Wheelhorse Generators

[Paul D. 26]

I have seen very little about these elusive attachments. I'd like to know a little more about them and If they can still be found. Any info would be appreciated.

[Hydro 131]

Me too. I have seen other Chinese models available for cheap and I think it would be an easy way to have power available in an emergency although I suspect the fuel consumption for extended use would be greater than self contained units.

[Paul D. 26]

I guess the real advantage is that as often as you use your generator it sits for extended periods of time. You end up praying that it starts when you need it and hope that you don't have to pull the carb off and clean it. I don't know about you but my horse starts often. I know it's going to start

[Hydro 131]

Right on! The biggest problem for the single use engine today is ethanol. It can separate very quickly. I have a generator that I took great care of that let me down before I knew the issues with ethanol so now I use hi test in all my small engines. No ethanol ye in hi test and your right I almost always have something to do with the Wheel Horse.

[Sparky-(Admin) 21,399]

Those Wheel Horse PTO powered gens are out there for sale used but usually command a high price. There is the 5000 watt unit which is the better one since it produces 220 volts and the 3000 watter which only puts out 120 volts. I had a 4000 watt/220 volt unit that was made by Generac for the older Sears garden tractors. It was mounted on a steel plate and clipped into the front and mid attachment points on my C series and was driven by the PTO. It worked great but I needed more power so I bought a portable 7000 watt gen and sold the 4000. Theres a picture on here somewhere.

Mike.........

[Hydro 131]

Yeah I went back on the search option and found posts for 2008. I would really like to buy something today that would work in case of an emergency. Not sure but it does not have to be Wheel Horse as long as I can drive it with my Wheel Horse! I think rpm is a big factor though when considering what to buy and also there is a narow window for the ideal rpm. Anybody know?

[Sparky-(Admin) 21,399]

My 4000 watt unit needed the 12hp Kohler to be at or just above 3/4 throttle for perfect voltage. The RPM's could also be controlled by the size of the pulley you put on the gen heads shaft. But remember your motor cools and lubes itself best at max or close to max RPM's. You don't want to put a small pulley on the gen head and have your tractor idling which will kill the motor. You don't need an official WH branded gen head. My neighbor has a 10000 watt gen head being spun by a 16hp Wheel Horse. if you have some fabrication skill I would think a mount would be easy. (I have no fab skills )

Mike.........

[chinoman279 10]

I have been keeping my eye open for a generator head in the 5kw range. I plan to buy just a head and weld up a mount for the front hitch. Most cheaper gen heads run at 3600 rpm, the better ones run at 1800. It would be pretty easy to set it up with the correct pulley. A pulley the same size as the tractor pulley or one that is twice the size on the gen head. This is all assuming you want to run the tractor at full throttle. Keep in mind you need roughly 2 hp for every kw of power. I hopefully will find something around 5 kw to run off the front of my 312. Should be able to build one of this size for $400 or less. Depends on the deal you find for the head.

Now if you have a bigger motor...16 hp or so and only want to run a smaller head (5 kw or so). You could probably get away with running the motor at around 2400 rpm and scale your gen head pulley accordingly. I wish I could find a dyno graph on these motors showing max horsepower output versus rpm. Does anyone know of any available? It would be handy in turning these gen heads at less than max engine rpm.

[chinoman279 10]

My 4000 watt unit needed the 12hp Kohler to be at or just above 3/4 throttle for perfect voltage. The RPM's could also be controlled by the size of the pulley you put on the gen heads shaft. But remember your motor cools and lubes itself best at max or close to max RPM's. You don't want to put a small pulley on the gen head and have your tractor idling which will kill the motor. You don't need an official WH branded gen head. My neighbor has a 10000 watt gen head being spun by a 16hp Wheel Horse. if you have some fabrication skill I would think a mount would be easy. (I have no fab skills )

Mike.........

I also wondered about the cooling under max load. Does the 16 horse get excessively hot when under heavy load? That seems like it is a little light on the power to get max output out of the gen head. I would like to find a 1800 rpm head so I can run a bigger pulley on the shaft to kind of act like a flywheel when motors from the well, fridge, or a/c kick on. In some sense I guess the only correct way is to get a tach and check rpms accurately for these. Did you or your neighbor set these up using a tach?

[Hydro 131]

I know what you mean. I have an M16 and an M14 and my main tractor would use the 16hp single Kohler. I was not expecting it to idle but I guess it depends on how much power I really need. I had 6000-7500 watts in mind and it would be nice for fuel and noise not to have to run at full rpm. I might even get away with 5000 watts but I would need 220 for my well pump.

[Hydro 131]

I don't think cooling a single Kohler is much of an issue as long as the rpm is up there. I would think you would want 3/4 throttle or so. Certainly not much less than that. I was more concerned about fuel consumption and the noise of prolonged running.

[chinoman279 10]

I think something in the 2400 rpm range would work well for cooling and oiling purposes. I just wish I knew how much power the M12 puts out at that rpm.

I don't exactly have the time or money to rig up an electric brake dyno. I wish I did. It would be pretty easy to apply a known load and find the acceleration rate of the engine. Graph it against an accurate rpm reading and then calculate horsepower. That is a completely different topic altogether us RS members could get together on.

