Not using all my horses by design??

[Atypical_decorum]

I've recent acquired a good amount of acres, but they're all steep. I have a small tractor, but it's not even close to cutting it on the hills while working (20hp). I need something bigger like an M7060 or L6060 but found a cheap Kubota M108s low profile 8 speed with 1300hrs. Of course, the horse power is way more than I need. Im going to be using a tiller, BH100 backhoe, FEL, and other equipment.

I won't be using all the HP, so I won't been to be hard into pedal. So here's the question. Does it make sense, fuel wise, to get the tractor seeing as I won't be deep into the power band to run and do what I'm looking to do? Particularly with it being 8spd.

I've looked up M7060 and they can easily get to 5+ gph full bore. An M9000 is 5 to 10gph depending on who you ask at full throttle. If this tractor is 10gph at idle it might not be worth it...but I don't know.

(edited for clarity)

 

[workinonit]

Are all Kubotas that bad on fuel? My 100 HP JD is about 2.3 gph at around 65% load. That really seems high to me.

 

[sea2summit]

I’ve never seen my m4-071 (deluxe 7060 basically) go even close to 4, mowing I’m usually 3.4-3.6. Who is saying 5?

I don’t know what a reasonable price on the M6 is but my only hesitation would be DEF. I want a M5 badly, I could use a few more HP baling on hilly terrain.

 

[Atypical_decorum]

Are all Kubotas that bad on fuel? My 100 HP JD is about 2.3 gph at around 65% load. That really seems high to me.

They aren't kind with fuel from reports. My B7500 is about 0.5GPH while mowing.

 

[Atypical_decorum]

I’ve never seen my m4-071 (deluxe 7060 basically) go even close to 4, mowing I’m usually 3.4-3.6. Who is saying 5?

I don’t know what a reasonable price on the M6 is but my only hesitation would be DEF. I want a M5 badly, I could use a few more HP baling on hilly terrain.

Other posts on here is what I've seen reported.

 

[stumblinhorse]

540 rpm is 540 rpm. Seems like you are gonna use what you use….

 

[Atypical_decorum]

I’ve never seen my m4-071 (deluxe 7060 basically) go even close to 4, mowing I’m usually 3.4-3.6. Who is saying 5?

I don’t know what a reasonable price on the M6 is but my only hesitation would be DEF. I want a M5 badly, I could use a few more HP baling on hilly terrain.

It's $20k. No DEF.

 

[scootr]

I'm averaging 1-2 gal an hour mowing moderate hills in the MX5200 with loaded tires. It stands to reason you are better off having a little more HP than needed vs running the dog poop out of a barely enough power unit when it comes to wear and tear and machine longevity. I usually don't need 50+ hp. My 7' flail mower calls for 35hp at the PTO. But I need 50+ and more when I sink the rippers into this clay soil.
Go big or go home sorta applies within reason

 

[JethroB]

My Kubota L5460 (54 hp) uses about 0.7 gallons per hour flail mowing at 540 rpm, the L4760 a little less. The flail doesn’t work the engine very hard like the bush hog.

 

[5030]

I've never kept track of fuel usage but a bigger horsepower tractor will typically use less fuel because the motor isn't being run hard at rated rpm than a smaller one that is. Fuel usage isn't something I get concerned with anyway.

 

[scootr]

I've never kept track of fuel usage but a bigger horsepower tractor will typically use less fuel because the motor isn't being run hard at rated rpm than a smaller one that is. Fuel usage isn't something I get concerned with anyway.

Fill er up and go! Using $3 a gal farm diesel. Seeing $6 gal road diesel again here. Sheesh.

 

[5030]

Only going to get worse Scoot. I don't get concerned with fuel usage anyway as it's a farm write off.

I can see even ORD going to 5 bucks a gallon in the not to distant future.

That will really put a crimp on the hobby tractors that most on this site have.

The thing you have to realize is that as diesel fuel increases in cost, so does the cost to move anything via truck and rail and ship as well.

Regan's 'trickle down effect' in full swing.

 

[2manyrocks]

Does having too much HP potentially cause problems if you run the engine at a lower rpm because you don't need all the HP and maybe then have more regen issues?

 

[Atypical_decorum]

Does having too much HP potentially cause problems if you run the engine at a lower rpm because you don't need all the HP and maybe then have more regen issues?

Good question. I might have to do WOT periodically with a load to burn out the carbon.

 

[Atypical_decorum]

I've never kept track of fuel usage but a bigger horsepower tractor will typically use less fuel because the motor isn't being run hard at rated rpm than a smaller one that is. Fuel usage isn't something I get concerned with anyway.

What about being an 8 speed? I figured with the HP it'd be equivalent to a 24 speed with only needing a fraction of the output. Is that faulty logic?

 

[stumblinhorse]

Good question. I might have to do WOT periodically with a load to burn out the carbon.

Again 540 PTO rpm is gonna run the engine at fast enough rpm to do anything it needs to.

 

[Deleted member 371759]

I'm averaging 1-2 gal an hour mowing moderate hills in the MX5200 with loaded tires. It stands to reason you are better off having a little more HP than needed vs running the dog poop out of a barely enough power unit when it comes to wear and tear and machine longevity. I usually don't need 50+ hp. My 7' flail mower calls for 35hp at the PTO. But I need 50+ and more when I sink the rippers into this clay soil.
Go big or go home sorta applies within reason

Not to be controversial but you are confusing HP with torque. HP is a measurement of time while torque is a rotational force. I only mention it for those new to engines designed to do work. Knowing the HP and torque numbers and at which RPM those are achieved is always a good thing. Peak HP at low RPM is a good thing with a tractor IMO. For example a 40HP tractor making peak HP @ 2200RPM is making around 95ftlbs of torque. That same 40HP engine making its peak HP @ 2600RPM is making around 80ftlbs of torque.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

If you are running a PTO implement, you'll have to run PTO speed regardless. I assume it doesn't have 540E PTO like some tractors do, so you can actually get 540 PTO while at a much lower engine RPM?
I can run 540E on my tractor, use less fuel, and have plenty of hp... But without it, I still have to run 2500RPM to get 540rpm from the PTO, whether I need the power or not.

48hp and I burn 1gal/hr

 

[scootr]

Does having too much HP potentially cause problems if you run the engine at a lower rpm because you don't need all the HP and maybe then have more regen issues?

I've been experimenting with how often and long my Kubota regens. It definitely does regen more often and for longer when run at lower rpms.

 

[Atypical_decorum]

Not to be controversial but you are confusing HP with torque. HP is a measurement of time while torque is a rotational force. I only mention it for those new to engines designed to do work. Knowing the HP and torque numbers and at which RPM those are achieved is always a good thing. Peak HP at low RPM is a good thing with a tractor IMO. For example a 40HP tractor making peak HP @ 2200RPM is making around 95ftlbs of torque. That same 40HP engine making its peak HP @ 2600RPM is making around 80ftlbs of torque.

I'm not sure if that is to me or not. The HP is rated at 108. I am not mistaking that for torque. The peak torque is at 2206rpm on this engine, but I forgot the number.

With that, my use range would be significantly lower as I don't need that much power for pretty much anything I'm going to do or use.