Operating hours

[JDgreen227]

I was telling my college aged nephew yesterday that my Deere had 900 operating hours on it, and he didn't quite understand the concept because he has never owned anything except cars, which record usage as miles instead of hours. Most of the medium size diesel trucks I drove for a living had hour meters, but we still used mileage to figure service intervals.

Might be a stupid question, but I wonder how operating hours on a typical tractor would compare to mileage on a car. The problem is, a tractor isn't used for transportation and most of the time while operating it's moving a load, or running a mower, or a pto driven implement. A car running at 60 mph is using very little of the horsepower available, while a tractor spinning a 6 foot MMM at maximum revolutions is using much of the power it can develop. Ditto a tractor with a loader moving a half ton load in the bucket.

I said it might be a stupid question, but how many "miles" of use would you say are placed on a typical tractor during each operating hour, compared to a car or light truck transporting only a driver at 60 mph? The vehicle gets 60 miles of use per hour, while the working tractor gets how many miles, in your opinion?

One of the reasons I am wondering is because my NEPHEW asked me if there is any reasonable comparison, and he is a really bright kid. I told him I would investigate the idea. Thanks.

 

[RPW]

I have hear of a basic computation to get an equivalent milage but I think you could also equate it by what's the average gear range your in and multiply that by the hours to get an approximation of mileage.

 

[smstonypoint]

WOW. This may be a question for which there is no answer, but is nonetheless fun to debate.

I would try to back into an answer. Let's say the recommended oil change interval for a tractor is 200 hours and the recommended oil change interval for an over-the-road diesel is 6000 miles. (I'm just making up these numbers.) In this case, one hour of tractor use would "equate" to 30 road miles.*

Does this make any sense?

Steve

* Edit -- I realize that's mighty fast for a tractor. After rereading the OP, I answered a question that wasn't asked.

 

[blueriver]

Maybe near impossible to fiqure. An average speed while cutiing hay may be 5-6 MPH ... average speed with a bucket full of dirt may be 1-2 MPH ... average speed grinding feed would be 0 MPH.

I don't know .. interesting. I have 300 hrs on one that if the average is 4 MPH... 1200 miles ....I quess its a Low Milage One Owner (Driven to Church By an Old Lady)

 

[JDgreen227]

WOW. This may be a question for which there is no answer, but is nonetheless fun to debate.

I would try to back into an answer. Let's say the recommended oil change interval for a tractor is 200 hours and the recommended oil change interval for an over-the-road diesel is 6000 miles. (I'm just making up these numbers.) In this case, one hour of tractor use would "equate" to 30 road miles.*

Does this make any sense?

Steve

* Edit -- I realize that's mighty fast for a tractor. After rereading the OP, I answered a question that wasn't asked.

One of the reasons I posted the question was because I thought it would be fun to debate...and I told my nephew if the experts here couldn't give an answer, nobody could. And for what it is worth, the recommended oil change interval for my tractor is 200 hours, but it takes me over two years to reach that point, so I change it every 50-60 hours. Overkill maybe, but I never heard of an engine dying from too frequent oil andf filter changes.

 

[HiTechTed]

I don't think there is any "universal" way to compare the two. For every piece of equipment, I would think it would vary depending on what the manufacturer requires as far as maintenance for the particular machine. A diesel generator would have 0 miles on it regardless of the hours on the meter. You can compare 2 generators but comparing a generator against a tractor or against a car really doesn't make sense.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I have a Nissan Truck and 2 Ford Trucks with hour meters along with odometers. All three have been right at 35 mph average so if you multiply that by the 900 hours your tractor has that's about the equivalent to having about 31,500 miles.

So for maintenance I would say every 100 hours would be about like doing 3,000 mile oil changes in your car.

By the way I change my oil and filter every 50 hours also. Fuel, air, and hydro filters every 250. Easy to remember.

Hope that helps.

Chris

 

[JDgreen227]

I don't think there is any "universal" way to compare the two. For every piece of equipment, I would think it would vary depending on what the manufacturer requires as far as maintenance for the particular machine. A diesel generator would have 0 miles on it regardless of the hours on the meter. You can compare 2 generators but comparing a generator against a tractor or against a car really doesn't make sense.

Well, suppose the service life of a well maintained car is 250,000 miles and that of a well maintained tractor is 5000 hours...would that make sense? If so, that equates to one operating hour on the tractor to being 50 miles of use.

 

[smstonypoint]

Well, suppose the service life of a well maintained car is 250,000 miles and that of a well maintained tractor is 5000 hours...would that make sense?

Maybe. Would a better comparison be between the expected service life of a well-maintained over-the-road diesel semi-tractor and a farm tractor? I don't know.

