How much does it cost per hour to run a tractor.

[jeff9366]

I have a spreadsheet I made up to get a close cost since I use it for business.

So I just call it $10/hr to run. And thats the number I use when figuring jobs.

What about LIABILITY INSURANCE?

 

[two_bit_score]

So how much does it cost to run a tractor per hour? I know it depends on how you run it, what you are doing and the horse power of the machine and for that matter the brand of the machine. I was hoping to narrow it down a bit. Does anybody keep close track of the cost. I am hoping for discussion on tire replacement, fuel milage, maintenance repair.

As for me I have a kubota l4740. When working it hard it runs for about $8.00 or 6 litres per hour. Then if I add up the fluids for maintenance I can tack on another $3.00/hour. As for tires I am not sure but it looks like I am going to get about 2500 hours out of them so about another $1.30 per hour. I hear you have to replace to hydro drive after about 3000 hour so that is another expected cost of $3000 so that is about another $1.00 per hour. In total $13.30 per hour.

Anybody have anything to add or elaborate on this?

I figure $65 per hour for my depreciation, fuel, maintenance, etc for my purposes on a JD 110 backhoe.

 

[two_bit_score]

I'm paying around $589.00 per hour. When you get a tractor you need a pole barn and a poured concrete floor. And a trailer. And a new truck to pull the trailer. Plus all the attachments I wouldn't have to buy if I didn't own a tractor. Plus all the time I waste on here when I could be working making money. It's very, very expensive and I really don't want to figure it out because it's probably higher than I think.

Happy New Year!

And that cost probably should be applied 24/7 and not just the time on the hour meter.

 

[LD1]

LD1....respectfully disagree with your figures....once again, too general. Where does that 18 grand figure come from? My Deere with a deck, back blade, and FEL cost me 20 grand back in 2002, and that amount DOES NOT include finance charges. And unless a tractor was horribly beat up and sadly neglected from new to the 6000 hour mark, it always WILL be worth something. Given the dollar amounts you note for service, it's a safe bet said tractor was decently maintained. One last thing...A DOLLAR AN HOUR FOR TUBES OF GREASE AND MISC PARTS? In 1215 hours my Deere has needed, aside from the service costs you mention...two new batteries, one set of mower deck blades, two sets of air and fuel filters, and two coolant flushes and refills, and one set of radiator hoses, 2 drive belts, and $50 worth of welding. plus 20 tubes of grease...about $500 for 1215 hours...a cost of 41 cents per hour.

I didnt say my numbers worked for every other tractor. Just MY tractor. The 18k is what the tractor cost me to purchase. And yes, while the tractor might still be worth something, it aint much. Look at what a 20 year old, 30HP tractor with 6k hours sells for. And trade in would be even less. So I imagine in another 10 years, when my tractor is 20 years old and 6k hours, my trade in value would be nil.
And while the $1 per hour may be a tad high, we are splitting hairs. But I have ~700hrs, and probably spent $500 for everything else I didnt mention. Replacing busted fuel cap, A few air filters and fuel filters, Bushhog blades, Several tire repairs (bushhogging is hard on them), and the ocasional other maintenance that isnt in the 100hr and 200hr. Like an ocassional coolant flush, plus factor my time doing the service. I think $1/hr is fair. But even using your numbers, when figuring cost, there aint much difference in how I bid a job if I factored $9.50/hr or $10/hr for tractor maintenance.

What about LIABILITY INSURANCE?

Thats just general business expence. I was limiting this to JUST the tractor. Sure, there are other costs, Truck/trailer maintenance, Insurance, Truck fuel, Tags/registration, and so on. Some of them overlap with other elements of business that I do. Like work with the Backhoe, and snowplowing. So those other costs associated with the truck, registrations, insurance, BWC, etc, dont fall 100% on the work I do with the kubota.

Thats why those out there advertising similar services for $20-$25/hr are either loosing money, or are not a legit business.

When it comes to figuring out other expenses like truck and insurance, it gets tricky too. IT cannot be tied to "hours". Cause weather I do 10hours of work, or 1000hrs in a given year, Insurance, truck/trailer tags and registration, BWC, etc are fixed costs. So the more work I can do, the less "per hour" those cost me. But there is no way of predicting how many hours of work I can do in a year.

