The beast is a pig!

[kiotiken]

So far, I only have about 38 hrs on my DK45, but I'm really starting to notice the HUGE difference in fuel consumption from my CK30. I finally got around to building the fire pit I've been planning to do all summer, and got to use the tractor for a longer run of time then I normally get. I started with about 3/4 of a tank, and about 3 hrs later, I looked down to see I was breathing fumes. It seemed that my CK30 only needed fuel every 8 hours or so, and the tank was a lot smaller than the one on my DK45.

I will say that this tractor is a brute. The FEL is VERY strong and it seems to have unstoppable traction. I have no complaints so far. Here's a couple pics of the fire pit. I still have to go collect another rock and roll the back fill around the rocks. It's hard to tell, but it's about 12" deep and probably 10-12 feet in diameter.

 

[ritcheyvs]

My DK45S sips fuel except when I'm delivering power to the PTO, like mowing. Loader work seems to use minimal fuel. However, my gas gauge isn't very linear: 5 gallons takes it from empty to 3/4 full (tank is 15 gal). I think there is still about 5 gallons in my tank when it reads empty. I suspect your apparent fuel consumption is more an issue of the gauge than actual fuel consumption. Recommend you start noting what the gauge does when you add known amounts of fuel. Of course, your hydrostatic transmission (I assume) will be less efficient.

 

[Baby Grand]

Keep track of how much fuel you put in over the next 5 fill-up. Subtract the starting hours from the ending hours and then see what your fuel consumption looks like - it's really the only accurate way that I know of.

ritcheyvs make a good point about linearity of the guage. Often the guage just measures fluid height in the tank. If the tank is an odd shape, then the readings will look wonky until you average it out over several tanks.

 

[kiotiken]

I agree, I don't think the gauge is linear at all, the last 1/4 seemed to simply evaporate, one second it was there, the next my heart missed a beat because I was about to run it dry. One thing I find hard on fuel is road travel, and I did a good 45 minutes of that fetching rocks with it almost wide open in high. It was also a hot day and the A/C was on for almost all of it. I'm sure HST is harder on fuel than gear, but my CK30 was HST as well, and that's really what I have as a comparison.

 

[phiferpharm]

+1 on the gauge. The last three times I added a 5 gallon tank, it took it from empty to dang near full on the gauge. I just came off the field after adding a tank and was gonna ask here if anybody else noticed the gauge must have been a meterologist in it's first life - sorta close counts..

 

[nybirdman]

I have a similar tractor,L4240 Kubota @44HP,at 550hours on the clock.At PTO speeds it burns 1.25 gal./hr.Your Kioti should be similar.

 

[ritcheyvs]

Diesel fuel consumption is almost directly proportional to the horsepower the engine is producing. They'll idle forever on almost nothing. Of course if you are running AC, that's several HP even if nothing else is using power. So gal/hr needs to be qualified by engine load.

 

[Jesse masterson]

My dk45 is great on fuel, could be because I have a clutch.

 

[tpulley]

Ditto on the great fuel consumption and clutch. Whether mowing, or tilling or grappling it does grreat. I can easily go most all day if not longer on a tank. I give out before it does.

 

[ON84]

Like the others, our DK45S uses very little fuel, but when the fuel gauge indicates empty, we still have 5 gallons in the tank.

 

[jpm1]

I do not have a DK45 but when my DK35SE Hst was new and low on hours i thought the same thing. Lots of power but very hard on fuel. I'm at 172 hours now and its very easy on fuel, even when using the PTO on the rfm. I guess i can run about 12 engine hours if memory serves me correctly mowing now. personally i would say, give it a while and things will change, and you'll like the results . . . .John

 

[IndyIan]

I've been trying to figure out a good way of tracking fuel usage but its a pain to try to fill right to the brim consistently, plus the hour meter doesn't have tenths... So the only easy way is just to record how much fuel I put in at what hour, which would give a decent average consumption over say 100 hours.
I did some light brush hogging though and it didn't drain the tank as fast as I thought it might. A rough guess would be 5 gallons in the 4 hours. Loader work seems to be somewhere a bit under a gallon an hour. I also suspect the HST is most efficient at a middle pedal setting instead of at full pedal just from how the idle is affected by using the HST in neutral, but I don't seem to spend alot of time traveling at full speed.

 

[dirtdevil911]

We got 16 hours out of our first tank of fuel in our new DK45SE Cab. There was 2 hours on it when it showed up on the farm.

Cheers Don.

 

[murphy1244]

I get about 20 hours a tank.

 

[kiotiken]

We got 16 hours out of our first tank of fuel in our new DK45SE Cab. There was 2 hours on it when it showed up on the farm.

Cheers Don.

I get about 20 hours a tank.

Wow, I'm going to have to track it, but I don't get anywhere near that. With less than 40 hours, I'd still be on my second tank if I got the mileage that murphy gets!

 

[IndyIan]

Wow, I'm going to have to track it, but I don't get anywhere near that. With less than 40 hours, I'd still be on my second tank if I got the mileage that murphy gets!

+1 The tank is only 12 gallons, but I guess if your doing backhoe work at 1800rpm and then let the tractor idle for extended periods warming it up or cooling it down, or leave it idling while you are cutting brush and then using the loader to move the brush, I could see how a full tank lasts 20hrs. I suspect Ken, like me, you only fill up a 5 gallons at a time and don't top it right up everytime, so the gauge goes from below 1/4 to over 3/4? So it looks like its gulping alot, but also roading the tractor at full speed and at PTO rpms does really use alot of fuel with an HST.
Anyways, price out hiring a guy to do your tractor work for you and wether its $5 or $7 per hour for fuel, its still pretty cheap entertainment!

 

[kiotiken]

You are right, I add a 20 litres (5 gallons) at a time and it goes to a little more than 3/4 and then down to 1/4 before I fill again. This time I saw the 1/4 mark and kept going a little longer only to look down at it was breathing fumes. I didn't know it was a 12 gallon tank, but I'd be surprised if I was that far from full. I was never able to get a full 20 litres in my CK without it overflowing.

 

[Stick895]

Pah! Your other tractor probably got same mileage (hourage?) you just didn't know it because you were never able to run it long enough! Enjoy! Fuel is just a cost of doing business! I mean this in the nicest way possible!

 

[dennis52]

4 litres (1 gallon) an hour using a gear transmission and the pto at 2200 revs slashing horse pastures . My 17 hp kubota uses one third of that but takes 3 times as long to do the same job.

 

[kiotiken]

Well, I haven't needed the tractor again until today, so I just went out and filled it up. I was able to get 35 liters in it and the hour meter shows 39hrs. As IndyIan said, I only ever put in 20 liters (5 gallons) in at a time and since it would go above the 3/4 line, I figured it was almost full. I'm very surprised I was able to get almost twice that in.