Gas consumption ?

[brin]

I have never checked but today I did ...and I found my Murray 20 HP lawn tractor used 2 gallons an hour of gas to cut my yard..about 1 1/2 acres and took me exactly 1 hour and eight minutes to cut but I used about 3 gallons of gas...So having checked this for the first time in all these years I was just wondering what kind of fuel usage you guys are seeing..?

 

[om21braz]

Kubota ZD21 - approx. 2/3 to 3/4 gal. per hour mowing at wot. One of my favorite attributes of the diesel.

 

[brin]

Kubota ZD21 - approx. 2/3 to 3/4 gal. per hour mowing at wot. One of my favorite attributes of the diesel.

Big difference - next lawn tractor I am going diesel too..Thanks

 

[ChuckinNH]

I mow something over three acres with lots of obstacles. I use perhaps just under, or just over a gallon an hour with my Simplicity Legacy with a 48" deck, and Kohler Command 20 hp engine. If I run the turbo collector it always takes a bit more, but not as much as I thought it would. The Kohler 20 hp uses quite a bit less fuel than the Briggs 12.5 hp I had for years before that. It was running a 42" deck and used about 30% more fuel at least.

 

[Transit]

Figure 0.0933 gal/hp-hour at 100% engine power. 20 hp gas engine would consume 1.95 gal/ hr. At 1/2 power it would be 0.973 gal.

 

[Gittyup]

My 20HP Kawasaki gasser in a JD425 uses about 1 gallon per hour at full throttle, maybe a little less depending on grass thickness and moiture level.

 

[brin]

My 20HP Kawasaki gasser in a JD425 uses about 1 gallon per hour at full throttle, maybe a little less depending on grass thickness and moiture level.

My Murray 20 HP has a briggs V twin and it looks like I am using almost twice the amount of fuel...I operate at full power as well and it was think and high grass. It's a great little lawn tractor but it sure uses the gas...

 

[clemsonfor]

My wife cut the farm property lawn as i bushhogged. It is close to 2 acres and i had the old "free" yardman for her. It was filled up starting then i refilled it and then filled it again and used about .5 gallons that time, guessing? It took her about 5 hours and i trimmed a little after her. And just guessing, never measured it but i think it holds 1.5 gallons? so That would be around 3.5 gallons? Again tank size is just a guess. IT has a kohler command 15 hp engine on it and is 42" cut. This was 6 weeks or so ago and was the first trim this season and last year the last trim was done with bush hog, or was that an eary trim this year with bushhog? My point was the grass was tall and thick.

-nate

 

[clemsonfor]

Big difference - next lawn tractor I am going diesel too..Thanks

But look at the difference in initial cost. If your gas murry costs $1500 less, thinking that you can buy one like yours at walmart or lowes for
$1200. And you keep your mower for 10 years and you cut grass every 2 weeks in the summer starting in middle april to september 15, thats 10 times. So over 10 years thats 100 uses just using this simple figure. If the deisel saved you 1 gallon everytime that would mean you burn 100 gallons more fuel, at $3/gallon thats $300, ignoring inflation and interest like simple economists sometimes do. Keep in mind thats over 10 years buying the deisel you fork out 1K more at purchase time!!

OK you say you cut your grass every week all summer long (probably do at times then its dry and may be 3 weeks) that would be 20 times a year or 200 times over 10 years or 200 gallons or $600, still less than the cost of a deisel motor.

You say you dont have to refuel as much then, well i was looking at the new shiny mowers at lowes a few weeks back both JD and Husky, maybe cubcadet, anyway those big 42-46" mowers all hold around 6 gallons now for a 25hp type mower. That should be enough to cut 3 acres or more of grass id think.
-nate

 

[bp fick]

Agree with the 2 to 1.

Craftsman AYP with 18.5 hp 2 cyl. Briggs = 1.5-2.0 gallons an hour
Kubota BX 18 hp 3 cyl. diesel = 2/3-1.0 gallon an hour.

Just is what it is. Nature of the beasts.