rpm speed

i'm gonna try and set up a generator for my place. the generator i am looking at says i must run 1500 rpm for 50hz or 1800 rpm for 60hz. so if i hook this up via a pto on my 4020 with 540 pto and run the tractor at 1500 or 1800 rpm, is that what the generator spec is talking about?

Gary, does your generator have a gear box between the PTO shaft and itself? If it does, I assume that's what they're talking about.

That generator needs an engine hooked direct drive to it. The rpm of the pto is 540 rpm which is only a third of the speed needed for the generator.

No, I don't think so,,I would say they are talking about actual input RPM, as in your PTO speed,,You will need a speed increasing gear box ahead of your Gen set,,if you look at some of the farm PTO units you will see that they have such a gear box on them for that reason..

no gear box but i could mount a small 4 cyl engine on it also. that might be the better way to go. unless i could find a gear box. so at 540 on the tractor running at say 1800 rpm, any guess as to the pto speed? gotta be more then 540 at that point dont it?

It's a four pole generator and must have a generator shaft speed of 1800rpm.
A 540 rpm pto turns at 540rpm with the tractor engine operating at rated pto speed.
eBay has 540 to 1800rpm pro gear boxes to bolt onto generators.

The line on the tach is where 540/1000 RPM's are at that engine speed, about 2200 engine RPM, you can't achieve 1800 RPM's at the power shaft, the engine would need to be running way above normal, the input RPM's are very important to maintain the correct generator out put, so not enough engine power will drop the rpm's, and make the lights dim..there is a formula for horse power/gen out put, you can probably Google it up...

The ones they use around here all have a gearbox that brings up the right rpm, run the tractor at 540 pto rpms. But these were all bought to be used on a tractor PTO

No, you will need a gearbox that converts either 1000 RPM or 540 RPM PTO to 1800 RPM at the generator.

You will probably burn less fuel to mount a 4 cylinder on it and run off gas/propane. The engine will need to operate at 1800 and generate enough HP at that RPM.

In my opinion, the old days of hooking up some generator to a tractor are over, or even using a contractor generator to power up part of a home during a power outage.
We lived through two ice storms where utility power was off for several weeks, and we had two different 6500 watt gasoline generators. Every modern appliance in our home was damaged, and were eventually replaced. Twice.
All modern appliances have electronics in them, and require clean sine wave power to survive. Dishwasher, refrigerator, cookstove, microwave, television, satellite, not even mentioning computer yet.
A cheap generator just won't do anymore.
MikeS.

That is a problem with 'Modern' equipment-there is some dumbaxx bit of computer in them. I didn't have the 'electric' until 25 yrs. ago, at the farm NOT. Had a kerosene fridge, wood stove & heat + a 12v-110v inverter that I ran off a LARGE industial battery (recharged by a 0-25 WW2 self starting generator). If I wasn't so lazy(and over 39)and gotten used to the "refinements", I'd like a time machine to go back.

My dad always said he was born too late,,he grew up farming with horses and a few months before he pasted on he was running a 9560 Side Hill...but he always had a problem comprehending new technology..

"clean sine wave power"? Since all alternating power has a "sine wave" I'm somewhat unclear by what you mean as the sine wave is tied to the hertz or cycles of the power. 60 hz is 60 hz. What I suspect you are having problems with is the voltage supply. A variation of + or - 10% of design voltage will create havoc with electically powered devices be it motors or electronics. If you overload your generator you will reduce the voltage, possibly to the point of exceeding the 10% limit. This can happen when the inrush current of certain things starting creates more draw then the generator can supply. Some people will load up their generators with steady draws near the maximum output of the generator and then when a fridge, freezer or some other device that has a high inrush current comes on, then the generator will overload and the volts will drop.

When I use mine, I unplug my freezers and water heater as well as any other electric heating device. I then monitor the amp draw and leave ample supply for my fridge to come on. Then from time to time I shut down all I have connected to it and then let the freezers and such run by themselves as needed.

Too many people just plug things in until their generator bogs down and back it off a bit. But you need to monitor your amerage based on the wattage output of your generator and then you will have stable source of power.

Oh, and make sure that you have opened your main disconnect on your panel before running your generator as it will backfeed down the line otherwise and create added draw on you generator as well as making it very dangerous for the linemen trying to restore power.

Exactly.
People don't have enough $$$ to purchase the
proper sized generator. But they have enough time
and money to replace burned out generators and
electrical equipment.