Generators

K.G.

Well lads what have ye learnwd about generatirs over the past few days and what size runs what

Mooooo

K.G. wrote: »

Well lads what have ye learnwd about generatirs over the past few days and what size runs what

Well I've learned I need one otherctgan that interested in responses . Also learned I'll Be using a new electrician

Who2

Watch what engine they run on. I've a forty kva one here that costs around e2 per hour to run. A mate has the same size and it drinks around e8 per hour. Now it's not used for farm work but it runs into a fair bit of coin if used regularly.

usernamexyz

honda or nothing

Grueller

usernamexyz wrote: »

honda or nothing

At 40Kva there aren't too many Hondas. Also I am not aware of Honda generators but could be wrong on this. They are usually stephill or pramac on a Honda engine.

enricoh

usernamexyz wrote: »

honda or nothing

Any decent sized yoke drinks petrol, a pain running to petrol station too.
A yanmar diesel yoke id much prefer. What kind of power do milk lads need? Would a welder jenny suffice, I doubt it .

mahoney_j

On the look out for a 50 to
80 kva 3 phase one ,

fastrac

20 KVA will barely run a basic parlour.A big parlour with all the toys would need 60+ .Here in Cork theres not a generator to be got for love nor money. Im shocked to hear lads with 200 cows and no generator or the one they have hasnt been used for 10 yrs and wont work.Im old enough to remember a neighbour having one back in the 70s. His grandson had to use a neighbours parlour to milk 130 cows after 2 days not milked.Some farms near me wont have power til the middle of next week and are milking once a day on borrowed generators.Spoke to one lad and his electrician cant get change over switches or waterproof plugs and sockets anywhere for a week. I have mine running 18 hrs a day since Monday .

lakill Farm

Surely if they needed them they would organise stuff from further north up the country in unaffected areas and when sorted jump in a car or van and go collect

Lads will jump in a car and travel 100 miles to watch a gaa game or concert etc but wount to go collect something that's essential when broke down for what ever reason. If the cows need to be fixed you go to Derry from cork if it means getting them milked.

But keep the heads up things will come right again and be soon only history.

fastrac wrote: »

20 KVA will barely run a basic parlour.A big parlour with all the toys would need 60+ .Here in Cork theres not a generator to be got for love nor money. Im shocked to hear lads with 200 cows and no generator or the one they have hasnt been used for 10 yrs and wont work.Im old enough to remember a neighbour having one back in the 70s. His grandson had to use a neighbours parlour to milk 130 cows after 2 days not milked.Some farms near me wont have power til the middle of next week and are milking once a day on borrowed generators.Spoke to one lad and his electrician cant get change over switches or waterproof plugs and sockets anywhere for a week. I have mine running 18 hrs a day since Monday .

alps

fastrac wrote: »

20 KVA will barely run a basic parlour.A big parlour with all the toys would need 60+ .Here in Cork theres not a generator to be got for love nor money. Im shocked to hear lads with 200 cows and no generator or the one they have hasnt been used for 10 yrs and wont work.Im old enough to remember a neighbour having one back in the 70s. His grandson had to use a neighbours parlour to milk 130 cows after 2 days not milked.Some farms near me wont have power til the middle of next week and are milking once a day on borrowed generators.Spoke to one lad and his electrician cant get change over switches or waterproof plugs and sockets anywhere for a week. I have mine running 18 hrs a day since Monday .

Our on from 6.30 till midnight....burning a tractor tank of diesel a day, app 100litres...tank will only hold till just after 10 tonight, so I've told the crew here that it's light off at 10 because there no way I'm going out there to refuel in that weather

freedominacup

fastrac wrote: »

20 KVA will barely run a basic parlour.A big parlour with all the toys would need 60+ .Here in Cork theres not a generator to be got for love nor money. Im shocked to hear lads with 200 cows and no generator or the one they have hasnt been used for 10 yrs and wont work.Im old enough to remember a neighbour having one back in the 70s. His grandson had to use a neighbours parlour to milk 130 cows after 2 days not milked.Some farms near me wont have power til the middle of next week and are milking once a day on borrowed generators.Spoke to one lad and his electrician cant get change over switches or waterproof plugs and sockets anywhere for a week. I have mine running 18 hrs a day since Monday .

Cork is not Ireland. Larger generators are specialist hires. You won't find too many in your average hire shop. I could be wrong but I think lakhill is on the money. Go north my son. Look at all the mobile power deployed up and down the country all summer long at festivals, concerts even the ploughing.

alps

Phuq.....relatives looking for showers...have to tackle off and refuel now...

