If your DC generator is only 50% efficient the China 175 will do what you want (70 amps x 15 volts DC) with belt drive and it will be easy to start and portable. Engine only weighs about 100 lbs. Make a compact cart like a 2-wheel dolly.
Be warned that the hopper cooling system makes a mess (hard water stains all over the engine) and needs constant attention. Setting up a thermosiphon is more work and less friendly to something portable like a dolly, but certainly possible. I like the idea of an air cooled diesel for this particular application myself. Stay light years away from the horizontal China diesel with built in radiator and cooling fan. The cooling system will fail in few hours from the vibrrration. I think Changfa now makes an actual air cooled (finned cylinder) horizontal diesel with turbine fan on the flywheel. This is the way to do it. No knowledge of it either way.
Rcavictim
I am having problems up loading pictures. I have a 4 wheel cart that I bought this summer for the project. A thermosiphon setup if fine with me, the temps here in Arizona often hit 110 deg daily in the summer so I was thinking water cooled would be best.
Rcavictim if you don't mind me asking what did your JD175A cost you? Who was the importer?
OK, four wheel cart would be perfect for thermosiphon so the angle of everything would not be upset while moving.
I got my engine at a special deal because it was a return that had suffered UPS shipping damage and the wooden crate was smashed. I happen to know that UPS refused the damage claim saying the engine was not properly packaged to begin with. Well it was packaged in a wooden crate as from the factory. What a bunch of crooks and missfits UPS are!
I am in Ontario, Canada and dealt with Pat at Altopro in Quebec. I know he has JD170, JD175`s, JD185`s and the mighty Changfa 1115`s in stock now. I plan to buy a Changfa 1115 myself to make a backup for my 4-cylinder VW diesel plant. It will make as much power at 1800 RPM and is WAY easier and cheaper to completely rebuild! Trouble is he cannot ship engines into the US. If you can come meet it at a Canadian freight terminal at a major border town anywhere in Canada then this is possible. The 175 is just a bit too heavy for UPS in one package and has to be shipped in two boxes with the flywheel separated. UPS will not take any of the larger engines at all (apparently their boys have much more trouble breaking what they cannot lift in order to drop and this was costing the company too much extra in labor.)
I`d like to see Pat get your business but if you are in Tucson it may be easier for you to deal directly with Carrol Stream on this one.
Some JD have been found with casting sand in them so be prepared to do an inspection and cleanout as necessary. They are a less expensive engine than the Changfa, so you get what you pay for. Mine had sand but I`m happy with it after the TLC I`ve had to put into it. If it hadn`t I would not have gotten the valuable hands-on experience and knowledge of this engine design that I now know. If you don`t mind paying for a premium Chinese engine with best chances of no worries out of the box, get a bonified Changfa IMO.
