Oil & Fuel Est Fuel Consumption Gallons Per Hour

meledward23 · Sep 1, 2005

Before prices shot up yesterday I was thinking about this and now I really am thinking about this.

I have never bothered to calculate what my tractor uses per hour when running at 540 RPM's (Brushhoggin, Finishmowing). I was curious if anyone has figured what their machine gets. Obviously unless you have the same tractor as I, then yours will not be completely avccurate but at least a base point for me.

I will figure it out in a few weeks as I have 26 acres to brush hog under a contract that I am looking at accepting.

I have no idea wehter it is 1 gallon/h 5 g/h or 10 g/h. Okay I know it isn't as high as 10 g/h becuase I definetly have not been filing the tractor that often.

I appreciate all comments that are constructive and somewhat to the point.

dmccarty · Sep 1, 2005

From what I can tell I burn about 1 gallon per hour when mowing. Otherwise its about 1/2 gallon per hour. I have a JD 4700 41.5 PTO HP with a MX6 rotary cutter. Its a 6 foot cutter.

Later,
Dan

Gatorboy · Sep 1, 2005

My tractor burns about 3 gallons/hour.

dicker · Sep 1, 2005

I have a JD4310 and at PTO speed of 540, I use 3 litres per hour.

Richard

crashz · Sep 1, 2005

This is rough calculations because I've only put 7 hrs on my machine, but in 7 hrs I've used a third of a tank, which is roughly 1.5 gallons. This is mowing an loader work mostly. That equates to a very miserly 0.21 gallons per hour.

I'll have to run it more to get an accurate fuel usage, but I think it'll be around a 3rd of a gallon or less.

hbaird · Sep 1, 2005

There is no way to know for sure, but for each horsepower hour you will use about 0.350 pounds of diesel. A Gasoline engine can burn about 0.5 pounds of gasoline per Horsepower hour. These are very rough estimates and I am sure others will have other constants.
Harold

bczoom · Sep 1, 2005

( There is no way to know for sure, but for each horsepower hour you will use about 0.350 pounds of diesel. )

I like the algorythm. For "horsepower hour", is that measured at PTO RPM's? For non-PTO diesel engines, any idea what a correct tach reading would be? 2/3 or so?

hbaird · Sep 1, 2005

Horsepower is a unit for work done over time. If you lift 33,000 pounds one foot in one minute you have generated one Horsepower. It would take two Horsepower to lift 33,000 pounds one foot in 30 seconds. Or it would take 2 Horsepower to lift 33,000 pounds 2 feet in one minute. Or 4 Horsepower to lift 33,000 pounds 2 feet in 30 seconds.
Harold

BadDog · Sep 1, 2005

I average 10-15 hours of tractor use per tank of fuel. My tank holds 13 gallons so this works out to a range of 0.9-1.3 gallon per hour depending on use. Aside from having more HP, the turbo engine I have is a bit more fuel efficient than the non-turbo version.

When I bought this tractor, I also installed a 300 gallon diesel tank with 120V pump (from Northern Tool). I buy my fuel in bulk and only buy 'off-road' red diesel. I recently (2 weeks ago) filled my tank for $2.34/gallon. Price at the pump is around $3.00/gallon around here now.

I also run my Chevy 2500 4x4 'farm truck' on the red diesel.

My neighbors pay cash to fill their tractors at my pump.

I figure I've paid for both the tank and pump several times already with the fuel savings. I also write off the fuel cost against the business income.

Wish I could've convinced the wife to wait for the diesel Renegade.... she bought the gas version and is now crying about the cost of commuting to work. The car comes off lease soon... I wish I could find a good, fast, diesel-powered luxo-convertible to replace the Viggen with.

Anybody want a brand new Wheelhorse Classic GT? I'd be happy to trade it in on a little diesel subcompact for the wife.

Osconda · Sep 1, 2005

I've only bushog'd about 4 of the 84 hrs. on my 55DA. I'm generally working in the 1200-2000 rpm range and have gone through approx. 75 gallons of fuel. Mainly done loader, grapple, and boxblade work. So that's putting me and BadDog in the same ballpark, guess you'd find yourself there too. Be sure you lean forward abit when bushogging to improve your areodynamics. No telling how much this could save you. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

jinman · Sep 1, 2005

( I will figure it out in a few weeks as I have 26 acres to brush hog under a contract that I am looking at accepting. )

The only safe way to bid on a contract like that is a flat rate plus fuel. That way when fuel prices change, you'll be covered and the customer will also have a fair price. Just calculate the amount of fuel you use at the time you do the job and everyone should be happy.

RalphVa · Sep 2, 2005

Here's a web site for calculating your fuel use: http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/farmmgt/05006.pdf

From it, mine comes out about 0.8 gallons/hour for both my 18.5 hp JD and 12 hp Gravely. The Gravely runs fairly close to this, as it's a carbed engine and gas.

The JD 4010 usage over 84 hours has been a pretty consistent 0.5 gallon/hr. When I finish each 5 gallon container, I write the hours down in a little notebook that I keep. A diesel will use only as much as it needs. The web site gives fuel consumption for full power usage. On the JD, it doesn't seem to matter how hard I've used it, pretty consistent with 0.5 gallon/hr.

My neighbor's JD 820 with about double the hp uses 1 gallon/hr.

Ralph

Theowegian · Sep 4, 2005

Kubota L3130, 31 hp diesel, 300 hrs tach time (engine is past breakin period):

approx 1-1/4 gallons/ hr - near full throttle.

dwight

LBrown59 · Sep 25, 2005

I also run my Chevy 2500 4x4 'farm truck' on the red diesel.
My neighbors pay cash to fill their tractors at my pump. 
 ************ 
Just don't get caught on the road with it. I hear the fines are really stiff if you get caught
More people should be doing this.

odleefs · Sep 25, 2005

Not that this will help you, but this kubota website has fuel consumption curves for several Kubota offerings. Just click on any of the activated intermittent rating columns to see a Torque/HP/Fuel Consumption Curve for any given engine RPM.
I know that Kioti also states in their literature/website that their engines usage is <230 g/HP*h for some of their older engines and <210 g/HP*h for many of their engines.
Steve

Coolhand56 · Apr 27, 2015

On My TC55DA running 540 PTO turning a generator I get about 1.1 gph. Bushogging depends on the cover density, but closer to 2 gph depending.... Loader work, moving hay rolls etc more like .5 gph.

EHSS 4WD with the R4 tires and 18LA loader.

tessiers · Apr 27, 2015

It is a complicated chart to figure, rpm's will effect it, but load will effect it more. I can ted hay all day long with my massey 135 at 1 gph, hook the mower conditioner on and she gulps all of 2 gph, both at 540 pto. If there is a Nebraska tractor test for your tractor I find them quite accurate, there should be.