It's like back to the bohantaoicht here the last few nights..

lakill Farm

alps wrote: »

Phuq.....relatives looking for showers...have to tackle off and refuel now...

It's like back to the bohantaoicht here the last few nights..

Tell them to refuel the tractor

Who2

Check plant and machinery dealers, they don't loose value and are pretty straight forward. Clarke rewinds in drumconrath co. Meath, usually has a fair few. Wilsons auctions regularly have them, theres a lad in Mayo that had acres of them a couple of years back. Theres loads of them floating about its just a matter of finding them.

freedominacup

Who2 wrote: »

Check plant and machinery dealers, they don't loose value and are pretty straight forward. Clarke rewinds in drumconrath co. Meath, usually has a fair few. Wilsons auctions regularly have them, theres a lad in Mayo that had acres of them a couple of years back. Theres loads of them floating about its just a matter of finding them.

The thing is there's no such thing as "getting a rate" atm. Dehumidifiers and generators, at times like these you'll pay full whack and then some. Hire company could be looking at them until this time next year without another hire once this crisis is over.

lakill Farm

How many kva would you need to run a house.

Is the supply coming in 12 or 16 ?

kevthegaff

lakill Farm wrote: »

How many kva would you need to run a house.

Is the supply coming in 12 or 16 ?

I'd say 8 be lots

lakill Farm

freedominacup wrote: »

The thing is there's no such thing as "getting a rate" atm. Dehumidifiers and generators, at times like these you'll pay full whack and then some. Hire company could be looking at them until this time next year without another hire once this crisis is over.

Ye. It's like all the places in winter 2011/12 that had 100s of snow shovels and tons of salt bags.
And not a flake of snow

Simple economics. Supply and demand.

George Sunsnow

What in the name of god are lads wanting to run on on 40 or 60kva genny’s?
Are you getting that level of power from the esb?
Ok only 2 phase supply here but the Esb transformer only delivers 20kva and from that a 12 unit parlour bulk tank scrapers 2 water pumps etc and the house have no issues

The genny is a pto driven froment magnet 25kva doing all that at the same time she’d lights included,no dimming,and the house which thankfully is on the same meter so the house is powered at the same time as the yard seamlessly

darragh_haven

Im in Northern Ireland at the moment. Bought a 2 year old exhire 20kva stephill for a relation. He'll have it tomorrow, even tho he doesn't think he'll need it as power was due back. The 20kva will run his farm, 14 unit parlour, cooling, scrapers.
He said he wants it even if it runs only once every 3 years.

That should say 30kva... typo above

punisher5112

darragh_haven wrote: »

Im in Northern Ireland at the moment. Bought a 2 year old exhire 20kva stephill for a relation. He'll have it tomorrow, even tho he doesn't think he'll need it as power was due back. The 20kva will run his farm, 14 unit parlour, cooling, scrapers.
He said he wants it even if it runs only once every 3 years.

What cost if you don't mind me asking.

Well worth running these every month to keep in good shape.

And service each year use or no use.

darragh_haven

punisher5112 wrote: »

What cost if you don't mind me asking.

Well worth running these every month to keep in good shape.

And service each year use or no use.

€3,500 landed in his yard. Bought of a man that deals in generators and makes electricial control units.

Brown Podzol

Have a heater pad fitted to mine and only run it when needed, about once a year and no problems. Also has a meter that shows when running at correct revs. There's no fleas in it now though, running 12 hours a day since Monday.

kevthegaff

Brown Podzol wrote:

Have a heater pad fitted to mine and only run it when needed, about once a year and no problems. Also has a meter that shows when running at correct revs. There's no fleas in it now though, running 12 hours a day since Monday.

What's a heater a pad?

