Would it be possible to hook some form of dummy load (ie generator) to an engine on a test stand for tuning purposes?

 

Using a generator wouldn't put any load on the engine unless you could provide the generator with some kind of electrical load. A water column or something similar would probably be better.

 

To put 100hp worth of an eletrical load your going to need about a 72kw generator and a load with a .8 power factor (needed a load rated at 58Kva).
It's going to take a big generator.
If you shorted the generator together that would make about a .95 power factor and wouldn't take nearly as much hp to make 72kw.
The load would have to be transformers, moters, lights and not just a big resistor.
Easyest way to get a generator like that is to find a used 60 or 400Hz 3-phase generator.
It would take a 1 ton (about the size of a 55 gallon drum) 60Hz generator spining at about 2400 rpms (you could gear it down) or a smaller 150-170lb 400hz generator spining 6000 rpms.
That's how big they would have to be.
Like a little koler 7kw wouldn't do any thing as far as a load.

 

I was thinking of one of the big ones. It would certainly be cheaper than buying a dyno.

 

Essentially you're building your own dyno. Do a search on the net, lots of people have built their own engine dynos, some big, some small.

 

After some searching, I found alot of motorcycle, ATV, R/C car, and a few inertia automotive dynos. Nothing appicable or inexpensive. All I am looking for is a load, I don't need to data log or even get power outputs.

 

have any reasonably big bodies of water around?

it takes a good amount of energy to push water around.... you can try running a prop or impeller or somthing like that....

 

I heard of someone making one with a retarder from an allison automatic transmission, needed lots of cooling. There's not a lot of things that you could dump a few hundred horsepower into in a controlled manner. A big pump, a big tank of water and a way to keep the water cool would be the best bet.

 

Let the water warm up even, if you have enough water it's going to take a really long time for it to heat up to any appreciable degree.

 

Thanks, I do have a swimming pool available...

 

Rig up a few disc brakes, and get some Autozone lifetime rotors and brake pads!

 

lol and watercool them....

 

I don't feel like being the sole reason autozone removes its lifetime warranties.

I was thinking of a rather large pump to pull water out of the pool and replace it. It would take a long long time to heat that much water up.

 

Doesn't everyone want a heated pool, anyway?