154 PTO Generator setup on Kubota L3400

[@fredcsensits4476]

It s nice out in the field if you re doing or building something that you can bring power with yoi

[@LivingOurAmericanDream]

Definitely!

[@MrTks1959]

I've spent the last few days contemplating whether or not to upgrade my backup systems to a PTO generator; so your video is very timely. I'm fortunate to have two Kubota tractors (95hp and 26hp), and I'm thinking about getting a 27K generator that I can use with both tractors (an extra 10k for the house, or the full 27k for the shop). Currently I have a 120v 3200w inverter gen that fills 95% of my household needs at just under 1 Qt of propane per hour, but my 220v fixtures require a Generator (7K) that uses 5 qts of gasoline per hour. And I can only use a couple of the 220v fixtures at a time! I like the idea of the larger (PTO) gen because it can replace my current 220v gen for the house using the smaller tractor (lower fuel burn), but can also be used by my larger tractor when I need the full 27k of power for my shop/farm. One other thing that I did was design/install a (12v) 50 gal back up water system for my well; I recently used it for 26 hours during a power outage and it worked great! The advantage was: I only needed to use the 220v gen once a day to refill the water tank.

[@JeffreyGordonTheTank]

Question regarding 3pt lift, it is probably best to keep the PTO shaft as level as possible. Less angle means more efficient and less wear on the u-joints. Would it make sense to have the mount for the generator have stands so that you can relieve the 3pt hitch? Thinking for safety and the fact that over time the hitch will settle.

[@LivingOurAmericanDream]

Yes I forgot to mention that in the video, keeping the PTO shaft straight is best for efficiency. As far as settling goes, tractor hydraulics can settle when the machine is off. When running, there is hydraulic flow at all times and the three point should hold position. That said, blocks or a stand of some sort is a great idea I order to ensure consistency each time. Thanks for watching and the suggestion.

[@JeffreyGordonTheTank]

Living Our American Dream Duh forgot about the fact that the tractor would be running! Still for safety I would put something, I don't like being a way from the tractor with just hydraulics keeping something aloft.

[@LivingOurAmericanDream]

Lol! Just thinking on that more, even properly sized wood blocks under the frame would serve the same purpose. Thanks again for the feedback!

[@JeffreyGordonTheTank]

Living Our American Dream Yep if you still have more lift room then you could have the "stands" mounted to the frame, but that is only possible if you have enough room to lift it high enough and not have it drag on slopes when transporting it. Ideally if you could weld in some folding stands would be perfect. Or just keep it simple and put some blocks in your generator location and be done with it.

[@stevek4449]

What if a tractor had ,say, 60 PTO hp for 30 KW but the house needs less, and say a 20 KW generator is used...in other words, generator PTO requirement is exceeded by the tractors PTO capability. Does a PTO generator have protection against too many KW for a house and too many PTO HP from the tractor?

[@LivingOurAmericanDream]

Hi Steve. What the generator is capable of providing doesn’t mean that’s what goes to the house. If the house needs 8750 watts and you have a generator capable of 20,000 watts (20kw), the generator would be able to provide that load with ease, only really sending what the load is. In other words you would have reserve power in your setup. Similarly for the tractor, if your tractor pto could run a 30kw generator and you’re actually running a 20kw generator, you simply have reserve power in your tractors drive train. Having a slightly oversized setup is not a bad thing, but being grossly oversized can be wasteful on fuel consumption. In the case of emergencies, we usually don’t mind that since we’re not running 24/7/365, we’re only running less than a week or so and intermittently. Great question!

[@JoeCar42]

How much KW is this Generator running on the 2210?

[@LivingOurAmericanDream]

If you’re referring to a John Deere 2210, the web page I looked at claims the pto is capable of 17 hp. That means it’s capable of running ~8500 watts or 8.5kw. Remember, if the tractor produces less than the generator is capable of, then you’re limited to what the tractor produces. If the tractor produces more hp than the generator is capable of, you’re limited to what the generator can output.

