Operating hours

[jonyyuma]

Okay, based on the appearance of my rig when I bought it , 750 hours = at least 75,ooo miles of gravelroad travel ?'Paint condition, and dents to sheetmetal.??Jy.

 

[JDgreen227]

I have a Nissan Truck and 2 Ford Trucks with hour meters along with odometers. All three have been right at 35 mph average so if you multiply that by the 900 hours your tractor has that's about the equivalent to having about 31,500 miles.

So for maintenance I would say every 100 hours would be about like doing 3,000 mile oil changes in your car.

By the way I change my oil and filter every 50 hours also. Fuel, air, and hydro filters every 250. Easy to remember.

Hope that helps.

Chris

Very very helpful thanks much.

 

[TripleR]

To further complicate matters, as BigBull338 points out, some hour meters are hour for hour while some vary depending on RPM.

I honestly don't think it can be done; too many variables.

 

[HiTechTed]

Well, suppose the service life of a well maintained car is 250,000 miles and that of a well maintained tractor is 5000 hours...would that make sense? If so, that equates to one operating hour on the tractor to being 50 miles of use.

With all due respect it doesn't make sense, because you are comparing a tractor to a car and they are 2 different things used for different reasons. Same goes for a semi and a car, or an excavator and a lawn mower.

If there were a magic number used to make this calculation, I can assure you that more than one person on this forum would have it memorized and would have presented it by now. Wear and tear from road use and wear and tear from "tractor" use are 2 very different things all together. Saying that x number of hours on your tractor = x number of miles traveled in a vehicle gives you a number that means nothing.

And how does Diamondpilot's 35mph average multiplied by YOUR 900 hours give you anything accurate? What if my average is 43mph, and bigbull's average is 28mph? There are too many variables and the comparison is meaningless from the getgo...

 

[smstonypoint]

<snip>

Saying that x number of hours on your tractor = x number of miles traveled in a vehicle gives you a number that means nothing.

<snip>

There are too many variables and the comparison is meaningless from the getgo...

Ted,

You are making a logical argument, and thus taking all of the fun out of the discussion.

Steve

 

[BethesdaEC]

I think that if you are trying to explain tractor hours to a lay person, I would probably say every thousand hours would correspond to about 20,000 miles. 5000 hours would be same as 100,000 miles, you can get more hours out of it certainly but there is the possibility of some big repair bills. At 10,000 hours or 200,000 miles a major problem would probably mean the car/tractor is not worth repairing.

While there is certainly a lot variance, the same can be said about cars. There is a big difference between 100,000 mile on the highway verse the start and stop city driving.

Again this really more about expressing hours as they relate to a common yard stick everyone understands.

 

[NH-Rob]

I have a Nissan Truck and 2 Ford Trucks with hour meters along with odometers. All three have been right at 35 mph average so if you multiply that by the 900 hours your tractor has that's about the equivalent to having about 31,500 miles.

So for maintenance I would say every 100 hours would be about like doing 3,000 mile oil changes in your car.

By the way I change my oil and filter every 50 hours also. Fuel, air, and hydro filters every 250. Easy to remember.

Hope that helps.

Chris

Wow that would mean that the cat loader I run at work would have 1,050,000 miles on it! Not bad for three sets of tires Thats only 350,000 per set. 1 starter, 1 alternator, 2 water pumps & a engine coupler. What a great machine.
Rob

 

[MF 1532]

I remember studying this in high school ag mechanics class (30 years ago ). It seems like most equipment running at pto rpm for one hour = one hour on the hourmeter . If running at half rpm = half hour . One of my trucks show 45,964 miles /1330 hours , = 34.56 miles per hour and some idling . Wish I kept that 30 year old notebook , with all those formula's teacher taught us . At the time they weren't near as important as what the girls were doing ...

 

[Diamondpilot]

I remember studying this in high school ag mechanics class (30 years ago ). It seems like most equipment running at pto rpm for one hour = one hour on the hourmeter . If running at half rpm = half hour . One of my trucks show 45,964 miles /1330 hours , = 34.56 miles per hour and some idling . Wish I kept that 30 year old notebook , with all those formula's teacher taught us . At the time they weren't near as important as what the girls were doing ...

This validates my 3 trucks all right at 35 mph for the life since that is what you have give or take a little on your truck. Thanks

Chris

 

[manganos]

I had a similar question I asked here as well...

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/owning-operating/17367-covert-tractor-hours-miles.html