900 w for the camper and for 95.00 it good and has never failed.right now the 7000 w is on sale for 538'00 and it is elc. start .battery not inc.

 

[marloweg]

for got to say we changed one over to lp gas used in side and used a Honda conversion kit thats why i know it is a Honda knock of

 

[Geo-TH,In]

I have two 3500w RV champions. One is electric start the other is hand start. I was told the champion is a honda clone. Very easy on gas too. The hand start unit is around $300 and the electric start is around $450. I've had the hand start unit for about 5 years and the other one 3 years. Not the first problem. I prefer RV model because unlike most, all 3500 watts comes out one place, so it can easily operate my well. The 3000w honda inverter model only puts out 20 amps in one place and sells around $2000. Many other models only half the power comes out each outlet so a 3500 watt may have two outlets rated at 15 amps each. I think you are less likely to damage generator using an RV model. So look at the amp rating of each outlet.

Some call the champion noisy, I can't hear my running inside my house. May be another story if you are in a camper, but I don't have a camper. Cows don't mind hearing my generators. I know a person who has a briggs powered generator and his neighbors two blocks away hear his running. So you may want to check out the db rating is noise is a concern. Keep in mind the more watts a quiet honda generates, the more the db.

My power rarely goes out, so my generators are mainly used for powering tools in a remote location.

 

[timcasbolt]

Not sure what you mean by fast idle unless it's an invertor style. Any pto generator I ever saw needed to run at a specific engine speed to get 60 hz. On my Kubota, the
magic number is 2516.

 

[Noah W]

Be sure the engine power is enough to turn the generator efficiently. One horsepower is equal to 740 watts. Divide total watts by 740 to get required horsepower to run generator at 100% efficiency: ex. A 10000 watts generator requires 13.4hp(10000w/740w). A lot of generators come up short in this area. Also be sure to take into consideration the startup surge factor watts of any motors that will likely run at the same time. No matter the output of a generator, it can have a good, long service life if properly maintained and not overloaded.

Noah W

 

[4520BW]

I have several onans and they work great. Have a PTO generator for the big jobs

 

[notjustair]

I bought a Coleman about 15 years ago - a 6500 watt. It has a 10 horse Briggs on it that has always run perfectly. When I bought it I cut the exhaust off and welded on a muffler from a Geo Metro. It helped a lot, but it is still a riding mower engine running wide open.

Had a Generac. Boy was that a mistake. The bottom main seal started leaking the minute it was out of warranty. Never again. Hard starting thing. Ugh.

I power the farm with a 19 kW Onan diesel. It will run everything here and then some.

 

[JGayman]

Like the other poster mentioned, a PTO generator needs to run at 540 RPM to generate the correct voltage and frequency. Most smaller tractors achieve 540 PTO RPM running nearly wide open (there are exceptions like JD's ePTO option on certain models).

There are a lot of cons and only a few pros to a PTO generator. Personally I do not want my tractor sitting and screaming endlessly during an emergency. My small dedicated portable generator is more suitable for that.

It also leaves the tractor available for other emergency-related duties.

 

[Dusty MI]

(quoted from post at 22:21:33 12/04/15) Like the other poster mentioned, a PTO generator needs to run at 540 RPM to generate the correct voltage and frequency. Most smaller tractors achieve 540 PTO RPM running nearly wide open (there are exceptions like JD's ePTO option on certain models).

There are a lot of cons and only a few pros to a PTO generator. Personally I do not want my tractor sitting and screaming endlessly during an emergency. My small dedicated portable generator is more suitable for that.

It also leaves the tractor available for other emergency-related duties.

You take a larger tractor that the PTO turns 1000 RPM and run the engine speed at where the 1000 pto is only turning 535 rpm.
Or take an Allis WD/WD-45 which have a fast pto.


Dusty

 

[Dusty MI]

I have a 4000 watt belt driven generator. I mounted it on my 17 hp garden tractor and put a V-belt pulley on that lets me run the engine at a little over half speed.

Dusty

 

[caterpillar guy]

If you don't want a PTO unit why not look at portable welders then it can be used for more than just a generator. They are not that much more expensive if you look around and used ones can be had. My Miller portable welder is such I hook it up at the shed so I don't have to listen to it. Mine has about 8000watts will with caution run the whole house.

 

[sotxbill]

(quoted from post at 00:21:33 12/05/15) Like the other poster mentioned, a PTO generator needs to run at 540 RPM to generate the correct voltage and frequency. Most smaller tractors achieve 540 PTO RPM running nearly wide open (there are exceptions like JD's ePTO option on certain models).

There are a lot of cons and only a few pros to a PTO generator. Personally I do not want my tractor sitting and screaming endlessly during an emergency. My small dedicated portable generator is more suitable for that.

It also leaves the tractor available for other emergency-related duties.

Well Now... a good ford will turn 1900 rpms at pto speed ... at least '65 through '96 models.

some of the earlier ones, 53 through 64, turned 540 pto at 1200 to 1600 engine rpms....

Neither are considered WIDE OPEN.... as opposed to 3600 rpm generators. And really good generators ran at 1800 rpms... so a really GOOD tractor will do just fine, designed for long life, extra cooling, extra oil and very very heavy duty compared to the cheap generator engines.

yes the little compacts from japan were an exception, but then again, they were always an exception when it came to tractors.

 

[sotxbill]

How many generator engines can run for 10,000 hours to 12,000 hours and still allow for an overhaul and do it all over again???

 

[Billy Shafer]

The Onan J line can do it. Some of the old Kohlers also.

 

[buickanddeere]

I have wonders that too. There are so many people that think thier 75HP tractor operating a 20HP generator load. Its going to blow up or consume the entire fuel tank in 2-3 hours.
These people need something else to worry about. The temporary use generator is not an irrigation pump, marine application power or propulsion running 24/7 for months at a time at full load.

 

[Andy Martin]

Yeah when I said "fast idle" I was trying to say the tractor is going to run at 540 PTO which is not wide open and definitely not full load. Regardless of the generator horsepower requirements at full load, you're not going to demand full load all night during a power outage. Also better if you've got more than one tractor

An M Farmall will run a long time on a tank of fuel powering my house.