[@JoeCar42]

@@LivingOurAmericanDream The specs say tractor Hp is 22.5 Hp. The PTO is claimed to be 17.7 hp. Will this 10 kw unit operate up to 8.5kw? I know the more load you put on generator the harder it is to turn.

[@LivingOurAmericanDream]

Ok, at 17.7 hp, your tractor is capable of running around 8.8 kw (it’s roughly pto hp divided by 2 gives kw capacity). So, if you have a 10kw generator, your tractor can still use it but you’ll only get the power the tractor can provide, in this case 8.8 kw. On a side note, 8.8kw is likely enough to run most everything you’ll need in an emergency situation, assuming you’re powering a normal house, not a farm.

[@ryany4326]

15,000 kilowatts? Damn I think you mean 15,000 watts

[@LivingOurAmericanDream]

Right, 15kw….a 15mw pto genny would be a beast.

[@gracht24]

cheers. Small correction: 15 thousand watts not 15 thousand kilowatts

[@gilkennedy7638]

If you have a tractor at home this is a no brainer

[@lukehansen9185]

My dad was running his pto generator with the main building breaker on and when the power came back on it back fed into the generator and blew it up. Also another reason to shut that breaker off

[@LivingOurAmericanDream]

Whoa! Hopefully no one was injured. Thanks for watching.

[@nocoolname32]

his genny getting blown up was probably karma for back feeding electricity back into the line.

[@tomcurran8470]

Nice set-up. It is is 15KW or 15,000 watts.

[@larryames8831]

You will need 30,000 hp to reliably carry a 15,000 kW load. Just saying.

[@LivingOurAmericanDream]

😩 That video was posted so long ago and you’re the first one to point out my mistake! Maybe you’re the only one that really paid attention…..I forgot to mention that’s a super-kubota, lol!

[@vernt4583]

Great video. Just wanted to share my experience with generators. I ran a 11 kw for the backup of the storm in Texas. It burned 1.1 gallons per hour of gas and my son had my farm light plant borrowed and it only used 6 gallons a day and it was only a 7kw. Mine was a 3600 rpm and the other one was 1800 rpm This was just running lights and cooking for my side and he run lights and blower motor for heat and water well!!!

[@LivingOurAmericanDream]

The advantage for us is that our tractor is typically ready to go at all times and maintenance is up to date. Lots of folks forget about maintaining or even starting their generator until they need it. Thanks for commenting!

[@vernt4583]

@@LivingOurAmericanDream Yeah I have used different ones and you’re dead one with maintenance. There’s a avr on a lot of them and will go out or capacitor will loose it s exciting charge and they won’t work. I watched Dennis on dlh farm from a couple of years ago and his pto 40k pto had to have its excitement flashed on it and it had a stud behind the cover to do it on

[@pc5569]

50 amp breaker=12kw, plus 3kw for the 120v outlets. All adds up to 15kw.

[@alimamybangura1399]

Thank you for the video. It's very helpful 👍

[@bharatkumarjoshi1596]

That interlocking system was a really effective system to prevent backfeed, a good switchgear, basically. Here in India, we use 1-0-1 type mechanical transfer switch to prevent back feed. In India, locally manufactured PTO generators are huge success for farm irrigation to run tubewells and open irrigation monoblock pumpsets. I appreciate your video, good description as well.

[@LivingOurAmericanDream]

Thank you for your comments. When I first used this genny I did not have the interlock. Although I know what I am doing, I soon realized that sharing on KZbin could encourage people not to use an interlock too and some folks don’t know the real danger. Thanks for watching!

[@smitty2721]

I have the same L3400 Kubota tractor. I did not quite understand you about the PTO RPM vs Engine RPM. So what is the Engine RPM? Also I don't recall you saying what gauge wire is in the cable you are using for 15kw generator.

