Comparing hours to miles on a car

Adirondaquer · May 3, 2009

While trying to figure out my options of buying new or used, I am trying to gauge how the amount of hours on a used tractor could compare to the amount of miles on a used car.

For instance, if I was to buy a 2004 tractor with 900 hours on it, how would it compare to buying a used 2004 pickup truck? How many miles might you consider it to be?

That tractor is around 5 years old so 900/5= 180 hours per year.

120/52 weeks = 3.5 hours per week.

Similar to my truck I figure. So I am thinking maybe 60,000 miles.

Does this sound about right to you or am I over or under estimating this?

Bigger question here becomes, if I buy a used tractor at 900 hours am I at the sweet spot for repairs becoming necessary. Are all the fun hours used up?

Gizmo2 · May 3, 2009

I would ask, what size trator?

Gary Fowler · May 3, 2009

Unless you are talking about a garden tractor, 900 hours is not much more than a break in period in a quality built tractor. It seems to me that the larger the tractor, the more hours you can put on them without repairs, but that may be just my perception. Many of the 8n Fords are still going strong with minimal repairs, but I would not be afraid of 900 hours

GIJOE · May 3, 2009

I think everyones hours /mileage ratio in a vehicle would be different based on the type of commute and driving habits. Here is the info I got off of my 2000 Silverado: My odometer shows 133,011 miles and 4,309 hours so that would equate to 30.868 miles per hour. If you used that MPH on a tractor with 900 hours, you would have a tractor with only 27,781.2 miles, or a fairly new tractor.

Joe

Duffster · May 3, 2009

Adirondaquer said:
While trying to figure out my options of buying new or used, I am trying to gauge how the amount of hours on a used tractor could compare to the amount of miles on a used car.

For instance, if I was to buy a 2004 tractor with 900 hours on it, how would it compare to buying a used 2004 pickup truck? How many miles might you consider it to be?

That tractor is around 5 years old so 900/5= 180 hours per year.

120/52 weeks = 3.5 hours per week.

Similar to my truck I figure. So I am thinking maybe 60,000 miles.

Does this sound about right to you or am I over or under estimating this?

Bigger question here becomes, if I buy a used tractor at 900 hours am I at the sweet spot for repairs becoming necessary. Are all the fun hours used up?

You can figure ~30-40 miles/per hour, so your 900 hr tractor would have between 27k & 36k miles on it

Gary Fowler said:
Unless you are talking about a garden tractor, 900 hours is not much more than a break in period in a quality built tractor. It seems to me that the larger the tractor, the more hours you can put on them without repairs, but that may be just my perception. Many of the 8n Fords are still going strong with minimal repairs, but I would not be afraid of 900 hours

It is not just your perception

Bird · May 3, 2009

Too many variables to come up with a truly reliable number, but yes, I think you're over estimating it at 60,000 miles. I'd say to think of it as about 50 mph maximum, so 900 hours would be equivalent to 45,000 miles. And I really think even 45,000 is still too big a number. Maybe using 30 mph or 27,000 miles would be even closer.

But I'm not taking any bets.

And I see Duffster posted while I was thinking about it.

newbury · May 3, 2009

Also - consider how the tractor measures hours, apparently some don't measure it just as elapsed time the tractor is turned on, but depends on if it is under full power.
I've seen a couple of threads here talking about that.

Bird · May 3, 2009

newbury said:
Also - consider how the tractor measures hours, apparently some don't measure it just as elapsed time the tractor is turned on, but depends on if it is under full power.
I've seen a couple of threads here talking about that.

Yep, that's one of those variables I was talking about. Another is whether you know how the tractor was used; pulling heavy loads or plows, mowing, or other uses, and another is how it was maintained; what kind of oil, how often was it changed. Was the tractor parked outside in the weather or indoors?

CurlyDave · May 3, 2009

I have always thought about it as 50 mph, just like Bird.

Diesels are stronger and more reliable than gas engines, even in smaller sizes. I wouldn't have any questions about a 900 hour tractor.

If I could find one, I would be interested in a larger size construction backhoe with 2000-3000 hours on it. Still plenty of life in it for my use.

Farmwithjunk · May 3, 2009

Is that 900 hours on a 25hp compact used for light mowing or a 500hp 4wd used for pulling a chisel plow? Likewise, 60,000 miles on a V8 sedan logging mostly hwy miles or a 4cylinder used as a courier vehicle in a major inner city?

How do you compare?

Under NORMAL (whatever that is) use, 900 hours on a GOOD tractor is barely more than broke in. I've seen cars trashed in 50,000. Establishing exactly what "average use" is would be VERY subjective. But.... I'll take a shot at it.

IMHO, on average, roughly 5000 hours on a tractor is probably equivilent to 100,000 on a car. That's a mid-sized tractor and a mid-sized car, both used in a normal manner, by an average user.

