What does your Tractor cost you per hour of operation.

[jeff9366]

Would be great work for all those people causing trouble in the penitentiary's. Just be careful of the guy in the orange jumpsuit suit with the chainsaw! Suppose that what the 12 ga. is for.

Did you see the movie COOL HAND LUKE? You should.

 

[Deere Dude]

Would be great work for all those people causing trouble in the penitentiary's. Just be careful of the guy in the orange jumpsuit suit with the chainsaw! Suppose that what the 12 ga. is for.

The county jail in our town has inmates operate chainsaws cleaning up trees and brush. They also have a 1 acre lot where they split wood all day long and stack it on pallets. I don't know if they sell ot or give it away to needy people.

 

[arrow]

I always figured that firewood was one of the worst paying jobs out there. Driving a cab or delivering Pizza would probably be more profitable, easier and maybe even safer. The tips in delivering firewood aren't good either. People complain that you cheated them or want you to stack it for free!

Exactly. My boss had a hair trigger temper. One of the worst aspects in my entire career as a logger for him was when he asked me to go with him for firewood delivery. First off, he hated when the mills closed for over run as it was then we went into "firewood mode" but he still had to pay the guys. He complained bitterly about the costs involved and making "dirt" on firewood so we started for the customer's house with him already angry. A seasoned cord went for $75 delivered back then. I cannot tell you the amount of times I had to step between him and the customer if the customer gave the slightest insinuation of not having a full cord and if this guy hit you, it was like being hit with a sledge hammer so I think I may have saved some lives.

I worked for this guy for 22 years before he died of a heart attack at 54 years of age. Finishing up the next 8 years working for his son was like a giant cloud lifting.

 

[ovrszd]

Did you see the movie COOL HAND LUKE? You should.

"What we have here is a Failure to communicate. That's the way he wants it. So that's the way he gets it"

 

[jeff9366]

The Kubota L3560 is a 3 cylinder while the L4060 is a 4 cylinder. We wonder if we would increase fuel usage appreciably on the 4060 due to the added cylinder even though its only 5 HP more in size...? Is a 4 cylinder going to have a noticeable impact on torque and the other behaviors of the system... (Backhoe, Grapple, Bucket) considering everything else is going to be the same...


A four cylinder engine will have 25% more parts than a three cylinder engine. Any one of an engine' s parts can fail.

Considering the cost of your deluxe tractor and its low operating hours it is hard to comprehend how a minimal increase in fuel consumption, which I speculate might change from .6 gallon per hour to .7 gallon per hour, will influence your tractor operating budget significantly. Difference should be minimal as your contemplated change is from one naturally aspirated engine to another naturally aspirated engine. Going to a turbo-charged engine could increase fuel consumption to .8 gallon per hour, but with more power output and possibly more efficient mower operation.

( From my own L3560 records I consider my open station tractor operating cost to be $35/hour, but I have a big stable of implements which contribute perhaps $10/hour to tractor operating cost. I fuel and grease my tractor. Kubota dealer provides all other service. With a cab and air conditioning but minimal implements I speculate your inclusive long term operating/depreciation cost is $30/hour.)

Running a 72" finish mower behind a cabbed tractor powering cab air conditioning I would order 45-horsepower minimum. If I contemplated mowing brush with a 72" bush hog I would order 50-horsepower minimum.

 

[5030]

On the OP's question about cost per hour, never even considered it. It's more than free but less than running in the red and both mine are for the farm business, not monkey business.

 

[sandman2234]

I worked up a similar spreadsheet to be able to accurately describe the cost of driving our cars & trucks, for a variety of reasons.
While most of the values are guesses, I've tried to be close by checking records or figuring out how much things cost today. Specific things on the list are similar to your list:

• Fuel costs (mpg)
• Oil change cost (varies some by vehicle; my truck takes 14 quarts)
• Tires (cost for new set vs miles)
• Estimated repairs over the next 10,000mi (based on guesses as to what it may need for the age of the vehicle, etc)
• Estimated depreciation for 10,000mi (not time - I'll have the car during that time regardless so the only issue is how much does putting mileage on the vehicle cost)
• Other required gear cost (motorcycle gloves wear out pretty predictably, and helmets need to be replaced more due to use than time, though time has some effect as well)

It's definitely a useful exercise, even if it's only ballpark. I first did this when a beancounter at an old job balked at giving me the IRS rate for mileage reimbursement, instead trying to arbitrarily choose a value based on what he thought operating a car cost. The depreciation really drives up the cost in many cases.

