Oil & Fuel hours per gallon of fuel

Jordanbear · Jul 21, 2006

I know this will vary by tractor and type of work, but any idea how many hours you get to the gallon of deisel? We have a MF 451 and for some reason the fuel gauge stopped working this week. I may have over-filled it? But at any rate I got to discover how to deal with air in the fuel line when I got a bubble in the line due to low fuel (and a big bump) when the gauge indicated I had 3/4 of a tank, I had 2 inches. Beyond the "long piece of grass" method, is there a guide to how many hours you might get out of a gallon of fuel so I don't have to guess until I get the gauge fixed?

Farmwithjunk · Jul 21, 2006

What are you doing with the tractor? Bush hogging? Plowing? Idling around in the driveway? Makes a HUGE difference with how much load you're putting on the engine.

Your reasons for the fuel gauge not working sound a little suspect too. Never knew of one to go bad by "over-filling". Never knew of a diesel drawing air with 2" of fuel in the tank either.

Jimbrown · Jul 21, 2006

I think it will vary too much for anyone to answer. With my BX it varies. Just doing everyday stuff cleaning stalls moveing a little dirt I get about 3 hours per gallon. Using the backhoe and diging trenches it drops down to 1 or 2. I do not mow at all but suspect that mowing at anywhere close to full throttle would use even more.

3RRL · Jul 21, 2006

IMO, best for you to do is repair the fuel gauge? It shouldn't be too expensive and can save you alot of headache if you ever run out. If that's not doable, make a test run under load. Fill your fuel cell to a given point and work under constandt load for say 2 or 3 hours. Then refill the ruel cell to the same point, measuring how many gallons used. Then divide the #hours into the #gallons used. That gives you a good indication of how many gallons per hour of use.

Jordanbear · Jul 21, 2006

Thanks - I'm haying, so I was raking, (no PTO), tedding (low PTO) baling (Moderate PTO) and Mowing - tractor working really hard.

The tractor is under 300 hours, and the gauge was working until I put in 10 gallons when it said it was at a little less than a 1/4 tank. Then it stuck at 3/4. Didn't wiggle/wobble like it usually does when you turn or go up/down.

After episode #2 of it cutting out on me - this time after going around a steep hill and corner and discovering I had less than an inch on the grass test, I put in 10 more gallons and the gauge springs back to life.

I figured it varied too much to get a good answer, but it never hurts to ask.

BobG_in_VA · Jul 21, 2006

Most all tractors that I have come into contact with have fuel tanks that will run the tractor all day long:8-10 hours on a full tank. Don't know many folks any more that get on their tractor at 0700 and work it hard till 1800. Ag design would be awful if you could only get 3/4 day out of a tank (having to come in out of the field to refuel in the middle of the afternoon). My $.02 worth. By the way the "straight stick" method was all we had when I grew up. We never ran out because that meant we had to walk back......BobG in VA

GaryCrowell · Jul 21, 2006

Go to this link:

http://tractortestlab.unl.edu/Massey/MF451.pdf#search='nebraska%20tractor%20test%20massey%20ferguson%20451'

It's the nebraska tractor test for the MF 451 and it gives the fuel burn for various power settings. For your tractor it burns 1.88 gal/hr at about 40% power and 3.05 gal/hr at full power. I'd guess a good ballpark figure would be about 2.5 gal/hr under average use.