Anybody using a Baumalight or other PTO powered Generator?

[BX23S-1]

Typically generators that produce more than 6% THD (total harmonic distortion) are "dirty". The inverters made by Winco, IMD, and others are brushless and produce <5% THD. Also, some like my IMD, have "Automatic Voltage Regulation" (AVR) do more to keep voltage stability, which lends itself to more sensitive electronics. This is beyond what a capacitance regulation scheme does. The inverters are much more closer to pure sine wave as well. Cheap generators produce a modified sine wave which can play havoc on electronics. Make sure you size correctly as motor starting loads draw more amps and can result in voltage drops. It's the main reason refrigerator motors are burned up with undersized products. As the voltage drops, current spikes and will burn through the windings. One nice feature of the AVR units is considerably more surge (motor starting) watts. My 10KW is rated at 20KW surge. That's much more than a standard capacitance regulation. It's every bit as clean as my big Kohler automatic 14KW whole house unit. Never a hint of an issue. When sizing for a home, ASSUME that every refrigerator, freezer, furnace, water pump, or whatever will at some interval all decide to start at the same time. There are good online calculators out there which can help. AVR gives you more latitude. Since you have a 3 point hitch, no need to go for less weight on the inverter armature. Heavier ones have more momentum and can also help deal with starting loads.

GREAT write up by you, sir!!!!
Maybe around a year ago, i bought a new Westinghouse 9500/12500 dual fuel. First, ZERO issues with it. I originally wanted, and looked at those PTO gen`s, but i found that i don`t have a tractor big enough to run even the 10,000 watt PTO units, so i ended up with the Westinghouse for $900 from home depot locally. And the price of the PTO gen`s, wasn`t in our retired income price range either.

We`ve had to use it several times already. We run ours on propane, worked very good each time we`ve needed it. Though our gen is <23%THD, we`ve had zero issues with any electronics. I`m not saying we never will or won`t, so there`s that. Everything seems to work just fine. I`ve heard others say the same with their Westinghouse gens. I`m sure there ARE, some out there that have had electronics issues, i`ve not had those issues others speak of. But like i said, it doesn`t mean that we won`t, either. Just haven`t seen it yet in my home. We don`t have any battery back ups on our computor, the TV works fine, still able to have internet during power outages in our area.

I installed a 50amp inlet box on the main service, installed the lock out on our main breaker (per elec code). I only run a 15ft 50amp cord into the 50amp inlet box. The generator sits in a home made gen shed that i built for it. Our generator is stored in the garage until we need it, then its a short trip out to our inlet box, hook it up, and we`re off an running. (it is also chained down, so nobody can steal it very easily) The generator is to much for my wife an i to man handle, so we throw the pallet forks on our Kubota BX23s and take it out to the gen shed and hook it up. So far, this generator has been a really good purchase for us.

Wife an i had always talked about getting a generator for decades. When she bought an extra freezer to put in the garage, i knew we finally had to get off our duffs and get a generator. No regrets... when the power went out a few times, it saved all our foods in the refrigerator AND the garage freezer. We only turn on what is needed when we lose power. The fridge, the freezer, furnace, well pump, 2 heat tapes for the water pipes during winter, a couple lights. I don`t need brown outages when things turn on/off/on, so we are very careful how much we turn on when the gen is running. This generator never bogs down, ever. I`ve never even once heard the engine change pitch when the well pump turns on.

Anyway, enough of me rambling here

 

[Rod in Forfar]

I have used a second-hand Baumalight 7.5 kw on my subcompact tractor since 2010. It took over from a 5 kw Honda generator which we wired into a 30 amp generator panel in the basement of our stone house just after the Ice Storm in 1998.

The Bolens G174 has a three-speed p.t.o. with the preferred gear turning at 740 rpm. That lets it loaf at a leisurely pace while charging, needing seven horsepower only. My Kubota uses more than twice as much diesel per hour because it must run at 2500 rpm to make voltage and hz. With no tach and a wobbly voltage meter, I soon learned to use a Killawatt gauge to regulate the Bolens's throttle. I now keep the tractor and generator in the garage where the Honda sat with an exterior exhaust. Now I open the garage door and the man door to provide almost-adequate ventilation. To improve the quality of the output, I mounted the Killawatt in a 110 outlet at eye level on the wall, below a light bulb running off the same circuit. I can usually tell where 60 hz is by the way the bulb behaves, but once the throttle is set, the Bolens tends to hold its voltage in the face of reasonable loads. It feeds the generator panel through a 30 amp, 4 prong locking plug.

I'll monitor the feed more carefully when the new backup battery arrives, a 7 kw Ecopro Ultra, which we plan to mount next to the generator panel and have it take over the short term power loss duties. It should charge easily from a 110 outlet if the hydro is comes back on, but if the outage is extensive, I plan to charge it by wiring the Baumalight to a 30 amp outlet on the basement wall and then plugging the storage unit into it with a cable which has yet to come on the market.

I bought an oscilloscope this week to try to get an idea of the quality of the Baumalight's power with the throttle at 60 hz, but the learning curve on the scope is a bit beyond my burnt fingers methodology which has served me well for many years.
In any case I would love to hear if anyone has news about the historical quality of Baumalight p.t.o. generators. Though the mechanism makes a godawful shriek in a confined area when in operation, it has served us on many occasions over more than a decade with no damage to electronic components.

 

[Rod in Forfar]

GREAT write up by you, sir!!!!
Maybe around a year ago, i bought a new Westinghouse 9500/12500 dual fuel. First, ZERO issues with it. I originally wanted, and looked at those PTO gen`s, but i found that i don`t have a tractor big enough to run even the 10,000 watt PTO units, so i ended up with the Westinghouse for $900 from home depot locally. And the price of the PTO gen`s, wasn`t in our retired income price range either.

We`ve had to use it several times already. We run ours on propane, worked very good each time we`ve needed it. Though our gen is <23%THD, we`ve had zero issues with any electronics. I`m not saying we never will or won`t, so there`s that. Everything seems to work just fine. I`ve heard others say the same with their Westinghouse gens. I`m sure there ARE, some out there that have had electronics issues, i`ve not had those issues others speak of. But like i said, it doesn`t mean that we won`t, either. Just haven`t seen it yet in my home. We don`t have any battery back ups on our computor, the TV works fine, still able to have internet during power outages in our area.

I installed a 50amp inlet box on the main service, installed the lock out on our main breaker (per elec code). I only run a 15ft 50amp cord into the 50amp inlet box. The generator sits in a home made gen shed that i built for it. Our generator is stored in the garage until we need it, then its a short trip out to our inlet box, hook it up, and we`re off an running. (it is also chained down, so nobody can steal it very easily) The generator is to much for my wife an i to man handle, so we throw the pallet forks on our Kubota BX23s and take it out to the gen shed and hook it up. So far, this generator has been a really good purchase for us.

Wife an i had always talked about getting a generator for decades. When she bought an extra freezer to put in the garage, i knew we finally had to get off our duffs and get a generator. No regrets... when the power went out a few times, it saved all our foods in the refrigerator AND the garage freezer. We only turn on what is needed when we lose power. The fridge, the freezer, furnace, well pump, 2 heat tapes for the water pipes during winter, a couple lights. I don`t need brown outages when things turn on/off/on, so we are very careful how much we turn on when the gen is running. This generator never bogs down, ever. I`ve never even once heard the engine change pitch when the well pump turns on.

Anyway, enough of me rambling here

 

[Rod in Forfar]

I looked today at the propane tap we installed just above the 250 gallon tank for the barbecue. Will that hose fitting adequately feed your generator?

Thanks.
Rod in Forfar, ON