As most have said, waaaaay too many variables to establish a set number without far more specifics.

randy41 · May 3, 2009

My school bus which has a 6 cyl turbo diesel has 73,397 miles on it and 3,131.3 hours. That comes out to 23.4 MPH. But I think most tractors figure hours based on engine speed not just clock time. Not sure how its figured in the bus.

MtnViewRanch · May 3, 2009

CurlyDave said:
If I could find one, I would be interested in a larger size construction backhoe with 2000-3000 hours on it. Still plenty of life in it for my use.

We bought a 1984 Case 580E extendahoe 5-6 years ago, it had 7000 hours on it. Let me tell you that it is-was like a new machine compared to the Case 580 Construction King that we had with over 13,000 hours. Even with all those hours, it still ran strong, but the hydraulic hoses were bad and the the back hoe cylinders and bushings needed to be rebuilt.

Dargo · May 3, 2009

This is somewhat interesting because the last pickup truck I bought actually shows me the hours as well as the miles. It turned over 1,800 hours right at 80k miles. I guess that works out to be an average of 44.44 mph average speed when it was running? I've never really thought about it before nor if it has any bearing on anything.

Farmwithjunk · May 3, 2009

Dargo said:
This is somewhat interesting because the last pickup truck I bought actually shows me the hours as well as the miles. It turned over 1,800 hours right at 80k miles. I guess that works out to be an average of 44.44 mph average speed when it was running? I've never really thought about it before nor if it has any bearing on anything.

Out of curiousity, what brand of truck was that? And would you describe your "average driving" as mostly hwy miles? Mostly city driving? An even variety of each?

Dargo · May 3, 2009

It's a 2006 Ford F350. I bought it used and the previous owner had a daughter who competed in barrel racing on horses. They buy a new F350 every 2 years. I'd have to assume that most of the miles were on the highway but that would only be an assumption. With me it's probably close to an even mix with possibly more in the city. It may have been closer to an average of 50 mph and I brought it down in the last 8k miles I put on it.

Do a lot of diesel pickups now show the engine hours? I generally keep my pickups at least 10 years and obviously my last one didn't have anything on it telling me the hours. I was honestly surprised to see the "engine hours" show up when scrolling through the onboard trip and diagnostic program that came from the factory on the truck. It's highly likely I'm just behind the times and most newer diesel pickups have such. I don't know.

CDsdad · May 3, 2009

My wife's '05 Tahoe and my '06 Silverado both have hour meters and give average mpg. I've never thought to check the avg mph on either vehicle. I know it's not apples to apples with hours on a diesel, but now I am curious.

My opinion with my personal vehicles is that 200,000 miles will be equivalent to 5000 hours on my tractor as far as being in similar mechanical condition.

JoelD · May 3, 2009

Gotta agree with previous poster, I think it all comes down to maintenance. My brother and i raced motocross for years as youngsters. We were meticulous in maintenance, no time at the track for breakdowns. We regularly rebuilt the top ends, replaced clutches, brake shoes, chains / sprockets, etc. We sold them every year to buy new bikes.

I used to laugh when someone would ask, "were they ever raced?", and we'd say absolutely, why else would they be in such excellent mechanical condition? Of course, those who've never raced would say, forget it, they must be beat. I used to chuckle every time.

It is highly likely that a non-maintained tractor with 200 hours is going to be a piece of crap at 201 hours while it is highly unlikely that a well maintained tractor with 1000 hours will be a piece of junk at 1001 hours.

Joel

/pine · May 3, 2009

A big factor is the type of activity the tractor was used for... a tractor that was used for nothing but mowing grass would have less wear and tear than a tractor with the same hours that was used mostly with ground engaging activity...

Farmwithjunk · May 3, 2009

Dargo said:
It's a 2006 Ford F350. I bought it used and the previous owner had a daughter who competed in barrel racing on horses. They buy a new F350 every 2 years. I'd have to assume that most of the miles were on the highway but that would only be an assumption. With me it's probably close to an even mix with possibly more in the city. It may have been closer to an average of 50 mph and I brought it down in the last 8k miles I put on it.

Do a lot of diesel pickups now show the engine hours? I generally keep my pickups at least 10 years and obviously my last one didn't have anything on it telling me the hours. I was honestly surprised to see the "engine hours" show up when scrolling through the onboard trip and diagnostic program that came from the factory on the truck. It's highly likely I'm just behind the times and most newer diesel pickups have such. I don't know.

'03 Dodge 2500 w/Cummins doesn't have hour meter, as with '04 Dodge 2500 gasser. As soon as I figure out if Dodge'll be here for a while longer, plan is to buy an '09 3500 cab&chassis to build a trailer-toter. I suppose I'll find out then if newer Dodges have 'em.