PTO Generator with B2650?

JeremyBX2200

Well-known member

Equipment
BX2200
Aug 3, 2020
466
436
63
Indiana
I just installed an Inter-Lock switch and exterior generator plug at my house this past weekend. Im out in the country on a well etc. My 2500 inverter generator can keep up with the pellet stove and refrigerators but without 240v tied in to the pump I am out of water when the power goes out. Also, since I am rural we are never the first ones to have our power turned back on when there is a large outage.

I have yet to buy a generator to hook up, but am planning on a stand alone dual fuel with electric start.

When looking at my requirements and the $$ a stand alone made more sense than a PTO. Having to tie up the tractor and have it running for days wasn't desired since I will most likely need to be clearing snow or using it for after storm cleanup of some kind.

If I needed more than 7000-9000W and I needed to to be more easily portable for use further away from the house I would see the benefit in the pto version.
 
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fried1765

Well-known member

Equipment
Kubota L48 TLB, Ford 1920 FEL, Ford 8N, SCAG Liberty Z, Gravely Pro.
Nov 14, 2019
7,847
5,070
113
Eastham, Ma
Convenience became the decision point for me. I bought a gas portable large enough to start/run the deep well pump after an ice storm and power failure when my daughter was a few months old. I kept it well maintained and it served well over the years BUT getting up in the middle of a winter night to go out to the barn, start the generator, wheel it through the snow to the house, dump most of the load via shutting off breakers, and switching over to gen power was not my idea of fun. Coupled with that was the issue of a power failure during the winter when I was traveling was always a consideration.

So three years ago I installed a diesel powered standby generator system connected via an automatic transfer switch. Now if the power fails for more than 3 seconds, the generator starts and goes into a 4 minute warmup cycle before transferring the load to the generator. I can stay in the nice warm house and see the status lights on the transfer switch from my bedroom window and in a few minutes full power is restored for as long as needed. The generator is located in one side of the lower level of the barn which is built into the side of a hill keeping the generator and its fuel supply warmer in the winter and with the windows closed, unlike the gas generator, you can't hear it running. I use the 60 gallon generator tank as fuel storage for my tractor so that the fuel gets rotated; once a month the generator goes through a 30 minute exercise cycle under load.

I ended up installing a 40KW unit, 30KW would have sufficed but the 40KW unit was only slightly more and it came with a more efficient 3.3L Mitsubishi direct injection turbo-diesel with electronic fine control over its mechanical injection pump providing stable 60 hz output. Unlike the gas portable it replaced, the sine wave output of the generator is very clean.

I thought about the PTO generator route which would have been one less engine to maintain but I decided convenience was worth the cost and I am very happy I went that direction.

Rodger View attachment 87762

View attachment 87763

View attachment 87764
A magnificent rig!
Looks like your Donaldson air filter housing is missing the air inlet protective hat/cover.
 

VT_Kubota

Member

Equipment
B2650
Dec 7, 2020
42
19
8
Vermont
vthomesource.com
I just installed an Inter-Lock switch and exterior generator plug at my house this past weekend. Im out in the country on a well etc. My 2500 inverter generator can keep up with the pellet stove and refrigerators but without 240v tied in to the pump I am out of water when the power goes out. Also, since I am rural we are never the first ones to have our power turned back on when there is a large outage.

I have yet to buy a generator to hook up, but am planning on a stand alone dual fuel with electric start.

When looking at my requirements and the $$ a stand alone made more sense than a PTO. Having to tie up the tractor and have it running for days wasn't desired since I will most likely need to be clearing snow or using it for after storm cleanup of some kind.

If I needed more than 7000-9000W and I needed to to be more easily portable for use further away from the house I would see the benefit in the pto version.

It seems like there are advantages and disadvantages to each type. Unless it's extremely cold, I typically only need to run it for an hour or two a few times a day for water, garage heat, and kitchen needs.

I was having to dig my heavy portable generator out of the garage and haul it through the snow to the back of the house where the hookup is. I was dealing with starting issues and having to keep gas on hand just for the generator.

I'm trying to eliminate those things with a PTO generator. I'll just back up to it with the tractor, hook it up with the quick hitch, and plug in the cord. My goal is to make life easier as I get older!
 
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JeremyBX2200

Well-known member

Equipment
BX2200
Aug 3, 2020
466
436
63
Indiana
It seems like there are advantages and disadvantages to each type. Unless it's extremely cold, I typically only need to run it for an hour or two a few times a day for water, garage heat, and kitchen needs.