Steve

 

[bigbull338]

a hour of engine time will not equal an hour of riding time.an hour of engine time is dictated by the speed you run your rpms.for example if you run at 2600 rpms youll put on more hours than you would at 1500rpms.sometimes i take my tractor out to check hay an look at the cows,an im gone 30mins more or less,an i put on 1/10th of an hr doing that.

 

[jonyyuma]

Okay, based on the appearance of my rig when I bought it , 750 hours = at least 75,ooo miles of gravelroad travel ?'Paint condition, and dents to sheetmetal.??Jy.

 

[JDgreen227]

I have a Nissan Truck and 2 Ford Trucks with hour meters along with odometers. All three have been right at 35 mph average so if you multiply that by the 900 hours your tractor has that's about the equivalent to having about 31,500 miles.

So for maintenance I would say every 100 hours would be about like doing 3,000 mile oil changes in your car.

By the way I change my oil and filter every 50 hours also. Fuel, air, and hydro filters every 250. Easy to remember.

Hope that helps.

Chris

Very very helpful thanks much.

 

[TripleR]

To further complicate matters, as BigBull338 points out, some hour meters are hour for hour while some vary depending on RPM.

I honestly don't think it can be done; too many variables.

 

[HiTechTed]

Well, suppose the service life of a well maintained car is 250,000 miles and that of a well maintained tractor is 5000 hours...would that make sense? If so, that equates to one operating hour on the tractor to being 50 miles of use.

With all due respect it doesn't make sense, because you are comparing a tractor to a car and they are 2 different things used for different reasons. Same goes for a semi and a car, or an excavator and a lawn mower.

If there were a magic number used to make this calculation, I can assure you that more than one person on this forum would have it memorized and would have presented it by now. Wear and tear from road use and wear and tear from "tractor" use are 2 very different things all together. Saying that x number of hours on your tractor = x number of miles traveled in a vehicle gives you a number that means nothing.

And how does Diamondpilot's 35mph average multiplied by YOUR 900 hours give you anything accurate? What if my average is 43mph, and bigbull's average is 28mph? There are too many variables and the comparison is meaningless from the getgo...

 

[smstonypoint]

<snip>

Saying that x number of hours on your tractor = x number of miles traveled in a vehicle gives you a number that means nothing.

<snip>

There are too many variables and the comparison is meaningless from the getgo...

Ted,

You are making a logical argument, and thus taking all of the fun out of the discussion.

Steve

 

[BethesdaEC]

I think that if you are trying to explain tractor hours to a lay person, I would probably say every thousand hours would correspond to about 20,000 miles. 5000 hours would be same as 100,000 miles, you can get more hours out of it certainly but there is the possibility of some big repair bills. At 10,000 hours or 200,000 miles a major problem would probably mean the car/tractor is not worth repairing.

While there is certainly a lot variance, the same can be said about cars. There is a big difference between 100,000 mile on the highway verse the start and stop city driving.

Again this really more about expressing hours as they relate to a common yard stick everyone understands.

 

[NH-Rob]

I have a Nissan Truck and 2 Ford Trucks with hour meters along with odometers. All three have been right at 35 mph average so if you multiply that by the 900 hours your tractor has that's about the equivalent to having about 31,500 miles.

So for maintenance I would say every 100 hours would be about like doing 3,000 mile oil changes in your car.

By the way I change my oil and filter every 50 hours also. Fuel, air, and hydro filters every 250. Easy to remember.

Hope that helps.

Chris

Wow that would mean that the cat loader I run at work would have 1,050,000 miles on it! Not bad for three sets of tires Thats only 350,000 per set. 1 starter, 1 alternator, 2 water pumps & a engine coupler. What a great machine.
Rob

 

[MF 1532]

I remember studying this in high school ag mechanics class (30 years ago ). It seems like most equipment running at pto rpm for one hour = one hour on the hourmeter . If running at half rpm = half hour . One of my trucks show 45,964 miles /1330 hours , = 34.56 miles per hour and some idling . Wish I kept that 30 year old notebook , with all those formula's teacher taught us . At the time they weren't near as important as what the girls were doing ...

 

[Diamondpilot]

I remember studying this in high school ag mechanics class (30 years ago ). It seems like most equipment running at pto rpm for one hour = one hour on the hourmeter . If running at half rpm = half hour . One of my trucks show 45,964 miles /1330 hours , = 34.56 miles per hour and some idling . Wish I kept that 30 year old notebook , with all those formula's teacher taught us . At the time they weren't near as important as what the girls were doing ...

This validates my 3 trucks all right at 35 mph for the life since that is what you have give or take a little on your truck. Thanks

Chris

 

[manganos]

I had a similar question I asked here as well...

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/owning-operating/17367-covert-tractor-hours-miles.html