Hurricane Florence

[Jbulach]

Crops are relatively cheap and likely going to take a beating anyway. Drive the trucks single file in the same tracks, if anyone asks, the wind must have blown them there?

I’m hoping for the best for you and everyone in the path!

 

[DeadParrot]

Cost of repairing vehicles from tree damage vs damaging a few square yards of crops. Besides, the vehicles might provide some protection for the crops vs the wind. Just pick a spot that won't flood.

 

[Katahdin]

ouch. a gallon per hour. thats steep. it works tho.

1 gal per hour is respectable for a 15KW generator.

I do not need to run it full time, just to run the well pump, oil boiler, cook meals, wash and dry clothes, etc. The fridge I kept cold 24/7 by using solar panels on the M109 by day and a 2000 watt gas inverter generator at night. Actual daily fuel usage was 5 gallons of diesel and about .75 gal of gasoline.

 

[Jbulach]

1 gal per hour is respectable for a 15KW generator.

I do not need to run it full time, just to run the well pump, oil boiler, cook meals, wash and dry clothes, etc. The fridge I kept cold 24/7 by using solar panels on the M109 by day and a 2000 watt gas inverter generator at night. Actual daily fuel usage was 5 gallons of diesel and about .75 gal of gasoline.

Apparently these guys have no idea what a tractor does? I know nothing about Yanmars, but your tractor should do fine at running your generator. If it eats itself between fill up’s, it was probably time for a new tractor anyhow...

 

[Dock Rocker]

Apparently these guys have no idea what a tractor does? I know nothing about Yanmars, but your tractor should do fine at running your generator. If it eats itself between fill up’s, it was probably time for a new tractor anyhow...

I watched a neighbors 45ish horse Kubota eat itself during Katrina. Normally when you are on a tractor if you see the temp gage go up or the oil pressure gage go down you would stop and troubleshoot it.

If it’s outside running away while you are inside enjoying the air conditioning and you get a high temp situation because it’s at high rpm with little air movement you don’t know it until you hear the motor knocking.

If you have the correct temp and oil pressure kill switches that all the pto generators recommend in their manuals you can prevent this.

On a separate note but just as important After Katrina I needed my tractor for doing tractor work not to keep the lights on. It would suck to have to rig and in-rig it for work.

 

[98G]

Apparently these guys have no idea what a tractor does? I know nothing about Yanmars, but your tractor should do fine at running your generator. If it eats itself between fill up’s, it was probably time for a new tractor anyhow...

You'd think....

But apparently running a PTO generator loads them differently than running other PTO equipment. Storm and extended power outage in KS combined with a recent good deal on PTO generators caused a bunch of tractor failures a few years ago. Too many to be coincidence or tractors that were about to die anyway.

This information is admittedly secondhand and anecdotal.

 

[porkysplace]

You'd think....

But apparently running a PTO generator loads them differently than running other PTO equipment. Storm and extended power outage in KS combined with a recent good deal on PTO generators caused a bunch of tractor failures a few years ago. Too many to be coincidence or tractors that were about to die anyway.

This information is admittedly secondhand and anecdotal.

It is probably more related to people using to small of tractor for the generator . You know I got this smoking deal on a huge generator rated for a 75HP tractor , but I don't need that much power so my 30hp tractor will work.

 

[Jbulach]

You'd think....

But apparently running a PTO generator loads them differently than running other PTO equipment. Storm and extended power outage in KS combined with a recent good deal on PTO generators caused a bunch of tractor failures a few years ago. Too many to be coincidence or tractors that were about to die anyway.

This information is admittedly secondhand and anecdotal.

Interesting. I don’t think my tractors get much extra airflow over the fan. In 40 years have never had to shut one down due to low oil, or overheating, even running full load on the tires or pto for 12-14 hrs. I guess the break overnight is the difference???

 

[Jbulach]

I watched a neighbors 45ish horse Kubota eat itself during Katrina...

Any idea on what failed and what caused it? Kubota should have a low oil kill, I’m guessing the Yanmar also.

 

[Dock Rocker]

Any idea on what failed and what caused it? Kubota should have a low oil kill, I’m guessing the Yanmar also.

It overheated


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[Katahdin]

My Yanmar LX manual doesn't mention a low oil pressure kill, just the warning light, its a 2012 Tier 3 engine model.

There's a lot of poorly maintained tractors out there, so I'm going to believe failures do happen. However, I would believe for anyone who takes cares of their equipment like they're supposed to, a catastrophic failure while running the PTO would be extremely rare.

