Combines Acres Hrs

[Tom_Russell]

What crops do you doIJ I have 2 categories for things I do to my 12-year old R60repairs and preventive maintenance. Repairs include the stuff that breaks and causes downtime during season. The past 3 years saw no repairs except for 1 alternator belt. PM is another story. I repair or replace lots of stuff during the off-season to avoid in-season breakdowns. I could sell some of the items that go on my junk pile but that is merely my personal preference to stay ahead of trouble. Now for putting a dollar amount on it, I dont spend anywhere near the amount you are spending. Maybe the reason is because my machine doesnt work as many hours as yours does so I get a chance to go over it more often. I also bought my machine used and poured a lot of time and money into it the first year and very little since then. Tom in MN

 

[DAB]

Hello Guys, I guess I would be comparing apples to apple cores since I am running old N series combines. I am kind of in the same boat as Tom as I don't put nearly as many hours on per year. A rough guess would be in that $1000.00 to $1500.00 range per combine per year. This covers oil, filters, belts, and any other year to year expenses. This wouldn't cover a big breakdown or any updating or modifying that I have been doing lately. I can't really include my labor in those costs as I usually wrench and tinker and play with my machines all winter. I'd go broke if I had to pay myself! $6000.00 per year per machine sounds like a lot, but those BEASTS are getting a lot of hrs per year to, and with that kind of capacity, you can expect some input costs. Hope I did you some good, DAB

 

[hired_gun]

Yes, I was including PM into expenses, Doing about 400 hrs in wheat- 100hr canola - 100 hr corn. My exspense number was derived from annual reciepts logged into computer. Don't really know how much was breakdown or PM cost. Have to spend most on winter repairs due to getting machines in top shape for next season run. Was curious if others were spending same amount to keep machines in top condition.

 

[Ed]

So, you spend $2000 in year one and $10,000 in year two; then you tradeIJ I got rid of my Gleaner largely to dispose of a $7000 to 10,000 parts bill each year. (Canadian $). The red replacement has taken about the same amount this fall. It seems to me the only way to have low repair costs is to trade every year or two. Once a combine has over 1000 hours on it, it is just a money pit, in my opinion. I clock about 300 hours a year.

 

[venturis40]

my N7 has 3700 sep hrs and i dont spend nearly that much