chosing a generator

[756puller]

i was looking at buying a portable generator for the farm, any idea what size of generator that would be idea?

 

[Anonymous-0]

Without any info about your needs, it is not possible to recommend. What are intended uses? Portable use or fixed location? Natural gas available? Propane gas available? Have diesel tractors? Do you have a portable stick welder now, or do you need one? Size and kind of farm? Give us a few hints. Tom

 

[John Harmon]

We have a 6500 watt Troybilt Gen that will power our Lincoln 100 Flux Core Wire Welder pretty good,not excellent but if you don't hurry it! Powers a portable Halogen Light system very well,so, I would recommend 6500 watt at a minimum for farm use.

 

[756puller]

to run a few water pumps for the cattle, and a heat lamp to keep the pumps warm

 

[MarkB_MI]

You still need to provide a little more information. You need to figure the maximum load you'll need to run. For motors, figure at least one kilowatt per horsepower. How portable is "portable"? Something one person can pick up, or do you mean anything you can lift with your loader? Do you need 240, or just 120 volts?

 

[tbob]

i took a 6500 watt onan electric start propane genset and mounted it on an old j.d.lawntractor running gear,added a pull handle on it,it will run most anything and is easy to pull around even on rough ground,also have a 15k.w. diesel for big jobs but the little one gets the most use.hope this helps,

t bob

 

[MSD]

I would recommend something with a Honda motor for best starting and long term use. Also, get one that will idle down when there is no draw on it. Saves on gas and makes a lot less noise when it is just idiling along. I have a Dewalt that has 220 and 110. It pulls a 3 hp compressor and saws with ease. One pull on thre rope and it is going.

 

[buickanddeere]

Here is the transfer switch to be safe, legal and allow any electrical load to be operated.With a tangle of electrical cords ran through doors or windows. And jacklegged to the equipment.

http://www.reliancecontrols.com/ProductDetail.aspx?TWB2012DR

You will be happier with something brand name from a local dealer who have a shop and parts inventory.
Last week I watched a annoyed person wheel his almost new snowblower back into Walmart. I wonder if the bargan price made up for the lack of service?

 

[Ecnerwal]

How much load? What HP are the pumps, how much heat lamp, who's going to want what else run if the cows get power, or are you already divorced ? Are the pumps one-phase or three phase?

How often will you need to use it? An outage every couple of weeks, or an outage once a year or less? The more often you need it, the more use it's going to get, and the better system you need. Once in a very great while may mean that buying the best generator is a waste of money on something hardly ever used.

For how long at a stretch? You need enough fuel to keep it running that long. Furthermore, if the fuel is subject to going bad with age, it needs to be "fresh". Propane or natural gas are good (unless the natural gas goes out on you) and diesel is better than gasoline for aging effects.

Does it need to work automatically, or will you be there to switch it on & over manually when it's needed?

How often would you like to replace it? Generators don't last forever, and ones that last longer cost more (to begin with) and less (in the long run).

What are your fuel sources?

You need one big enough (and if you need to run pump motors, NOT "just barely big enough", but vastly oversized is not good either).

If you have a PTO tractor that's going to be available for the job, a Winco might make sense. If you don't want to tie up a tractor at every power outage, it doesn't.

If you have natural gas available, natural gas makes sense. If you don't, diesel is more efficient and longer lasting than gasoline, but costs more (in the first place, and less in the long run).

3600 RPM generators are common, cheap, and don't live long. 1800 RPM generators are more expensive, less common but not uncommon, and last a long time (if regular maintenance is done).

Any generator throws enough waste heat that you should not need heat lamps if you arrange to place the generator where you can either run a liquid heating loop off before the radiator (if it's liquid-cooled) or blow the hot air from the generator to the pump room.

If you don't use a tractor PTO generator, you should be running the generator under load for an hour a month even when the power is not going out, in order to keep it all happy. Automatic ones can do this automatically. Manual ones need you to do that, and any need you to keep the oil & filters changed, the batteries (if electric start) fresh, etc.

 

[Billy Shafer]

What ever you buy. Make sure it is a brand name unit. That has a support system behind it. With forty years of working on gensets. I have seen more people getting burned on the big box cheap sets. Yes you can buy them cheap,but it will cost you in the end. Very few shops want to work on them,because of the problem of finding parts or information. I have one in my shop that has only five hours on it. Stopped producing voltage. I have been looking for information on it for about a year with no luck.The place that sold it told the customer we just sell them,we don't repair them. So when you buy one. Spend the money and get one that has a company backing it up.

 

[Anonymous-0]

what i use is a miller trailblazer 251 welder/generator it has a 10000 watt generator kinda pricey for some people.a new one runs aroung $3700 bucks with tax but you can have more than just one function.just my 2 cents.RICK

 

[buickanddeere]

(quoted from post at 09:59:16 12/26/09)
i was looking at buying a portable generator for the farm, any idea what size of generator that would be idea?

Here is a welder-generator combo but they are more welder than generator.

 

[buickanddeere]

(quoted from post at 21:03:00 12/26/09)

(quoted from post at 09:59:16 12/26/09)
i was looking at buying a portable generator for the farm, any idea what size of generator that would be idea?

Here is a welder-generator combo but they are more welder than generator.

http://www.embmfg.com/Generators/WDC-Models.aspx

 

[ww]

how many cows are you milking? what size bulk tank? silo unloader? barn cleaner?or do you have a hobby farm with a horse and a few chickens?

 

[756puller]

its a 3000 head feedlot, i think the water pumps are just jet pumps, and i would like it to be portable

 

[MarkB_MI]

Hmm. For an operation that size I'd think you would want a PTO generator set up with a transfer switch so you can run the whole place. However, if you really want a portable genset, then you can't do better than the Honda "EB" series, which go up to 6500 watts. They're quite similar to the more expensive EM series but lack the ability to be fitted with electric start. I suggest the EB6500, which comes with both wheels and a lift ring. ("Portability" is a relative thing, you won't want to push a heavy generator very far; that's where the lift ring comes in.)

My wife insisted we buy an electric-start generator a few months back; we got the Honda EM6500 and it seems to be an excellent unit.

 

[buickanddeere]

Why drag the generator around in the manure instead of just plugging it into the transfer switch? You can have all the heat lamps on instead of running back and forth between them while in the dark.
Yamaha makes a respectable generator set too.
What size of jet pumps? It take some power to spin them up to speed compared to a ventilation fan of the same HP.

 

[RodinNS]

I think I'd be looking for somethin in the 25-50 KVA range in PTO generators. By the time you get into an engine driven generator large enough to be usefull to you it's neither small enough to be very portable or cheap because you're buying a fairly large engine.
Assuming you have lots of tractors around... a PTO genset might be more economical.
Install a transfer switch. Put the gen in a building where you can run a shaft through the wall to the tractor and away you go.
I don't know bout you, but I'm about at the point where I don't really care to go dragging generators around in a snow/windstorm unless there's a great need. PTO... I can have running in 5-10 minutes without much effort.

Rod