Cummins Hybrid Contractor Special

[CJEliassen]

Has anyone information on when the Cummins Hybrid is suppose to be to market? Is it a compounding hybrid? Is there still a direct drive from engine to drivetrain so you can bomb the engine?

 

[Peter Campbell]

I do not know- someone in the know should pipe up! the compound hybrid is a compromise. Extra weight and complexity to keep the drive motor size/vehicle performance up to what we are used to. IMHO you can only get full hybrid benefit by having a "Haulpak" type drive. Diesel electric. Wheel motors and planetary reduction on each wheel. To quote a ex DI on Mail call UHHHRAAAHHH!

 

[RTuvell]

I heard that The contractor special is supposed to be available in Fall 2004 and cost approximately $5000.



Let's see now, the Cummins is $5000 above a gasser, the hybrid is $5000 above just the Cummins, $5000 here $5000 there pretty soon your talking about real dollars!

 

[CJEliassen]

Yeah, but you get something like 20KW out of the thing. Would be nice when the power goes out or you want power tools to work on a fence a mile from any electricity.

 

[Beast2B]

any updates?

 

[thejeepdude]

There's a thread on here somewhere about it... basically they are only going to build 100 of them and they will be limited availablility to "special customers". This was per an article from a magazine, can't remember which one. It's not expected to go mainstream to the public until sometime after 2007... at least that's the rumor. Bummer too, because I would have considered it if available when I order my '05, although $5K is a lot to pay for a generator, since the hybrid part is sure to be buggy, and it's just another system to break.

 

[BStoecker]

Just go buy a 5,000/10,000 watt inverter... That is MUCH cheaper than a $5,000 option. I've seen them on the internet for around $600 or so.

 

[Belchos]

To BStoeker:

 

[Belchos]

How did that go off on me?

I am interested in finding out about the inverters you mentioned. We are having more and more blackouts in NCalif. If a bird lands on a power line we are out for a week. How do they work? Who makes them? Could they be used to plug into a house elect power system? Thanks

 

[R.M.THOMPSON]

Best way is to use your PTO , do a search on the net for pto devices and generators . Invertors place all the load on the alternator ! That would be a tough nut to crack to run the fridge/microwave and lighting on an invertor. Tell us what transmission you got and what you want your house to be powered back to for more advice.....

 

[Belchos]

Thanks, R. M. ! 2004 with 48 auto and 92 with auto. Would like to run a few lights and well pump. My kerosene heater thermostat, etc. only pulls about 4 amps. , so pump is all, really. Power went oujt the other day and I got that sick feeling I had last year after 4 days in the dark with the old Coleman lantern and wood stove.

 

[PJ]

I bought a "China Diesel" generator. . 8kw for $2500. . Works *****en and runs 4 hours on 1 gallon of OFF ROAD diesel!

 

[R.M.THOMPSON]

A decent inverter will cost about $375 to $550 (northerntool.com),thats in the 2500 to 3000 watt range and is most likely twin 110 volt outlets. Hope your water pump is'nt 230 volt,but I'm sure if you do a search on the net a 230 volt can be found ! All in all , it may be a stretch of the concept to allow our trucks to idle for a long period of time with so little load . Especially in winter. I've got a generator (5000 watt) gas aircool,and find that on a short outage(wich happen often) I wuold rather use a inverter in a truck for a couple of hours to run things like microwave,tv,fridge and lighting mainly in the evening before bed. On long outages I have found the gas aircooled gen. is the only way to go as I have a transfer station wich allows whole house except air conditioning(I'm on well water also),but never leave gen. running while off-site. The air cool gasser is mildly annoying hollering away at 3600 rpm too !Although the entire set-up priced out at $500 Gen + 250 Trans station + 100 misc wire & fittings + 100 fuel and cans (in storage w/ treatment to extend life and I still rotate it every 6 months) So there is what my spin on it is , Hope this helps and as you can see there is no easy answer whithout the short term long term Vs. load /frequency of outages equation !

Mark T.

 

[BStoecker]

Electric Generator Store



I keep looking at this site and like the prices for the 7kw up to the 12kw Generac automatic back-up generators. Seems that a lot of people don't think it is good for the Cummins to idle for extended periods of time. I may go this route soon.

 

[Belchos]

my problem is no natural gas and lots of red diesel on ranch. can you use a bottle of propane? we have a couple 25 g bottles around here. was hoping to go cheap using one of the trucks. long idle does not bother me much.

 

[DPelletier]

Just priced out the installation of a 500kw Cummins diesel generator for the local chemical plant. No there's a solution! A little spendy though!



Dave