Re the Kubota kill, I'd need more about the condition of the tractor. Was the coolant system flushed regularly, were the radiator screens cleaned of debris, were the fluids checked, etc. There's likely more to the story than just running the PTO.

 

[98G]

It is probably more related to people using to small of tractor for the generator . You know I got this smoking deal on a huge generator rated for a 75HP tractor , but I don't need that much power so my 30hp tractor will work.

These are guys that farm for a living, who run their equipment 24/7 during harvest. I'm reluctant to attribute the failures to not using enough tractor, or failure to adequately maintain it.

Failure modality was main bearing failures. The number was "several", too high to be coincidence.

My takeaway from this conversation was "caution is warranted when considering a PTO driven generator."

Do with this information what you will. Doesn't really apply to me as my generator interest is limited to military generators and big blue welders.

 

[justacitizen]

i used to have a big winco pto gen we used to run the dairy farm during outages. we ran it with a 140 hp john deere tractor. the generator was matched to the tractor pto hp so we could let it run non stop without worrying. i think some people buy pto generators without taking into consideration the pto hp and engine hp of their tractor and run then in a continuous duty cycle the tractor can't handle.

 

[Katahdin]

Great points, I've read a lot of tractor forum threads that say you can run larger generators at lower KW output with undersized HP.

The general rule is you need 2 HP for every Kilowatt you're trying to produce. Example: a tractor with 30 HP at the PTO matches up nicely to a 15KW generator. The same principle applies to sizing engines for military generators.

 

[justacitizen]

Great points, I've read a lot of tractor forum threads that say you can run larger generators at lower KW output with undersized HP.

The general rule is you need 2 HP for every Kilowatt you're trying to produce. Example: a tractor with 30 HP at the PTO matches up nicely to a 15KW generator. The same principle applies to sizing engines for military generators.

yup pretty much sums it up. but one thing to consider using a tractor on a pto is the duty cycle on the tractor hydraulics,transmission etc. does the tractor have the capability to run the gen and keep everything cool? some do and some don't.

 

[98G]

i used to have a big winco pto gen we used to run the dairy farm during outages. we ran it with a 140 hp john deere tractor. the generator was matched to the tractor pto hp so we could let it run non stop without worrying. i think some people buy pto generators without taking into consideration the pto hp and engine hp of their tractor and run then in a continuous duty cycle the tractor can't handle.

I'm certain that happens.

These numbers strike me as too high to be attributed to that.

It's easy to dismiss it as "they didn't properly size match the generator to the tractor" or "they didn't properly maintain it".

But the number is too large for me to just dismiss it. Probabilities/statistics says there's more to it.

 

[porkysplace]

These are guys that farm for a living, who run their equipment 24/7 during harvest. I'm reluctant to attribute the failures to not using enough tractor, or failure to adequately maintain it.

Failure modality was main bearing failures. The number was "several", too high to be coincidence.

My takeaway from this conversation was "caution is warranted when considering a PTO driven generator."

Do with this information what you will. Doesn't really apply to me as my generator interest is limited to military generators and big blue welders.

I've seen farmers do some pretty scary things that was "good enough for the farm" , farmers love to cut corners. I've seen farmers around here take a brand new combine and ram the guardrails out on narrow culverts because the didn't want to drive a mile around to one it would fit over.

 

[gatorbob]

Is anyone on here running non-stop due to the power outages in NC/SC? Just curious how things are holding up.

 

[DieselAddict]

My brother in Kinston NC ran for about a day on a MEP802. Purred like a kitten the entire time he says. He was able to load manage and run his AC, cooktop, and water heater as needed to keep everyone happy. His power is back on but his internet went down. I'll get a full report on oil and fuel burn as soon as he has time.

In Efland we didn't loose power which is a good thing since I'm half a world away in Dali China on vacation.

 

[gatorbob]

My brother in Kinston NC ran for about a day on a MEP802. Purred like a kitten the entire time he says. He was able to load manage and run his AC, cooktop, and water heater as needed to keep everyone happy. His power is back on but his internet went down. I'll get a full report on oil and fuel burn as soon as he has time.

In Efland we didn't loose power which is a good thing since I'm half a world away in Dali China on vacation.

Thanks for the info. Glad everything went well for him and your home as well. Hopefully one of these soon to be 5-10 day outage folks in SE NC has a MEP and a whole bunch of diesel.