cost per hr

[hernando]

anyone ever figure a cost per hr for running your tractor,,,,wear and tear,,insurance ,,,fuel ....all that goes with it..i do custom tractor work and i am trying to come up with a easy way to figure this any ideas ??? thanks for the help....bruce

 

[AndyMA]

The low hour hobby users that make up quite a % of the users of this site will have very different numbers fromt he heavy duty commerical users.

For a commercial user you need to calculate the depreciation per hour of use (cost with equipment/estimated number of hours life) + actual fuel, insurance, routine maintaince costs & an allowance for major repairs which when I use equipment heavily usually equals about $500-1500/year over the long haul.

To this you must add transportation costs and all other misc costs.

Andy

 

[nosliw]

$80/hr. i usually mow is all. people are happy with the price and so am i.

neighbors - no charge.

 

[AndyMA]

$80/hr. i usually mow is all. people are happy with the price and so am i.

neighbors - no charge.

The original poster was asking what it costs to run a tractor, not what people charge. He wants to run it commercially.

Andy

 

[LarryRB]

There are a lot of variables and some set costs,,. For set cost, take the cost of the machine plus yearly insurance,, if financed, for instance, a new 161 at 70K plus 500 a year insurance until paid off,, A 6 year note, means 73K financed divided by 6000 hrs, = 12.50 per hour... Here's the cost of the machine sitting and not working.. Add to it 9.00 per hour fuel, same for oil and grease.. Liability insurance, yearly cost divided by 400 hrs avg yearly use.. Cost of trailer , it's insurance, tags, etc,,, To pay the operator 10 per hour, one must charge 37 per hour to meet SS/fed tax, state tax, unemployment and work comp insurance. If done, accurately, a new 161 will cost in the high 80's per hour just to own... So, 120- 130 per hour is what I would charge.

 

[john_bud]

Larry - sounds very logical and even reasonable. Your insurance charges seem modest for the east coast.

I would have thought that 3 gal / hour was light for that machine (?).




For most of us hobby type users my guess is; the operational costs are probably = 4x the fuel cost. That's 1x for fuel, 1x for oil, grease, filters, 1x socked away to cover major repairs, 1x for insurance ,depreciation and misc. That's maybe high, maybe low but it seems to be a fair starting place.

You'd have to add in costs for truck & trailer to move it. Many customers understand a delivery charge of $50-100 - so that expense can get covered there.

What tractor do you have, what services do you provide and how much is your typical charge? I'm just nosy - PM is you don't want to share in public.

jb

 

[LarryRB]

for my L 48 the insurance is one dollar for every thousand of value. It has dropped to 38K so the inland marine is 380. My figures are very accurate for me, as I spent 18 years as an owner operator monitoring cost per mile,. The 48 has over 600 hours on it and has been flawless to say the least, I burn twice the fuel running my hog mower as I do using hoe or loader,

 

[john_bud]

380 sounds reasonable. What does it cover?
I know what you mean about tracking costs. Owner operators track it like they were paying for it --- oh yeah --- they are! The few that I know are more detail picky than most accountants.

(oops, sorry to hijack the thread...)

jb

 

[diyDave]

I contract for a living, I won't go a half mile down the road for less than $65/hr for a wheel tractor with a 5' bushhog. More $ if ground engaging implements are involved. ASV RC30 rubbertrak loader starts at $75/hr + $ if ground engaging implements are involved (ie: Hyd post hole digger, Harley rake). If I want to lose money, I can stay right here at home and farm it away!

 

[ctpres]

As "hobby" user I just did calc. in head and figure about $10 an hour. I know thats a lot but I can still justify my bota.