Portable Gen set

[skeets]

Well the old No Name gen set has given up the ghost, when sparks and fire shot out from the power head I figured theres no point in tearing it down. So the time has come for something newer, and a tad larger like 10 kw. Yes I looked around at the PTO units and yeah one would work since I now have a spare tractor,, if there is such a thing. So Im looking for input, Generac seems to be a not so good units poor customer service and lack of parts. And some other brands seem to suffer from the same issues. I haven heard to much bad about Kohler gen sets, Im sure there are horror stories out there some place. And what about the HF units?
Your thoughts and or ideas

 

[Tughill Tom]

Well the old No Name gen set has given up the ghost, when sparks and fire shot out from the power head I figured theres no point in tearing it down. So the time has come for something newer, and a tad larger like 10 kw. Yes I looked around at the PTO units and yeah one would work since I now have a spare tractor,, if there is such a thing. So Im looking for input, Generac seems to be a not so good units poor customer service and lack of parts. And some other brands seem to suffer from the same issues. I haven heard to much bad about Kohler gen sets, Im sure there are horror stories out there some place. And what about the HF units?
Your thoughts and or ideas

Skeets, try here if your set on a PTO gen. set, they have a mess of them PTO Generators - Electric Generators Direct

 

[NCL4701]

Well the old No Name gen set has given up the ghost, when sparks and fire shot out from the power head I figured theres no point in tearing it down. So the time has come for something newer, and a tad larger like 10 kw. Yes I looked around at the PTO units and yeah one would work since I now have a spare tractor,, if there is such a thing. So Im looking for input, Generac seems to be a not so good units poor customer service and lack of parts. And some other brands seem to suffer from the same issues. I haven heard to much bad about Kohler gen sets, Im sure there are horror stories out there some place. And what about the HF units?
Your thoughts and or ideas

I got my 16kW from these folks:

IMD PTO Generator Products.

They’re in South Carolina and were great to deal with. The AVR option was desirable for use as an occasional residential backup. I had some questions and called them. They were knowledgeable and glad to discuss to make sure I got a good fit for the various jobs I have for it. I saw their units on some other sites but they had no compunction selling direct.

 

[Motion]

I believe that PTO generators have their place. With today's sophisticated home electronics a stand alone unit provides more stable voltage / cycles. It usually comes down to money but a low speed (1200/1800) diesel water or air cooled in the 10 to 15 KW range is very fuel efficient and long lasting. Perkins and Isuzu make good units. I do agreed it's another engine to maintain. The PTO driven will have your tractor idling at 2500+ rpm regardless of load when the load is dropped. The tractor doesn't have the pickup response time that a stand along which talks to the engine. You should always try to size the generator to the exact loads you intend to supply. Just my .02

 

[ehenry]

Skeets, no clue what your needs are or how often you use a generator. I've have a 25+ year old generac NG unit on my house, a 6500 kw briggs and stratton protable and a Honda EU2000. All three are good units and have served me well over the years.

If I had to go out today and buy another portable unit I would buy the largest Honda EU unit I could afford and sell the briggs. The Honda EU's are quiet and they sip gas and can be converted to tri-fuel.

 

[Henro]

Well the old No Name gen set has given up the ghost, when sparks and fire shot out from the power head I figured theres no point in tearing it down. So the time has come for something newer, and a tad larger like 10 kw. Yes I looked around at the PTO units and yeah one would work since I now have a spare tractor,, if there is such a thing. So Im looking for input, Generac seems to be a not so good units poor customer service and lack of parts. And some other brands seem to suffer from the same issues. I haven heard to much bad about Kohler gen sets, Im sure there are horror stories out there some place. And what about the HF units?
Your thoughts and or ideas

Years ago there was a thread over at TBN that quickly convinced me that if you need a power source for more than brief periods, a tractor PTO-driven unit is NOT the way to go.

Sorry, can't list the reasons. But there seemed to be many that favored a stand alone unit over a tractor driven one, including the wear and tear on the tractor...

 

[Magicman]

I have two Honda (inverter) EU2000's, a Champion (inverter) 2800, and a Champion (contractor) 3500. My choice would be a Harbor Freight Predator (inverter) 3500.

 

[NCL4701]

Years ago there was a thread over at TBN that quickly convinced me that if you need a power source for more than brief periods, a tractor PTO-driven unit is NOT the way to go.

Sorry, can't list the reasons. But there seemed to be many that favored a stand alone unit over a tractor driven one, including the wear and tear on the tractor...

I have a PTO unit (obviously) in addition to an older Briggs Stratton powered 7500W construction unit and if I were to do it over, I’d go with IMD direct again. However I do agree there are a lot of factors that go into the PTO / portable stand alone / permanent mount stand alone decision. I spent many hours researching before pulling the trigger on the IMD. PTO with AVR is a good fit for my use, but I definitely would not recommend it for everyone.