And with truck maintenance, that cannot be tied to hours or tractor work either. Sometimes I do a 9-10hour job that is 10 minutes from home. Other times I do 1hr of work that is 1hr away from home.

All of that has to be accounted for, but cannot be just lumped in together to figure a "$/hr" amount for cost of doing business.

 

[BlackOps]

i do not worry about such nonsense. I bought it because i needed it and it helps me so much - that i just use it as much as i can and enjoy it!

 

[LD1]

i do not worry about such nonsense. I bought it because i needed it and it helps me so much - that i just use it as much as i can and enjoy it!

Thats my point for most users. But it the tractor is used for business purposes, you NEED to be worried about it.

 

[cat fever]

KiwiBro

It is brand new and I only have about a half hour of run time on it. So for that half hour it's been great, no problems at all. LOL I did push a little dirt with it and it has plenty of power. If you don't need the extra power (73 HP) I would say the 6620 will do everything you need.

 

[big bubba]

Depreciation is your major expense. On a NEW tractor figure depreciation at $12-15 per hour for first 500 hours, then $10 per hour for next !,000 hours.

Depreciation is only somewhat dependent on tractor size in the 16-45 horsepower range, it is more dependent on inside/outside storage, upkeep, maintenance log, sales skills and the state of the economy when you sell.

(And, yes, my tractor resides in the humidity controlled garage. The cars live in the driveway.)

to me this is the most sensible response to the OP question. all the other variables applied to $/hr are just really hard to tie down. regardless of what $/hr you come up with, all the best in your seat time this new year, & remember aside from cost, safety is paramount.

 

[gordyy]

6 years ago when I started my little part time business to keep busy I had to come up with all the figures and such for my business plan that I had to turn in to Voc. Rehab.
I have a nephew working for a national rental company and had him look it up for a sub compact tractor, at that time their national office said that it cost them $26.00 per hour when they figure purchase depreciation repairs ( this price was figured for offices big enough to have a full time service shop their own mechanics and such) fuel parts average sale or trade in price. Based on replacement in 10 years or 2400 hours. the 2400 hrs. is where they figure the nickel and diming stuff starts to happen and down time in the rental business is even more costly then it is for us who own and operate our own stuff. As He said a regular big customer rents a tractor from them hauls it 15 miles and it dies 15 minutes into the job, they end up having to pickup repair and deliver, and then when it comes back they get hit up with the how about a discount for our time lost from the customer.
Now myself I figure mine will last till I die or I end up with 10,000 hrs. or more. So far I have never had to have a dealer fix anything I can do it myself or have built in help as both my sons are diesel mechanics one is actually working more as a fabricator that a mechanic but that never hurts. Also have a daughters significant other who works for a metal fabrication shop in charge of the cutting and brake work, a rather handy thing to have its unreal what specialty size pieces of steel I can pick up brand new for scrap prices. Need something cut out of plate give him the measurements what thickness will work, and in a few days they will be lazer cutting a sheet and have a piece of scrap big enough to program into the system and get for me. so I do get by a lot cheaper on repairs


Note the first line the whole idea is to Keep me busy and as the Dr. says to me just do no harm doing it.
It does keep me busy!!

 

[JDgreen227]

Depreciation is your major expense. On a NEW tractor figure depreciation at $12-15 per hour for first 500 hours, then $10 per hour for next !,000 hours.

Depreciation is only somewhat dependent on tractor size in the 16-45 horsepower range, it is more dependent on inside/outside storage, upkeep, maintenance log, sales skills and the state of the economy when you sell.

(And, yes, my tractor resides in the humidity controlled garage. The cars live in the driveway.)

Got a query here....does the depreciation figures you quote cover ONLY the tractor itself, or all the attachments and implements you need to use it properly. Without those, a tractor cannot really perform any duties except tow things around. And while we are on the subject, suppose you buy a fancy CUT with several major attachements...FEL, BH, RB, MMM, Snowblower, PHD and others...it costs you 40 grand and then instead of using it, you just store it in a climate controlled garage for the next 20 years. How do you factor in depreciation for what is a brand new and unused package? Does it lose value, or gain value?

The above may be an inane question, but I recall back in '74 when I had a chance to buy a loaded '72 StingRay ragtop with less than 2,000 miles for $5500....how much would that car be worth today had I purchased it and placed it into storage?