[@LivingOurAmericanDream]

Well, on the RPM gauge there is a reference line where the engine rpm should be I order to get your PTO rpm to be close to 540. That said, with a load on the generator, you will need to know the voltage output somehow. My genny had a gauge on it, so I simply adjust the engine rpm in order to get the proper voltage output (frequency, really). If you did not have that, a voltage meter would be necessary to check one of the genny receptacles for proper output. Hope this makes a bit more sense.

[@jphickory522]

Very informative. Thanks

[@melectrok6859]

Your comments are turned off on your other video where you were out of power. So I hope its okay to comment here. I am curious to how the tractor handles changing loads, from light draw to heavy. I have a 26hp tractor not a 34, so was looking at a 10k. But when your hogging or mowing and the load builds the rpms drop. I am curious to how much fluctuation you get out of your output, or how much the RPM's move.

[@LivingOurAmericanDream]

No problem commenting here. On that other video, although more popular, guys were getting nasty because I hadn’t had the generator interlock installed in the main panel yet. I don’t allow a ton of negativity on the channel so I turned the comments off on that one. Regarding your question, the biggest load change you see is from no load to full load. My setup doesn’t dip out of voltage tolerance on the generator voltage gauge but I do make sure really large loads are not on such as AC when I initially turn everything else on. After loads equalize and you’re up and running, the normal load fluctuation isn’t an issue. I’d say with 10k watts, you’ll be able to run nearly everything, but perhaps not the AC and other large loads at the same time. All in all I believe the tractor pto generator is a great way to get a decent amount of power for backup while utilizing an engine on your tractor that’s very reliable and typically well maintained. Good luck and thank you for your question.

[@KCARanchHomestead]

Great job. Any issues with the seat safety? Don't most tractors shut off when you get off the seat?

[@LivingOurAmericanDream]

The kubota has a three position seat switch (seated, not seated and seat forward) so when you get off, if you immediately flip the seat forward it will allow the pto to remain operating. Works good so far.

[@tomcurran8470]

My tractor will run with no operator if the parking brake is engaged and it is out of gear.

[@stevem2266]

I just bought me a Winco 15k now can you run your AC and furnace? Everything in your house at once? I could of went bigger but in this day you really can’t find anything. I have 65hp on my pto I’m setting my who system up like yours. Same cord same everything.

[@LivingOurAmericanDream]

Hello. Yes, I can run the entire house. When initially starting up, I make sure some of the larger loads are off in the box. That way I don’t have such a large startup load. Then, once everything is up, the normal cycles of pumps and motors is ok with this genny. With your size tractor, you’ll hardly hear it grunt when loads come and go but you’ll have the same amperage restriction with the 15kw. Just do some testing to see what it can handle. Make sure you have the interconnect from the main grid power….ensuring you’re off the grid before connecting your generator.

[@stevem2266]

@@LivingOurAmericanDream will do. I’ve done this type of setup before in my other homes. But this is the first time with the PTO generator

[@casycasy5199]

great video,im thinking of getting one.i have a few questions.how much fuel per hour do you think it takes to run.is that setup is ok in the rain and snow with no cover over the generator.you threw two switches when you powered up one was the circuit breaker what was the other switch for.thanks

[@LivingOurAmericanDream]

Hi. For operation in the elements, the tractor is ok on its own but I have a large container that sits over the generator to ensure no water in the electrical stuff. A modified barrel or large plastic container works well but make sure to allow plenty of ventilation as most of these generators are air cooled. Regarding the switches, on mine there are two breakers...one is a main 60 amp that everything runs off. The other is the 50 amp that the receptacles are tied to. In my case, both have to be on. Hope this helps.

[@LivingOurAmericanDream]

Oh, I forgot to answer the fuel question.... I know my tractor runs for around 8-10 hours from a full tank of 8 gallons when at full throttle. I’d guess a little under a gallon an hour. If you conserve fuel like I discuss in the video, 50 gallons of fuel should last a while.