2nd alternator on woodmizer kubota

[spencerhenry]

for a long time i have wanted to hook up the second alternator for on the kubota diesel. i dont know why it isnt from the factory. i was told that the motors come that way so they just leave it there as an idler pulley. well i finally hooked mine up. while running the hydraulics and the up-down, or feed, i found that the head would slow down upon use of the hydraulics. now it doesnt. while doing this, i also found that the charge wire on the alternator that is used, is hooked up with what looks like 8 gauge wire, coarse strand at that. that is not nearly large enough wire to run the 12' to the battery. i wired the second alternator with #6 welding cable. while it took me a couple of hours to put this all together, and had to drill 2 holes, you cant tell that its not factory. i am putting together a kit with directions and all parts to make it easier for others. my mill is a super remote, i am not sure what differences there are on other mills. if you are interested, drop me line.

 

[infomet]

Remember, the alternator wire is only carrying the charge current, not the load. A small alt is likely about 20 A. 8 would be great, even 10.

 

[2dogs]

Pics would be cool.

 

[spencerhenry]

while you are correct that the charge wire only carries the charging current, 8 or 10 gauge wire is most definitely NOT big enough especially when it is coarse strand wire. the primary alternator on my mill, i believe is 140 amp when the battery gets drained, or there is alot of draw, the alternator is generating at max capacity because the battery cant keep up. this is noticed by watching the speed of the electric feed motors. for example, start the saw head moving slowly, then run the log lift hydraulics. on my mill there is a slight but noticeable reduction in the speed of the mill head. this indicates a voltage drop. therefore the battery and alternator cant keep up. the second alternator on the mill is probably a 60 amp. though the size of the case will not allow it to be rewound to 160 or more amps, it is fully possible that it is up to 90 amp. the longer the wire from the alternator to the battery, the larger the wire needs to be, on my mill, the alternator charge wire is over 11' that is a very long charge wire. i am no stranger to high output or high performance alternators, on the race cars i work on the alternators are 130 to 160 amp. the charge wires are #4 welding cable (fine strand). take a look at any car or truck, how big is the charge wire? almost always #6, but alot of times larger. if #10 was sufficient, why do alternators have 1/4" studs for the charge wire?