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

[kevin37b]

How much money to run a tractor per hr ? Depends , on what you are doing . I had a nice old 580e case backhoe and did lots of field tile repairs spring and fall .Also did septic systems and crawlspace and waterlines . This is while working a full time job . Truck , trailer , insurance , liability , helper , beer , fuel . Barely able to pay the insurance at 1.000,000 umbrella policy . The spurges of cash were good but not keeping up .I charged 85.00 HR for tile repairs and supplied material . Septic system was usually 3k , tank and 300 ft of field . I got a little off topic , but it is like asking what it costs an hour to live ?

 

[LD1]

Its like trying to price marriage

Thats ALOT more expensive. Especially if you trade it in:laughing:

 

[aginn]

I think I have increased the value of my property at least 100k by having my tractor. So as far as I am concerned, it will be paying me for a very long time. And I am having fun doing it beside.
Even better, my wife believes that..

 

[ovrszd]

Here is a spreadsheet I worked out a while back:

Bobcat S-590 Hourly Operating Cost
Depreciation

Capital cost $55,000.00
forecast life 3000
residual value $20,000.00
Net depreciation $35,000.00
depreciation per hour $11.67​

Maintenance

Tires cost $1,000.00
Life 400
Cost per hour $2.50​

Fluids $70.00
Life 200
Fluids per hour $0.35​

misc repairs $150.00

Life 200
cost per hour $0.75​

Fuel

Gals per refill 26
hours 13
Cost per refill $48.10
$ per hour $3.70​

Estimated Hourly Operating Cost $18.97

Over the 3000 hour forecast life you didn't add anything for repairs other than the $150??? What about oil changes? What about batteries, fan belts, hoses, cylinder repairs, etc.?

Good start though. Very logical in regards to the initial cost and depreciation.

 

[TSO]

Over the 3000 hour forecast life you didn't add anything for repairs other than the $150??? What about oil changes? What about batteries, fan belts, hoses, cylinder repairs, etc.?

Good start though. Very logical in regards to the initial cost and depreciation.

Looks like he has both Fluid & Repairs listed at 200hr intervals. So $150 repairs every 200 hrs.

 

[ovrszd]

Like like he has both Fluid & Repairs listed at 200hr intervals. So $150 repairs every 200 hrs.

Of course,,,, I'm such a Dork. Got it.

So over the 3000hr lifespan he's estimating $2250. That makes very good sense.

For a simple mind like mine the 3000 hr multiplier should be used in all the categories.

 

[gladehound]

My Kioti LB1914 with loader cost $8200 to purchase used. I owned it for 8 years and sold it for $7000. I put ~$1000 into maintenance and improvements (tooth bar, plow mount, oil, filters, new steering arm). So my delta over that time is $2,200. I bought it at 240 hours and sold it at 590 hours. So I put 350 hours on it. So about $6 per hour plus fuel so about $8 an hour total. During that time, the tractor saved me about $16,000 in wood purchases, rentals or hired out work. Well worth it. I'm on my next tractor now. I was so happy with the little Kioti that I got a bigger kioti. A DS4510HS. I'm hoping this one is as good to me as the first. Based on my first experience, a tractor cost nothing and gives you hours of enjoyment and piece of mind knowing you can do what you want to do when you want to do it without the hastle of rentals or hired help. It has probably saved me from back injury as well since I will use it to move stuff that I really shouldn't lift but would try to lift if the tractor wasn't there.

 

[Green Acres Homestead]

I think I have increased the value of my property at least 100k by having my tractor. So as far as I am concerned, it will be paying me for a very long time. And I am having fun doing it beside. Even better, my wife believes that..

hi. I am your wife and now I am angry that you tricked me. You only increased your profit by $50000 because I am taking half. Lol

 

[Green Acres Homestead]

just testing my account.

 

[Danny C]

Calculating the hourly cost of operating one's tractor will be different for each and every user on TBN. Having read most of the posts, here are my :2cents:

You can't book loan payments as an expense. You can book loan interest as an expense along with the depreciation. We depreciate our equipment at 20% of the diminishing balance. So say I bought a brand new $3K tractor, the first year depreciation will be $6,000 which I can expense. The second year depreciation will be 20% of $24k or $4,800. An amortization schedule should be available upon request from your lender which will outline the total interest paid per annum.

A lease payment is booked 100% as an expense unless it's a capital lease. If it's a regular lease, it's expensed because you don't own it; it's like renting therefore there is no depreciation to the leasee; the lease co. books that loss and you expence the entire payment.

To calculate the hourly cost of your tractor, you will need to determine the values for each of the following:

- Lease payment or Interest & Depreciation
- Insurance (both commercial liability & vehicle)
- Title & Registration
-Fuel
- Tires
- Regular, scheduled maintenance
- Unscheduled maintenance & damage
- Operator inluding source deductions (payroll tax, etc.)

Usually to calculate tires, fuel, scheduled maintenance and such you will take the cost of replacement and divide that by the life expectancy in terms of hours to get an hourly rate.

Some other things you will want to take into consideration:
- Transportation costs to/from job site
- Operating conditions
- Impliments that may be used that are not included in the above calculations
- Advertising
- Anything I've missed!