Who2

freedominacup wrote: »

The thing is there's no such thing as "getting a rate" atm. Dehumidifiers and generators, at times like these you'll pay full whack and then some. Hire company could be looking at them until this time next year without another hire once this crisis is over.

dehumidifiers an d generators are constantly in use, there are loads of sites will run solely on site gennies until near completion, dehumidifiers are regularly on hire on sites. I know what your saying but the ophelia crisis didn't hit the whole country. Ive covered a fair bit of it in the last few days and theres a lot more not using than there are needing.

enricoh

My oul fella has an english made one, 30 year old if a day. My welder jenny is 16hp, im sure its 3 times that. The frame n legs are the fuel tank of it. fairly bulletproof yoke, you'd want the ear muffs on though. No chance of it getting robbed , id say it weighs a ton
Not much use to lads stuck at the minute, but Id say u could pick one up in the uk over winter for half nothing

listermint

Anything to be said for pto as they are only occasional use https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/PTO-TRACTOR-DRIVEN-GENERATORS-30-KVA-/202060357076?hash=item2f0bbc5dd4%3Ag%3A0HUAAOxygPtSqMSF&_trkparms=pageci%253A45d467d4-b518-11e7-b68b-74dbd180e428%257Cparentrq%253A36a2ab5415f0ab64b879ce10ffffdf0e%257Ciid%253A13

punisher5112

kevthegaff wrote: »

What's a heater a pad?

Larger ones need to be kept warm to allow start at short notice as such in hospitals and important installations.

Brown Podzol

kevthegaff wrote: »

What's a heater a pad?

A little electric heater under the windings that prevents them from getting damp.

Snowfire

George Sunsnow wrote: »

What in the name of god are lads wanting to run on on 40 or 60kva genny’s?
Are you getting that level of power from the esb?
Ok only 2 phase supply here but the Esb transformer only delivers 20kva and from that a 12 unit parlour bulk tank scrapers 2 water pumps etc and the house have no issues

The genny is a pto driven froment magnet 25kva doing all that at the same time she’d lights included,no dimming,and the house which thankfully is on the same meter so the house is powered at the same time as the yard seamlessly

Was thinking the same myself, 16 units, tank, scrapers, air compressor, lights etc run off a 25 kva pto genny. Never a problem. My house is on different line tho.

alps

Extreme care on this one required....

I don't think the kva rating of your power supply is quiet the same as your generator rating.

A 25kva generator produces only 20kw of power. When you consider a kettle alone consumes 2kw aloneyou won't be long eating into this. A typical motor has a start up draw of twice its rated capacity, so a 3kw motor will require 6kw to start up.

Ours is a 20kva generator, that's only 16kw, so we run milking motors and cooling separate. It would be very easy to max out 16kw especially with the number of motors cutting in and out during milking time.

Would be great if someone qualified could give a bit of advise on this one..

Nekarsulm

I have a 15kva PTO one. It runs a 10 unit dairymaster and the house ok, but you really hear the note of the tractor changing when an extra motor switches on.
So Its easier on things to leave pumps running continuously, like the milk pump under the main collection jar, and the tank compressor.
There are always a few pto generators on eBay.co.uk if a lad was thinking of getting something set up for the next storm.

https://m.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2056088.m570.l1313.TR3.TRC2.A0.H0.Xpto+generator.TRS0&_nkw=pto+generator

Remember you need a qualified electrician to wire it in, and the ESB will inspect your installation before it can be used. Any mistakes mean it's likely you'll kill someone downline.

ACOT used to have a pamphlet on farm generators, but here is a basic guide

https://www.google.ie/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/442/442-067/442-067_pdf.pdf&ved=0ahUKEwixibXPrf7WAhUBOBoKHQBjC504ChAWCCMwAw&usg=AOvVaw3MSnUhxoVfhzFRYGo6sJY1

stretch film

Snowfire wrote: »

Was thinking the same myself, 16 units, tank, scrapers, air compressor, lights etc run off a 25 kva pto genny. Never a problem. My house is on different line tho.

Simultaneously?

fastrac

freedominacup wrote: »

Cork is not Ireland. Larger generators are specialist hires. You won't find too many in your average hire shop. I could be wrong but I think lakhill is on the money. Go north my son. Look at all the mobile power deployed up and down the country all summer long at festivals, concerts even the ploughing.

Lads Have tried all over.Theres plenty of Generators on the way now.But its still hard to source switches ,heavy duty connections etc. A lot of areas still dont even have mobile coverage yet .Teagasc involved now sourcing idle ones.Tomorrows weather wont help.

George Sunsnow

stretch film wrote: »

Simultaneously?

Yes!

lakill Farm

fastrac wrote: »

Lads Have tried all over.Theres plenty of Generators on the way now.But its still hard to source switches ,heavy duty connections etc. A lot of areas still dont even have mobile coverage yet .Teagasc involved now sourcing idle ones.Tomorrows weather wont help.

None in Dublin or midlands or Northern Ireland ?

