Running pump on generator?

[MainelyMaple]

We will be running our dairy pump on a generator this year, I'm wondering how big of a generator we will need? Don't know a whole lot about the vac pump. It's a 2 hp, says universal on the tank and masport senior on the pump. We were thinking 5000w? Does anybody have any experience with this? thanks

[jfroe939]

Watts= amps X volts right?
So I suppose if you knew the stuff on the right side of the equation you could probably come to figure out what kind of wattage you'd need out of your generator. I don't have a ton of experience with generators but I think if you require 2000 watts based on the equation that you'd want to make sure you have a generator a little over 2000 like maybe 2500 or more to cover the start-up power surge needed as well as just the idea that maybe the generator isn't 100% efficient at generating power as it is designed to be based on the model's wattage specs. Anybody care to add or subtract from that idea,? I think I'm more or less in the ballpark with that though.

[Haynes Forest Products]

Plus dont run 100ft of extension cord and don't jam the govenor with a stick to get it running real nice.

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

Watts= amps X volts right?
So I suppose if you knew the stuff on the right side of the equation you could probably come to figure out what kind of wattage you'd need out of your generator. I don't have a ton of experience with generators but I think if you require 2000 watts based on the equation that you'd want to make sure you have a generator a little over 2000 like maybe 2500 or more to cover the start-up power surge needed as well as just the idea that maybe the generator isn't 100% efficient at generating power as it is designed to be based on the model's wattage specs. Anybody care to add or subtract from that idea,? I think I'm more or less in the ballpark with that though.

120v or 220v? whats the amps of the motor you want to run?
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e234/poultneyfiredog18/ohmtable.gif

[3rdgen.maple]

I dont know how you guys do it on a generator. Prices of fuel are rediculous and the price of oil just went up and news said expect a 20 cent increase by mid march. But if you got to you got too. First thing I would be considering is diesel or gas. Yep diesel is higher in price but do some comparisons of how many hours you get out of a tank. My diesel generator which is 10,000 watts
runs 10 hrs on 3.5 gallons of fuel.

[jfroe939]

I probably already know the answer to this, but maybe I'll be surprised... should I assume that bigger generators (5000W-6000W) require more fuel than a smaller one? I assume yes but my lack of generator experience wants to know about how much more? I've got a 500W small pump lined up for vac on my 100 or less trees and I'm planning on using mommy and daddy's 1000W generator. Don't know the brand off hand - something cheap from Menards. Just wondered, roughly, how many gallons of gas will run for how long on your generators. Just trying to get some basic estimate of what I'll be looking forward to for gas consumption and whether it's even profitable to run a generator for 80 trees. That being said, if I were to pick and choose the most "optimal" times to run vacuum to save on gas costs,what would they be? For a day on buckets that you normally get 1 gallon vac should equate to 1.5 gallons (+/-). For a perfect April day that a tree gives 4 gallons, then I can expect 6+ gallons from vac... IF those statements are to be true and I were to be choosey about the "right" or "optimal" times to run vac to save gas then is it fair to say optimal efficiency should have me only turn the vac on (assuming the alternative is to let gravity do it's thing minus vac) when I anticipate huge run days and perhaps in addition those nights that don't freeze at all where gravity would give me nothing where vac will give me something?

[len]

You need to look at the continuous rating specs for your generator. Perhaps 75% of the continuous to allow for overhead. You might find that the actual performance may vary, as some of the ratings are marketing (perhaps some will do 100% of continuous, and the generator will handle the start up load?), and there is also the quality of the sine wave that the generators put out (square sine wave?). Search the web- generators + continuous duty + surge ratings