Hours per Gallon

[Briarwood]

When talking trucks, cars, etc, it is common to talk about mileage as in MPG. I think most owners know about what the mileage their truck gets or what it is supposed to be. What about a tractor. Tractors have hour meters. Is there any kind of rule of thumb for what is an acceptable rate (range) for tractor HPG? I realize it would depend on type of use and maybe size of engine, age of tractor, etc, etc. What do you consider a good range of HPG for brush hogging with say a diesel 25 hp tractor versus a larger say diesel 50 hp tractor all other things being equal? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Briarwood

 

[tc35dforme]

Briarwood....I really think there are too many variables in the industry to put a realistic # on this. The auto industry has a standard test procedure that is used to set the MPG #. The different tractor manufacturers use different engine types ( direct vs. indirect injection ), have different transmission efficiencies, etc. and no standard test procedure. In addition, the fuel mix, weather, load, service history, implement condition, mowing conditions, slope, etc. all have an impact on fuel economy.

For the non-professional users ( sorry all /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif ), the fuel used should be minimal portion of the investment of owning and operating a tractor.

Just my thoughts

 

[Bird]

Briarwood, I don't know what a "good" range would be, but I figure I averaged about .7 gallon per hour on my B2710. Mark Chalkley has a bigger, but turbocharged, Kubota engine in his Earth Force and is using less than that.

 

[_RaT_]

The typical compact regardless of manufactuer gets anywhere from about 3/4 gallon per hour to as much as about 1.5 gallon/hour fuel usage. Some more, some less. Part will depend on the RPM and also whether its a true hour clock or clock based on RPM. I agree that the fuel is a minimal concern in relationship to the rest of the investment. My tractor is about 1 gallon/hour based on a RPM controlled time. I run at about 2400 to 2500 RPM for mowing and about 1800 RPM for loader work. I generally refuel about once a week. Rat.

 

[CTyler]

My L3130 will use a 1 gallon an hour when working it full tilt.

 

[SageBrush]

Same with me, L4330.... 41 hp burns a gallon or less per hour working. The tank (11 gal ?) will go 12 hours no problem without running it dry, so it must be under a gallon an hour. Our Belarus 31 hp burns well under a gallon an hour. Pulling the disc or plow burns very close to 1 gallon an hour in either tractor. The Kubota burns less than I expected.

 

[Henro]

I found I get about 8 hours use from 5 gallons fuel on my B2910 Kubota...seems to fall in line with everyone else's experience...more or less...

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

I don't have a clue what my Deere burns per hour. I also don't know how many mpg I get riding my Goldwing. The reason in each case is the same; I'm having fun and I don't care how much fuel I'm burning. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[JTD]

2000 JD 4700; from 0.5 gal/hr to approximately 1.0 gal/hr when heavy discing. Average is 0.59 gal/hr for most use. Monitored the last 674 hr. Approximatey 1200 hrs total on tractor.

 

[dmccarty]

BriarWood,

My 4700 gets between a third to half a gallon per hour. Most
of my hours are running the FEL, box blade, or backhoe. For
those jobs I'm running the RPMS around 160-1800 maybe up
to 2000. The only time I run at PTO speed is with the cutter
and I bet I only run that for a few hours every six weeks or
so during the summer. Maybe six or so times a year.

Even at one gallon per hour the cost of the fuel is minimal. I
went a looked up an old post of mine on this subject from
9/9/2002 and I was putting on average 17 hours on the 4700
per month. That would take four 10-12 hour Saturdays a
month.

With all of the rain we have had since last October I would
be suprised if I have put 20 hours on the tractor since then....

/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

I think for 2002 I used around 40 gallons of fuel for something
like 200 hours on the tractor. That is not absolutely correct
but its in the ball park hour and gallon wise. I figured this
stuff up doing my taxes for 2002.

Later,
Dan McCarty

 

[Gil]

Well when you buy 100 gallons at a time it is easy to figure the average. The Kubota 3010 That I traded back in December went 150 hours on the 1st 100 Gallons.

I wish you well

Gil

 

[MossRoad]

My Power Trac PT425 is 25HP Kohler gas engine(same as a lot of lawn tractors). It runs at 3600 RPM almost constantly in order to provide power to the all hydraulic everything. It uses about a gallon of gasoline per hour.

My IH2500B was a 4 cylinder gas engine HST tractor with about 50 PTO HP. MUCH larger engine, but it also used about a gallon per hour.

As reported by Bird, Mark's Earth Force is a TLB with a Kubota turbocharged diesel. It could outwork most machines on this board and it uses less than .6 gallons per hour!

Tough question to answer /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[poorboy]

With a 5410 in thick blown down grass with a disc mower I measure by gallons per hour. Twenty gallons will get you around 8 hours. But I can bale 10 hours on 3/4 of a tank and load for days on 5 gallons. That's about the only implement that I can really tell the difference on besides the disc and plow.

Patrick

 

[OkeeDon]

NH TC18, 18 HP, seems to go about 10 hours on a 5 gallon tank of fuel, sometimes less. That makes it .5 gallon/hour or a little more.

I'm not sure of the right terminology, but the hourmeter must be clock-based - it will always click off an hour as if it had been running constantly around 1800 RPM, regardless of the actual RPM.

We've used 4-55 gallon drums of fuel in 150+ hours, but some was used to start brush fires and some for a rental tractor. That's in about 3 months.

 

[frank_f15]

i usually use a 1g/hr figure. running at pto speed a little more, at loader speed a little less but on average 1 gal. /hr.. i never really take that into consideration. the fuel used is worth it, saves on my back and so much fun /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[slowrev]

If the compact and sub compact tractors were tested by the Nebraska Tractor Testing facility we would have the GPH specs on all of the tractors and could make a more informed decision on our purchases.

 

[JeepOne]

My B7500 gets about 10 hours of FEL work per tankful (5gal). I'm amazed at the fuel economy in light of how hard I work it.

Ken

 

[DAVELR]

I have a Kubota B2910 w/40 hours. I have averaged 6/10 gal.per hour. Some plowing and using disc, but mostly using finishing mower.

 

[hazmat]

Don - My TC18 is rpm depenedent. When mowing at 2,600 rpm I get almost 1.5 hours "meter time" in 1 hour "real time". I think the owners manual states at what rpm 1 "meter" hour = 1 "real" hour.

Maybe they changed it on the new model?

Anyhow - I get about .5 gal/hour for loader work & snowplowing. Closer to .75 gal / hour for mowing - 2,600 rpm