I was having to dig my heavy portable generator out of the garage and haul it through the snow to the back of the house where the hookup is. I was dealing with starting issues and having to keep gas on hand just for the generator.

I'm trying to eliminate those things with a PTO generator. I'll just back up to it with the tractor, hook it up with the quick hitch, and plug up the cord. My goal is to make life easier as I get older!

It will server your purpose and I do see the benefit of not having another engine to maintain and fuel.

It really is just a matter of personal preference......just like deciding if I wanted a bigger generator to run my camper AC, or a smaller one and adding a MircoAir EasyStart to the rv unit. Both would work and both had advantages.
 

VT_Kubota

Member

Equipment
B2650
Dec 7, 2020
42
19
8
Vermont
vthomesource.com
Thank you all for your input. I always find everyone here on Orange Tractor Talks to be so helpful! After taking everyone's opinions and advice into consideration, I have ordered the Winco 10Kw PTO generator. You all (and others that I have spoken to) have convinced me that my B2650 will run that generator without any problem. I'm now looking forward to the next power outage! 🤣
 
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JeremyBX2200

Well-known member

Equipment
BX2200
Aug 3, 2020
466
436
63
Indiana
Thank you all for your input. I always find everyone here on Orange Tractor Talks to be so helpful! After taking everyone's opinions and advice into consideration, I have ordered the Winco 10Kw PTO generator. You all (and others that I have spoken to) have convinced me that my B2650 will run that generator without any problem. I'm now looking forward to the next power outage! 🤣
ITs funny what we can look forward too. I was thinking the same thing this weekend after I installed my generator interlock.

Same thing with snow. If it is going to be cold it might as well snow so I can go play (plow) with the BX.
 
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VT_Kubota

Member

Equipment
B2650
Dec 7, 2020
42
19
8
Vermont
vthomesource.com
It will server your purpose and I do see the benefit of not having another engine to maintain and fuel.

It really is just a matter of personal preference......just like deciding if I wanted a bigger generator to run my camper AC, or a smaller one and adding a MircoAir EasyStart to the rv unit. Both would work and both had advantages.

My B2650 allowed me to eliminate all gasoline engines from my property, and I couldn't be happier about that. I'll never own gas-powered equipment again! The tractor and attachments have made property maintenance (and my life!) so much easier all year-'round. The B2650 is one of the best purchases I ever made!
 
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GeoHorn

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Lifetime Member

Equipment
M4700DT, LA1002FEL, Ferguson5-8B Compactor-Roller, 10KDumpTrailer, RTV-X900
May 18, 2018
6,052
3,323
113
Texas
Running a PTO-gen is an expensive use of the tractor which takes it out of commission for other needed projects during an emergency (clearing debris, feeding animals, etc) A stand-alone is my preference, and I am satisfied with a common stand-alone contractor-type that I can use portable if desired for other projects thru the year.
 

RBsingl

Well-known member

Equipment
Kubota F 2690 72" rear discharge deck, Deere 955
Jul 1, 2022
409
428
63
Central IL
A magnificent rig!
Looks like your Donaldson air filter housing is missing the air inlet protective hat/cover.
Thanks and good eye for detail! That part was with some accessories that shipped separately from the generator itself.

Unloading was a bit of an adventure because the truck the shipper used from their regional freight depot wasn't designed for unloading something so heavy and the way they had it set up and loaded, there was no way to use a forklift from ground level. So two days later it returned on a proper delivery vehicle and the generator was easily moved into the barn with a forklift and then using a few floor jacks I transferred it from its shipping pallet to the platform I built for it to raise it off the barn floor.

Rodger
 

firehorsecaper

New member

Equipment
Kubota LA852
Oct 2, 2022
1
0
1
Nova Scotia
Thank you all for your input. I always find everyone here on Orange Tractor Talks to be so helpful! After taking everyone's opinions and advice into consideration, I have ordered the Winco 10Kw PTO generator. You all (and others that I have spoken to) have convinced me that my B2650 will run that generator without any problem. I'm now looking forward to the next power outage! 🤣
First looked at the Winco, but ended up doing a deeper dive on BaumaLight as Canadian. Looking at TX12 for me MX5000, but Winco still in the running. Thx. JCG
 

JeremyBX2200

Well-known member

Equipment
BX2200
Aug 3, 2020
466
436
63
Indiana
My B2650 allowed me to eliminate all gasoline engines from my property, and I couldn't be happier about that. I'll never own gas-powered equipment again! The tractor and attachments have made property maintenance (and my life!) so much easier all year-'round. The B2650 is one of the best purchases I ever made!
My BX has been one of the best purchases I have made.