For what it's worth, when diesel was substantially cheaper out here (California has high fuel costs, and quite often diesel is more expensive than super), my truck with ~14mpg was cheaper to drive by my estimates than our 30mpg compact (its low mpg being partially offset by cheaper fuel, but primarily the lower cost was because the truck is 20 years old and has higher miles already and isn't going to depreciate much!).

Having this sort of information is useful when it's time to do things like rent a truck to move someone (showing that a rental may actually be cheaper than driving), decide if it's cheaper to fly or drive (around here, it's typically a wash for me to fly vs drive for one person - and if you're only flying 400 miles, it's probably not much different time-wise either factoring in parking (costs $ too) time and sitting around waiting for a plane and pickup).

I can see doing this for a tractor being good in that it's good to know that "every hour I'm using isn't free, make it worth it".
Don't forget the cost of tires - figure new cost, divided by life span; it's probably a decent chunk of a dollar per hour.

First correction I would make would be to change from mpg to GPH (gallons per hour).
Tractors typically run in a small area with a lot of idling while doing firewood, so measuring the miles per gallon probably not a true measure of costs.
David from jax

 

[LD1]

I know this is an old thread with a recent revival....but, too many variables to put an exact dollar amount on it....but $20/hr is probably pretty close for 35-50HP tractors.

All the "preventative" maintenance stuff is easy to figure. Because they are at a specific hourly interval.
Like for my machine, a HST filter is $80 and needs replaced every 200hrs. so thats 40 cents per hour
The other hydraulic filter is $55 and specs 400hrs change...thats 14 cents per hour
etc etc.

If I add up all the filters and fluids and factor their change interval....it only comes to about $1.50/hr

Tires....small fronts only last ~1000hrs. Larger rears only last ~2000hrs. Factor their cost....bout a buck an hour total

So we are at $2.50hr

Fuel is easy to figure. The OP's $4/hr is probably close for his machine.

Now the things that cannot be easily figured is depreciation. Even more so today cause of crazy prices. I bought my 2012 MX5100hst in 2016 or 2017 for $20k with 300hrs. It now has a tick over 1000hrs (about 200hrs per year). And honestly I could probably sell it for more than I paid.

Another thing hard to figure is if you are running business insurance. Its a fixed yearly cost.....for me its $600. So if I put 600hours a year on my machine its only $1/hour. If I only put 100hrs a year on its $6/hr.

I have a spreadsheet figured for MY machine including my bushhog which is 90% of my business mowing ~400-500 acres a year. Factoring all of the above.....I arrive at $20/hr for machine and mower.

I do the same thing with my truck and trailer, factoring in insurance, truck and trailer maintenance and tires. And then base those costs on tractor hours. I arrive at $20 per tractor hour to feed the truck and trailer maintenance/fuel/insurance.

So for my mowing business.....Im at $40/hr. Which is why my target price is $80-$100/hr if you want me to show up and mow something.

I also cut/sell about 20-25 cord of wood per year. Never really look at it as a business to be profitable because its only ~$4k a year worth. And I dont have an endless supply of wood. And the wood needs cut anyway to rid the woods of dead ash that like to block trails, and clearing fence lines for farmers, etc. So the "firewood" is a waste by-product but yet has value that make it "worth" cutting. I have approximatly 2-3hrs per cord of wood processed. About 1 hour on the tractor and saws and 1-1.5 running the splitter. Then 15-30 min for load and delivery of a cord. Around here a full cord is ~$180

 

[oosik]

The last thing I've ever considered - cost to operate. For me - it's a simple fact of living out here. Without my tractor and implements - many projects would go by the wayside. I'd have to find some way to complete the others.

On the positive side - my Tier 3 Kubota M6040 is retaining its value nicely.

 

[5030]

I hardly ever idle either of my tractors. The exception is mid summer when I keep the ac on in the cab. I like it cool so I don't sweat and stink at the end of a farming day. Don't track fuel usage or maintenance costs anyway but I will say that my M's seem to be pretty frugal when it comes to fuel. Usually only fill them up (30 gallons each), every other day when farming.