pto sytems

[Mhannink]

ok so ive been thinking it would be nice to have a pto that can run some small hydraulics and an electrical generator. anyone know where and about how much a pto would cost. my idea is a pto driven pump with reservoir for hydraulic power and a hydraulic motor on an electrical generator. what do you guys think?

 

[Hoefler]

You would be better off running the generator direct. You would over heat the hydraulic fluid from extended use and require a cooler. There also would be some power loss in the fluid drive and it would not be able to keep up with the variable load of the generator.

 

[BSMcCauley]

As mentioned, there will be a respectable amount of heat generated by a hydraulic pump/motor system. Years ago, we replaced the 5hp B&S engine driving the pump with a hydraulic pump/motor setup on the weed spray rig we slid into the back of the pickup every spring. The hyd oil tank got smokin hot after pumping 300gal of spray dope out - and remember this application was less than 5 HP. Our solution was to take a full joint of 1/2" steel pipe, bend it into a U and stick it into the water tank so that the spray solution picked up the heat from the oil return back to the hyd oil tank. Your idea will work, but you'll need a cooler.



One thing to keep in mind, though: Hydraulics are pretty good efficiency-wise until you get over 75 HP -- as compared to electric generator/motor drives. It doesn't sound like you're planning over 75 HP, so chalk up a "+" in the hydraulics column. But, hold on a minute! You want to produce electricity with this rig anyway, so why not just couple the generator straight onto the PTO and direct drive it? The afore mentioned heat is wasted energy that would now not be lost.



Problem with direct gear or belt driving the generator is that you would be forced to run the engine speed up high enough to drive the generator at 60 HZ, usually 1800 RPM for a 4-pole generator (typical). So now you've got your 850 HP Cummins wrapped up to 1800 RPM simply to drive a 13-20 HP load when it could easily pull that load at close to idle.



Now we're back to hydraulics, because then it would be easy to set your engine speed at a sensible RPM and then adjust the valving to, or displacement of, your hydraulic motor to spin the generator at the required 1800 RPM. Even with the energy losses in the oil cooler, you'd probably save fuel as compared to running the engine at the higher speed unloaded. A really fancy setup would set an aftermarket cruise control on the engine speed and another on the generator speed to keep both at a constant speed regardless of load. Just like anything else, you can do whatever you want if you've got enough $$$ to throw at it.



If you’re thinking about using belt sheave sizes to set your speed ratio for 1100-1200 engine RPM = 1800 generator RPM, consider whether it might be possible for the clutch to engage while your in the middle of your sled-pull run, ‘cause that will over-speed your generator with very exciting results (for the spectators, anyway)!



Bottom line is that the most cost effective solution is going to be to just buy an engine-driven generator. You'd be spending far more on a comparable powered hydraulic drive kit and all you'd have to do to set the stand-alone genny up is just to top off the lube and hit 'er with the fuel. Now if you’re trying to load down the Cummins by powering half your block, you’ll be needing a PTO driven generator that most folks would be hangin’ on the back of their tractor….

 

[opjohnny]

What is a good use for the PTO on these trucks?



John

 

[Mhannink]

my goal is to be able to run one or 2 smaller power tools at a time and the biggest thing would be like a microwave. what i was looking at was something the size or a toyhualer/traveltrailer sized unit just instead of a propane engine use the hydro. i dont like the idea of the gas run generator cuz i want to have it around all the time and dont want to loose space in the bed. with the pto stuff i can hide it all under the bed and have 2 systems that would be helpful at times. neither of these systems would run very long or hard so fuel conumtion and loss of energy would not be a big deal. i was planning on putting a cooler on the hydro system to keep the temps down.



does anyone know where i might find a pto setup for the truck. ive seen some pto systems but i cant find anywhere where they say it will work for these trucks.



last another thought. im thinking about running this setup on the trans case so i can pick a speed by selecting a gear. the only down side to that is i cant move at the same time. which i have had an occasion that had i had this system i would have had to run it while driving of course that would have been the only time and the only time it would have fun a long time.

 

[HCannon]

converter? Just an idea.

 

[CumminsBu]

Parker owns a company that makes PTOs for Hydraulic systems. CHELSEA PRODUCTS - Parker

 

[WDixon27]

i have been thinking about doing just this for a while but running the gen direct off the pto after i thought about the heat and fluid tank storage issues with using hydraulic, mine wouldn't be used all that much but here on the gulf coast every few years a hurricane comes along and kills power for a few days, using the truck to run the house would be handy and those 10k harbor freight generator heads are fairly cheap and light, maybe run 2 off the same pto

 

[xpetecx]

why not run one of the welder generators off your alternater? I know there are kits out there to do this, and with the loads your going to run it would work.

 

[Mhannink]

why not run one of the welder generators off your alternater? I know there are kits out there to do this, and with the loads your going to run it would work.

ive thought about that kind of setup, but i just dont like it. yes it can handle the loads, but my big thing no matter what i do is i try to get a 100% duty cycle. thats just me i want to be as heavy duty as i can get and still be light weight. its a trade off but ive found in searches for other projects that there are such parts and its a matter of looking and setting it up. no i want to have a big(reletive) generator and since you mention it if i can set it up to weld too that would be a plus.

 

[moonranch]

I have a buddy that works for a company that makes PTO and engine driven hydro-electric generators. If you want more info, you can contact him: wleach@smartpower.com
There is also some information on their website: Smart Power Hydraulic Generator Systems

 

[Mhannink]

I have a buddy that works for a company that makes PTO and engine driven hydro-electric generators. If you want more info, you can contact him: wleach@smartpower.com

There is also some information on their website: Smart Power Hydraulic Generator Systems

that would be just about perfect the only thing is i wonder if you can use the hydro system seperate from the genset too. also im guessing the system isnt cheap but to me definatly worth it, a complete and properly set up system. ill email your buddy and get some more details. thanks for the link