Oil & Fuel Gallons per hour

[grizer]

What would be the gph of a DK65, light work?

 

[dex3361]

What would be the gph of a DK65, light work?

For a well tuned diesel engine of a wide range of HP the following is pretty accurate.
A good rule of thumb to get you in the ball park is 0.07 to 0.08 gallon per hour per HP produced.
That is with the machine operating in the 25% - 100% HP range. Some will do a little better and some a little worse.

 

[grizer]

Thanks. grizer

 

[steve0413]

For a well tuned diesel engine of a wide range of HP the following is pretty accurate.
A good rule of thumb to get you in the ball park is 0.07 to 0.08 gallon per hour per HP produced.
That is with the machine operating in the 25% - 100% HP range. Some will do a little better and some a little worse.

If my calculations are correct, then my DK45 would use about 3 gallons per hour. Though I haven't really checked it, I can say I get much better gph than that. I've always thought mine was in the 1-1.5 gallons per hour range. Maybe I should check it closer.

 

[IslandTractor]

If my calculations are correct, then my DK45 would use about 3 gallons per hour. Though I haven't really checked it, I can say I get much better gph than that. I've always thought mine was in the 1-1.5 gallons per hour range. Maybe I should check it closer.

Three gallons per hour for a DK65 seems very high even if you are running at PTO speed under load. My DK40se gets something close to a gallon and hour working hard.

 

[johnrex62]

I am pretty sure my usage is just a tad over 1 gallon per hour when brush hogging. Formula says it should be closer to 3 for gross hp and 2.5 for PTO hp.

Formula may not be well suited to these modern compact tractors.

 

[dynasim]

His rule was gph/hp **produced**. Most people don't load their tractors to anywhere near full capacity.

50% of rated capacity sounds like a good number for most operations, and that would make the calculation consistent with use.

Just running at full speed with no external load consumes ~5 hp, and its associated fuel, on my tractor, and my usage doesn't increase much no matter what I do(I don't do tilling).

Chris

 

[dex3361]

If my calculations are correct, then my DK45 would use about 3 gallons per hour. Though I haven't really checked it, I can say I get much better gph than that. I've always thought mine was in the 1-1.5 gallons per hour range. Maybe I should check it closer.

The amount used depends on the HP required. Most people only use maximum HP in short spurts. I have a 44HP Kubota and I get between
0.75GPH(best) - 1.5GPH(worst). If I loaded it as full as I could get it and held it steady at that load I would use about 3GPH. I ran into this rule of thumb while sizing large generators some over 1 megawatt. The rule still applies. Just gets you in the ball park. I tested my little 6.5 KW diesel generator with a known load so I knew the KWs and it fell in the 0.075GPH per KW.
1 HP = 746 watts

 

[steve0413]

His rule was gph/hp **produced**. Most people don't load their tractors to anywhere near full capacity.

50% of rated capacity sounds like a good number for most operations, and that would make the calculation consistent with use.

Just running at full speed with no external load consumes ~5 hp, and its associated fuel, on my tractor, and my usage doesn't increase much no matter what I do(I don't do tilling).

Chris

I thought his calculations were in the 25% - 100% range. I would think I'm in the 25%+ range for most of my work. If not, I bought too big of a tractor.

 

[dex3361]

I thought his calculations were in the 25% - 100% range. I would think I'm in the 25%+ range for most of my work. If not, I bought too big of a tractor.

The rule of thumb calculations are more accurate in the range of 25%- 100%.
I thought this was useful for planning. Remember it is a ballpark number.

 

[grsthegreat]

my DK45HST with 100 hours on it used 6.1 gal of diesel for 2 hours work at 2,500 rpm pushing a plow.

this is the only time ive actually checked it and verified it.

 

[kco]

These charts from an old thread may be useful.

Here is the link:

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/2521649-post29.html

 

[johnecash]

Hi,

Might want to check

TractorData.com - Farm tractors

If they have yours listed with test results.
(it will tell you the results of the neb.test for fuel use.)

I've taken a pass on what seemed to be a good deal on a few tractors due to the fuel consumption. When it takes 4-6 gal. per hour to run them,it puts the cost to high for me to justify having them.

Guess that I'll hang with my old JD (less than 2 GPH.)

-J.C.-

 

[IslandTractor]

Hi,

Might want to check

TractorData.com - Farm tractors

If they have yours listed with test results.
(it will tell you the results of the neb.test for fuel use.)

I've taken a pass on what seemed to be a good deal on a few tractors due to the fuel consumption. When it takes 4-6 gal. per hour to run them,it puts the cost to high for me to justify having them.

Guess that I'll hang with my old JD (less than 2 GPH.)

-J.C.-

I would be careful accepting estimates like 4-6 gph operating a tractor less than 60-100hp. Virtually all diesel engines consume the same amount of fuel per horsepower of work. The variation may be 10% but not 200-400%. Almost every modern diesel will be at least as efficient as an older engine too.

 

[rd_macgregor]

These charts from an old thread may be useful.

Here is the link:

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/2521649-post29.html

If I read the charts right, the DK45 operating at normal PTO speed should use about 2.5 gallons per hour, which is in the neighborhood of what I estimate is my fuel consumption rate. I think there'd have to be a leak somewhere to use 6 gph with a DK45.
BOB

 

[johnecash]

I would be careful accepting estimates like 4-6 gph operating a tractor less than 60-100hp. Virtually all diesel engines consume the same amount of fuel per horsepower of work. The variation may be 10% but not 200-400%. Almost every modern diesel will be at least as efficient as an older engine too.

I didn't explain that well. ---

Should of said that when looking at a larger tractor, the difference in fuel consumption keeps me happy with the 48hp that I have now.

-J.C.-

 

[IslandTractor]

I didn't explain that well. ---

Should of said that when looking at a larger tractor, the difference in fuel consumption keeps me happy with the 48hp that I have now.

-J.C.-

that makes more sense.