Best diesel generator

Overby

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
South West
After being without power for a couple of weeks due to the recent storm we've decided to invest in a generator to plug direct into the supply, ready for future emergencies.

What's anyone's experience with diesel ones big enough to run ideally the farmhouse and a bungalow on basic essentials.

Any input much appreciated.
 

renewablejohn

Member
Location
lancs
Not quite as simple as that. I have a simple portable genny cost less than 100 pounds ftom aldi about 10 years ago and provides sufficient for light and the telly. Think capacity is 1kw so will top up freezer but will not boil a kettle. Also have 15kw Lister generator ex lighting tower converted to 240 v and will also do 3 phase but still cannot run the full load of the house. If you have hefty motors to start up like on heat pumps you might even require a 100kw generator.
 

hally

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
cumbria
we have a 6kva diesel and it runs a large farmhouse and steadying , powers everything except the shower. So tv, computers, lights , kettle , central heating etc. Just got a leaflet from agrilinc yesterday selling a 7Kva diesel for about 1400 which I didn’t think was too bad
 
Last edited:

Bury the Trash

Member
Mixed Farmer
we have a 6kva diesel and it runs a large farmhouse and steadying , powers everything except the shower. So tv, computers, lights , kettle , central heating etc. Just got a leaflet from agrilinc yesterday selling a 7Kia diesel for about 1400 which I didn’t think was too bad
are you not on mains then hally?
 

Vincent

Member
Location
Kildare Ireland
I have a 7.5kva set here runs everything except the elec shower and hob/oven. Run through a proper change over switch. Can boil kettle, run oil heating or the circulation pumps for the stove and all lights . Hard on petrol is the only down side. A 10 to 15 kva would be the boss of most house holds.
 

steveR

Member
Mixed Farmer
After being without power for a couple of weeks due to the recent storm we've decided to invest in a generator to plug direct into the supply, ready for future emergencies.

What's anyone's experience with diesel ones big enough to run ideally the farmhouse and a bungalow on basic essentials.

Any input much appreciated.
Two properties, powered presumably off two separate supplies? How close are the two properties

This might be a slight issue.... presumably the power comes into the two properties from a local Transformer? You will not be allowed to feed power from a gennie there!

Easiest method is possibly if the two properties are close, then maybe a CoS on each, and run 2 feed cables from a standby gennie of 16amps each, then have a gennie sized to suit, possibly off a tractor? 10-15kva would be adequate if no high power draw, such as electric cooking, although bigger is always better :) A sparky will be needed to fit the CoS and can advise I guess.
 

Overby

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
South West
Not quite as simple as that. I have a simple portable genny cost less than 100 pounds ftom aldi about 10 years ago and provides sufficient for light and the telly. Think capacity is 1kw so will top up freezer but will not boil a kettle. Also have 15kw Lister generator ex lighting tower converted to 240 v and will also do 3 phase but still cannot run the full load of the house. If you have hefty motors to start up like on heat pumps you might even require a 100kw generator.
All logistics sorted ta, just need gennie opinions before puching one.
 

Overby

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
South West
Two properties, powered presumably off two separate supplies? How close are the two properties

This might be a slight issue.... presumably the power comes into the two properties from a local Transformer? You will not be allowed to feed power from a gennie there!

Easiest method is possibly if the two properties are close, then maybe a CoS on each, and run 2 feed cables from a standby gennie of 16amps each, then have a gennie sized to suit, possibly off a tractor? 10-15kva would be adequate if no high power draw, such as electric cooking, although bigger is always better :) A sparky will be needed to fit the CoS and can advise I guess.
2 properties running of same supply although potential to have separate. Sparky already been out and logistics sorted.
 

Timbo

Member
Location
Gods County
Really needs to be a 4 pole 1500rpm set.

The 3000rpm sorts are okish for brief emergency use but their output are often all over the place in terms of voltage and frequency, hence some electronics really dont like to work, especially if they have a vfd within eg some motors, borehole pumps, ch pumps, heat pumps etc.
 

steveR

Member
Mixed Farmer
2 properties running of same supply although potential to have separate. Sparky already been out and logistics sorted.
What did the Sparky suggest you needed in the way of supply then AJ?

Also, I assume you have diesel on the property? I ask, as petrol is not really a good standby fuel for various reasons. Diesel or Gas is surely the preferred option if you have either on site.

Budget is the big one surely :)

Later. Just looked up an old email from an aquaintance in Montana, and they had an LPG generator for winter, as it is more "winterproof" from their big tank.
 
Last edited:

PSQ

Member
Arable Farmer
Surrounding neighbours leccy was off with Arwen, so I thought I'd loan the 8kva Kubota Genset and 2kva Honda. Long story short, Kubota injection pump had seized and the Honda carb had been borrowed. Baden Powell wouldn't be impressed :facepalm:

In 2001 when the needle hit -20 and power was off for a week, the Honda kept the kero central heating going and provided light with extension cables daisy chained through the letterbox and through the house. As mentioned above, the proper way is with a 'manual transfer switch' / 'crossover switch', and with the rising reliance on renewables and imported gas then it's not a bad idea to add it to at least the domestic supply.

I like the look of these, good bang for buck, and a huge step in price to the next size up:

hyundai-dhy8000selr-diesel-generator-long-run

Screen Shot 2021-12-12 at 17.39.45.png
 
Last edited:

TheTallGuy

Member
Location
Cambridgeshire
Go big... Something ~30kVA+ might seem overkill, but will allow you to run most things. Good quality generators in this class will also have decent controls for autostart etc., along with safety stuff like oil pressure & fuel level monitoring so you don't have try to reprime in the dark. The other benefit is that they don't fit in the back of a Transit!
 

PSQ

Member
Arable Farmer
Is there a long life diesel available (non biodiesel) that wont go off in a standby generator?
Or is the trick to change the fuel ever 6 months, or run it dry?
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 79 43.2%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 63 34.4%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 16.4%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 5 2.7%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

  • 1,286
  • 1
As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
Top