New RX7320 Owner - Fuel Consumption

[MickeyDBC]

New RX7320 power shuttle cab owner here. Looked at a lot of tractors and did a lot of reading online (thanks TBN!) before deciding on the 7320. In-laws and an employee are huge Kubota fans, but I think that the Kioti offers a lot more value and features in this size of tractor. Been out of tractoring for about 40 years, and the last ag tractors that I had much seat time on were old 8n Fords, so this whole cab thing with ac and heat will be like putting a neanderthal on the space shuttle.

The big question that I have right now is fuel consumption per hour while pulling a mower. No diesel close enough to drive the tractor to and with a 25 gallon tank, I really don't feel like using jerry cans (they never spill or splash, do they?). I am trying to decide if I can get by with a couple of drums and a hand pump or if I just need to mount a transfer tank in the truck and lose that much more bed space. Any feedback?

 

[motownbrowne]

If you have a place to store them, a couple of drums on a pallet would be fine. Personally I'd go with a DC transfer pump, but that's just me. I paid $300 for a used 50 gallon transfer tank for my truck with an electric pump. It's on a pallet and I generally leave it on my trailer unless I'm headed out to fill it. Actually, I could use some extra weight in the bed right about now, so maybe I'll toss it in there.

I don't have any personal experience, but I'm thinking you're gonna be in the 3-4 gallons per hour range while mowing.

 

[ritcheyvs]

For a casual weekend user, 5 gallon Gerry cans work fine. Or maybe 2.5 gal cans of you are old (like me) and the fill is on top of the hood (like mine).

Diesel fuel consumption depends almost completely on how much HP the engine is producing. See this chart for non turbo engines. So, as a reference point, if your engine is actually delivering 18 HP on average (which is a lot) you'll burn 1 gal per hour. A turbo engine will burn less.

So, will you use enough fuel to justify an elaborate fuel setup? Your call.

 

[mddorange]

:welcome:
To the TBN forum Mickey. We are glad that you joined and you came to the right place to get answers.

As Ritcheyvs said, I use a 5 gallon Gerry can and it seems to last long enough for me to get it refilled before it drops below a 1/4 tank.

 

[countrybumpkin]

What type of " mower" , what size, and what type of stuff your cutting, also the acres and how often your cutting will have a lot to do with making that decision. I have a 55 hp and use it a couple hundred hours a year and have a 50 gal tank mounted in a trailer with a electric pump, also have a 50 gal tank with electric pump for gas mounted in the same trailer, makes it easy to just pull to the store now and then when one gets low and top them both off.

 

[Ranchofla]

New RX7320 power shuttle cab owner here.

The big question that I have right now is fuel consumption per hour while pulling a mower. No diesel close enough to drive the tractor to and with a 25 gallon tank, I really don't feel like using jerry cans (they never spill or splash, do they?). I am trying to decide if I can get by with a couple of drums and a hand pump or if I just need to mount a transfer tank in the truck and lose that much more bed space. Any feedback?

I am now using a hand rotary pump to transfer from the 5 gallon (government approved slow as molasses container) cause I can not hold the 5 gallons up long enough any more to fill the tank.

Rancho

 

[MickeyDBC]

We recently bought a 85 acre ranch, we have about 45 acres of beat up cattle pasture (probably had cows on it for the last 100 years) and 40 acres of pretty nice hay pasture. The game plan is to put the old pasture into a pecan orchard over the next few years, but until it is established and producing we are going to run cows. Going to experiment with grazeable regenerative cover crops to help with water absorption and keeping the moisture that we get available for the trees, and if it works we will work the whole place into it.

Mower is a 10' foot twin spindle medium duty unit. Need to remove about 20 large dead (or almost so) trees and debris piles that the last drought got so that was an excuse for an Armstrong grapple.

 

[WV hayseed]

Definitely the grapple root rake style bucket! My new best friend!! Mine uses most of a tank in 8hours pulling a 10 ' diskbine. So 2.5-3 gal/hour. A bit more than my older bigger tractor but hey, I guess the more fuel they burn the less they pollute, go figure. Congrats on the tractor. It's a workhorse

 

[marchanna]

For fuel storage, I found someone giving away the furnace oil tank for free. It is a 300 gallon tank double wall that was kept inside, so it was immaculate. Because it was free, I didn稚 mind spending a little more on a pump. So, I found a used industrial fuel transfer pump rated at 24gpm for $300. It痴 a little overkill, but it work great - it takes about 30 seconds to fill my tractor. Now I just get my fuel delivered.

Before that setup, I had a receiver hitch carrier that I strapped four 5-gallon Jerry cans to. It was a pain in the butt, but it worked. I tried a few different things to fill the tractor from a Jerry can, but I always ended up spilling some fuel, and it was overall a real hassle. A decent small transfer pump was going to be close to $200, so when I came across the 24gpm pump, it seemed like a no brainer.