I will be interested to get your impressions of the generator once it arrives.
Pics would be awesome.
 

Vigo

Well-known member

Equipment
B6100, B8200
Jan 9, 2022
595
340
63
San Antonio Texas
The most basic thing you need to know for sizing a generator to a tractor pto is that 1hp=746 watts.

So, for example 10kw = 13.4hp. Then you fudge factor for efficiency losses of probably 20% (a nice pessimistic rule that is safe to use for many many things). 13.4/0.8= ~17hp. This is less exact than what the manufacturer gave, but if you're not buying new there's a good chance you can't ask the manufacturer because they don't exist, or no longer support products that old, etc etc.

But the Kw is not the only factor, because of transient loads. The engine, driveline in the tractor, and the generator head itself have rotational momentum. When you apply a large sudden load like a startup surge of a large motor/compressor etc, the generator and all the driveline upstream of it will slow/bog a bit in reaction to this load, which on a non-inverter generator also means it will cause voltage and frequency to 'sag'. This is one of the major reasons why it's often said to size a generator to be twice as big as your largest anticipated load. It's a broad strokes attempt to deal with this, which is loosely based on the amount of momentum stored in the typical size-matched small engine being spun at 1800 or 3600rpm. Generally speaking you could assume any tractor's 'stored energy' between the pistons and the end of the pto shaft is much higher than that on a self-powered generator, so if anything you could do something more like 1.5X your max continuous load, and a larger generator head would generally cope better than a smaller one even if the smaller one is 'appropriately sized' for the tractor and the bigger one is 'oversize'.

So if you have comfortably more HP (say, 25-30% more if you're a pessimist) than the Kw you require (after converting between the two units), and are leaving lots of headroom to account for possible startup surges, you could honestly put a majorly 'oversized' pto gen head on your tractor and do just fine.

Although if you have one of those silly tractors with an electromagnetic PTO clutch, i might be concerned a bit about starting an oversized gen head and having it trash my pto clutch before i have a chance to sell the silly thing and upgrade to something that doesn't treat every PTO start like a drag race.:whistle:
 
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GeoHorn

Well-known member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
M4700DT, LA1002FEL, Ferguson5-8B Compactor-Roller, 10KDumpTrailer, RTV-X900
May 18, 2018
6,052
3,323
113
Texas
I just installed an Inter-Lock switch and exterior generator plug at my house this past weekend. Im out in the country on a well etc. My 2500 inverter generator can keep up with the pellet stove and refrigerators but without 240v tied in to the pump I am out of water when the power goes out. Also, since I am rural we are never the first ones to have our power turned back on when there is a large outage.

I have yet to buy a generator to hook up, but am planning on a stand alone dual fuel with electric start.

When looking at my requirements and the $$ a stand alone made more sense than a PTO. Having to tie up the tractor and have it running for days wasn't desired since I will most likely need to be clearing snow or using it for after storm cleanup of some kind.

If I needed more than 7000-9000W and I needed to to be more easily portable for use further away from the house I would see the benefit in the pto version.
A FEL or a trailer will carry a stand-alone generator to anyplace out in the field you may need it.

I prefer electric chain saws and I use my tractor AND my stand-alone generators out and away from the house frequently. PLUS… a second generator provides back-up for the primary….and can be used over at the water well while the primary serves the house.… Still cheaper and more utility than a PTO genny that ties up the tractor and burns more fuel to do so.
 
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JeremyBX2200

Well-known member

Equipment
BX2200
Aug 3, 2020
466
436
63
Indiana
A FEL or a trailer will carry a stand-alone generator to anyplace out in the field you may need it.

I prefer electric chain saws and I use my tractor AND my stand-alone generators out and away from the house frequently. PLUS… a second generator provides back-up for the primary….and can be used over at the water well while the primary serves the house.… Still cheaper and more utility than a PTO genny that ties up the tractor and burns more fuel to do so.
When I looked in to it I thought the area that the PTO generator would be the most helpful would be if you had a larger tractor and had that need for a much larger generator that could be portable.

For my needs a stand alone generator is the route I plan on going, but either one would do the job....which is provide power for the house in the case of a power outage.