Fuel Consumption and Operating Costs

[Devon]

Hi everyone, I'm new to the forum and think that it is just unreal. It's great to see everyone helping each other out. I'm thinking about starting up a weekend bobcat service here in Saskatchewan and have a couple questions. #1. I know this is a very open ended question but, roughly how much fuel does a mid to large size diesel skid steer use per hour or per 8hour shift running at near full throttle doing regular bucket work? #2. Also what kind of weekly or monthly operating costs are associated with a full time bobcat service (on a newer solid machine, just for the skid steer itself, not talking about transportation costs, insurance, or anything like that) ? Thanks for any feedback! --Devon

 

[lgammon]

well fuel is not much of a conceren it is in the 15-25 a day if you run it hard. tires will last 300-500 hours depends on what you run on and how hard you are on them, they are 600-800 a set. a full oil change is around a 100 for all the filters and oil. greese is 30 bucks a case i think i used a case or two last year. it is more of an hourly figure you need to come up with. teeth for the bucket are around 60-80 and last 250 hours? i would say that my cat is around 6-9 dollars an hour to operate. depreastion is another concern, my skid is around 25k new. it has 1300 hours on it and i would say that it is worth around 15k now. so that is 10 an hour which is alot but if i run the machine to around 3000 hours it should be worth 10k. so that is alot better around 5 bucks an hour vs 10 bucks. and you will have a 1000-3000 bill a time or two for machine falure that needs to be factored in. so i would say that 13-18 is what it costs to run a skid. you also need to factor in what it costs to replace the machine, so if i run the machine 3000 hours i need 10 an hour replace it(machines go up so by the time i get there they will be 30k). so charge 60 per hour, that gives the machine 20, the replacement machine 10, the company 10, and me 20. some people think that is alot for a skid but when you do the math i don't make that great of money but i got all the bases covered, and i will always be able to have a skid with no payments.

 

[skidsteer.ca]

well fuel is not much of a conceren it is in the 15-25 a day if you run it hard. tires will last 300-500 hours depends on what you run on and how hard you are on them, they are 600-800 a set. a full oil change is around a 100 for all the filters and oil. greese is 30 bucks a case i think i used a case or two last year. it is more of an hourly figure you need to come up with. teeth for the bucket are around 60-80 and last 250 hours? i would say that my cat is around 6-9 dollars an hour to operate. depreastion is another concern, my skid is around 25k new. it has 1300 hours on it and i would say that it is worth around 15k now. so that is 10 an hour which is alot but if i run the machine to around 3000 hours it should be worth 10k. so that is alot better around 5 bucks an hour vs 10 bucks. and you will have a 1000-3000 bill a time or two for machine falure that needs to be factored in. so i would say that 13-18 is what it costs to run a skid. you also need to factor in what it costs to replace the machine, so if i run the machine 3000 hours i need 10 an hour replace it(machines go up so by the time i get there they will be 30k). so charge 60 per hour, that gives the machine 20, the replacement machine 10, the company 10, and me 20. some people think that is alot for a skid but when you do the math i don't make that great of money but i got all the bases covered, and i will always be able to have a skid with no payments.

Thats a excellent starting point. I believe those figures are in US dollars. I work here in NW Ontario on those kind of figures but with mainly good used equipment. If there was more work in this area I'd go new but it does not really justify it in my market. You should add around 20% if you like new equipment.
Ken

 

[Devon]

Thats a excellent starting point. I believe those figures are in US dollars. I work here in NW Ontario on those kind of figures but with mainly good used equipment. If there was more work in this area I'd go new but it does not really justify it in my market. You should add around 20% if you like new equipment.
Ken

Thanks. Those numbers will be a great help!

 

[Earthwerks Unlimited]

Thanks. Those numbers will be a great help!

I get about 200-250 hours out of set of 12 ply tires which run $1000 fo five (a spare of the same size and make is ideal to preserve the drivetrain). I was cleaning up Hurricane Katrina for a year and a half and went through three sets of tires and a set of steel tracks. I went about 3 months without a single tire leak. Then I had a rash of them---angle iron, water pipe, sewer pipe, rerod--you name it went through the side walls and ruined all of them. Turns out NH used a specially-sealed tires from the factory with a polyurethane gel (which I have been able to successfully replicate in my kitchen!). The tires sodl new for $460 EACH plus tax, shipping, and mounting. My '05 New Holland LS185.b uses according to the manual 2.9 gallons per hour--that alone is over $10US an hour just for fuel at today's costs. For empirical data for depreciation, cycle times, and a myriad of other helpful info inclduing fuel usage, Caterpillar publishes a Performance Handbook. It covers all their makes and models--even out-of-date models.

 

[perry]

I get about 200-250 hours out of set of 12 ply tires which run $1000 fo five (a spare of the same size and make is ideal to preserve the drivetrain). I was cleaning up Hurricane Katrina for a year and a half and went through three sets of tires and a set of steel tracks. I went about 3 months without a single tire leak. Then I had a rash of them---angle iron, water pipe, sewer pipe, rerod--you name it went through the side walls and ruined all of them. Turns out NH used a specially-sealed tires from the factory with a polyurethane gel (which I have been able to successfully replicate in my kitchen!). The tires sodl new for $460 EACH plus tax, shipping, and mounting. My '05 New Holland LS185.b uses according to the manual 2.9 gallons per hour--that alone is over $10US an hour just for fuel at today's costs. For empirical data for depreciation, cycle times, and a myriad of other helpful info inclduing fuel usage, Caterpillar publishes a Performance Handbook. It covers all their makes and models--even out-of-date models.

On the tires, I checked around the Atlanta area and found 12x16.5 12 ply for $90 each. It cost $10 to remove/replace each. What are you guys paying for tires and changing them out?. $1000 sounds way too high!.

 

[Earthwerks Unlimited]

On the tires, I checked around the Atlanta area and found 12x16.5 12 ply for $90 each. It cost $10 to remove/replace each. What are you guys paying for tires and changing them out?. $1000 sounds way too high!.

$1000 was for for five or $200 each for Titan HD2000 which have thick walls, thicker tread, and rim guards. For $90 you may be getting 10-ply, with minimal tread depth (look how deep the center wear bar is---the cheaper tires will have the wear bar very close to the surface.)