Back on topic, my husky 5kw generator has approximately a 17.5 cubic inch Suburu engine and operates at 3600 rpm. Not sure on the horsepower at 3600 rpm. The 6 gallon gas tank lasts anywhere from 12 to 14 hours based on a moderate load. I would think the slightly bigger Kohler could run easily in the 3k rpm range and have adequate power for 5kw. I wish I had a 14 or 16 horse engine though. I would certainly run those motors closer to what I want...2400 rpm. Not too loud, not lugging, and decent power output.

Edit: It looks like the Suburu engine has 10 hp at 3600 rpm. I would think my 312 would put out 10 horse around 3k rpm pretty easily. Looks like a 5kw gen head is in my future. I can sell my Husky generator and come out ahead with one less engine to maintain.

[can whlvr 993]

as far as the genny sitting around with no fuel,i completely drain mine,its a pain in the arse,but worth it when it starts when i need it too,we dont loose power here very often,havnt in a few years,our hydro crews keep the branches trimmed pretty good,so i too would like too build one for the horse,get rid of the self contained unit,like to get a large compressor one day that runs off a horse and could sand blast with,i have rented a unit with a 16hp honda and even it cant keep up 100 psi

[Paul D. 26]

Well, I have a Coleman 5000 watt generator that didn't want to run right last time I needed it. The engine would not run at a constant RPM which makes it duplicate a brown out every time it would drop in RPM. A really good way to smoke some appliances. I believe that the head for that generator may become a part of one of my little winter projects. I am a toolmaker and have all kinds of cool breaks, shears, plasma cutters and welders at my finger tips which makes me just a little dangerous and my wife just a little crazy

[Steve B. 30]

Holy cow! I was just looking at these (http://www.harborfreight.com/engines-generators/generator-accessories/10000-watts-max-7200-watts-rated-belt-driven-generator-head-45416.html) earlier today, and wondering if my 12hp would be able to run it. Description calls for 16hp & 3600rpm for 10kw output. Has two 120v & one 240v recepticle.

For $400+ manufacturing a mounting plate, would be hard to go wrong.

[Hydro 131]

Well, I have a Coleman 5000 watt generator that didn't want to run right last time I needed it. The engine would not run at a constant RPM which makes it duplicate a brown out every time it would drop in RPM. A really good way to smoke some appliances. I believe that the head for that generator may become a part of one of my little winter projects. I am a toolmaker and have all kinds of cool breaks, shears, plasma cutters and welders at my finger tips which makes me just a little dangerous and my wife just a little crazy

I've seen a frame mount on this site with two castors under the front just for positioning and moving around kinda like you would use a wheelbarrow. Whoever built theirs attached to the mid mount attach a matic and came under the front axle and then let the drive belt suspend the frame and the generator. The overall weight kept the tension on the belt.

The wheel horse method attached also at the front attach a matic and then a plate with slots allowed the genny head to move into position and tighten the belt. I gotta think the wheel horse method would be better for transport the unit while mounted to the tractor.

[Paul D. 26]

Found a video of a guy testing a wheelhorse gen-set out on a 314 (I think). The mount looks pretty simple to make. There was also a volt meter right on the gen-set so you now when u had the motor running at the correct rpm. Here's a link to the video

Paul

Sent from my iPhone

[Hydro 131]

That looks pretty sweet. I would want more power though. I'm thinking 6000-7500watts. Ebay has quite a few gen heads as well. I think most of what we see today are made in China

[pfrederi 17,852]

I looked at several Kohler manuals but none showed horsepower at other than 3600 RPM.

I went back to a Tecumseh manual for my L107. It had HP ratings a various RPM.

It is a 6.0 hp engine at 3600

5.37hp at 3200

4.55hp at 2800

3.60hp at 2400.

So you loose 40% of your HP when you reduce your speed by 33%

Don't know if Kohler HP curve is the same.

[Hydro 131]

That's great info. I would think given the flat head design the numbers should be roughly the same although I suppose there could be some difference depending on the bore vs the stroke but that would put my application right where I would want to be. I do not need 10000 watts and I could run somehere around 3000rpm or less, maybe.

[Paul D. 26]

I agree I would want more power. I think I will start with the 5000 watt gen-set I already have. It does have 220 outlets on it and I should be able to fab up the mount for next to nothing. Maybe if it works well I will sell that one on craigs list and use that to finance a bigger one.

[KC9KAS 4,741]

3000 watts will only run about 25 amps @ 120 volts.

Bigger is better!

[Paul D. 26]

What do you guys think about using the attachment lift as a tensioner for the belt. I was thinking about pivoting on the front attachmatic.

[Hydro 131]

I was trying to see more of that video you found. I think it's better to suspend from both hitch points and then maybe pivot like you suggest off the front. Kinda looks like that is the way the one is in the video.

Wheel Horse must have figured this out long before us....no sense in trying to re invent the wheel...horse

My guess is somebody will pick up on these posts and can show us exactly the mounting bracket we would need. I want one too and I am thinking 7500 watts would be tops for me. I will be exchanging my M14 for the M16 after snow removal but again I don't need 10000 watts and I don't want to run at a full 3600 rpm

[Paul D. 26]

Looking at the gen head at harbor freight. It runs at 3600rpm. The Koehler 14 horse in my c141 does the same. It may be fate. Merry Christmas I all.