George Sunsnow

A few other things about generators mentioned above are very important
Obviously the changeover switch
You need to stop supply getting down the ESB line where you could electrocute a lines man!

Starting up a generator is tricky
I always turn off supply to the house and water pumps until everything else is running
Anything basically sensitive to power fluctuations

We got an electrician to test voltage with everything on during Darwin,that’s 2 scraper motors ,milking machine water etc etc and it was a solid 240
The ESB was only about 225

Same goes for switching off
Never turn down the revs before you switch off the pto

Keepgrowing

Magnate 25 kva here single phase. Runs all lights and dwelling house, 20 unit parlour and coolers and 10 scraper passages. €3000 inc vat Pto driven. Bradley Portlaoise. 65 hp Fiat will run it flat out or 140 hp Massey at 540 eco

George Sunsnow

Keepgrowing wrote: »

Magnate 25 kva here single phase. Runs all lights and dwelling house, 20 unit parlour and coolers and 10 scraper passages. €3000 inc vat Pto driven. Bradley Portlaoise. 65 hp Fiat will run it flat out or 140 hp Massey at 540 eco

They must be around a long time because I think that’s where we got ours!
At €3k it’s an essential piece of back up tech and remember bolted to the floor it’s a fixed item on which you can claim back the vat

pms7

lakill Farm wrote: »

How many kva would you need to run a house.

Is the supply coming in 12 or 16 ?

Not an expert, but, shower is the killer at 8 -9 kva, next is hob, cooker then kettle at 2-3.
Need Automatic Voltage Regulator (AVR) on it if running anything with electronics

pms7

Brown Podzol wrote: »

A little electric heater under the windings that prevents them from getting damp.

Even with this, recommended to be run once a year - under load, as in powering something

alps

George Sunsnow wrote: »

They must be around a long time because I think that’s where we got ours!
At €3k it’s an essential piece of back up tech and remember bolted to the floor it’s a fixed item on which you can claim back the vat

Essential...

I'd even go further to say they should be a requirement in the board bia inspection, after seeing what I could only call animal welfare issues with cows not milked for days, and stock without water, some still without it.

Gonna stay low now...

Keepgrowing

George Sunsnow wrote: »

They must be around a long time because I think that’s where we got ours!
At €3k it’s an essential piece of back up tech and remember bolted to the floor it’s a fixed item on which you can claim back the vat

We bought a second one about 2 weeks ago. Bolted to floor €3k

George Sunsnow

Here’s mine and the change over box
Bit grubby after 30 years but pwo and ran at least twice a year
The orange light on the side of the change over box tells you the mains is back when it’s on
Number 1 is ESB
0 is all power off and number 2 is generator
The little square amber light is outside
It flashes when revs are too low or too high
But stays constant when voltage is right
So very easy

kowtow

alps wrote: »

Essential...

I'd even go further to say they should be a requirement in the board bia inspection, after seeing what I could only call animal welfare issues with cows not milked for days, and stock without water, some still without it.

Gonna stay low now...

I think before they impose any more legislation on farmers they probably ought to take a look at the ESB, whose apparent choice in recent years to harvest cash from the network rather than maintaining it properly is at the heart of the problem.

Around here the state of cables in and over the ditches is shocking, many poles still dislodged from 2013/14 and before, and there are more and more incidents every year of harvesters hitting slack lines.

Our electricity is ruinously expensive when compared with our neighbours over the water - and we are told that our long rural network is the reason - yet in this townland alone there is 2.5km of pointless cable which could be changed to 200m in a heartbeat if anyone had the sense to do it. I am quite sure it is the same all over the country.

We are already forced, on pain of a levy, to buy health insurance in order to mitigate the effects of an ill-managed and therefore wasteful public health service which we already fund generously through taxation.

And as much as I see the sense of having a generator, and will probably buy one, I'm not sure that I want to be forced by legislation into buying one in order to defend myself from the failures of a ludicrously expensive, and obviously badly managed, electricity network.

fastrac

lakill Farm wrote: »

None in Dublin or midlands or Northern Ireland ?

They kept going til the got them

The Rabbi

We got a 28kva PTO generator,change over switch and socket here about 10 years ago.It cost about €3000.The genny has two 63amp sockets on it which means that it is really only like two 14kva gennys.The milking machine has two 3hp vacuum pumps using about 28 amps and the tank uses about 24 amps.Throw on lights and milk pump,you are reaching the limit of the socket.If you are going shopping get your electrician to calculate the power requirement and the type of socket or connection you will need.