Hi, I have asked a few questions on here and have found the info I have recieved is helping me in trying to decid what to buy in my first skid steer. Everyone tells me to go bigger than I think becuse you will never regret it. My dumb question is how much more gas will a 70 hp unit use verses a 45 hp unit? Is there any differance in fuel consumption between a gas and a deisel? I would like to go bigger but if I cant afford to run it I've shot myself in the foot. Once again thanks for all your info and help. Todd
my 92 hp track machine will use about 17~19 gallons of fuel a day at 1/2~ 5/8 power maybe more or less depending on what work is being done. Snow less fuel , digging hard pan and moving more fuel. I done really see fuel / gas being a issue but
double the horsepower = almost double the fuel when you are working them. my buddy had a 90xt case a while back and he hardly ran any fuel through that machine because he hardly ever ran it over idle.
my cat 216 fuel burn is about 7 to 8 lt per hr max, less if your doing light work. 216 is 50hp. just a grip,i dont get it when you get a figure per day and no indication of how many hrs that is ? is it 8 or 10hrs ? i think that you are on the right track with getting a skidsteer that you can afford to run at a profit,fuel is a big day to day cost. good luck.
Typically what is more important than amount of fuel burned per hour is the amount of work being done per hour. Meaning yards of material moved per hour, number of trucks loaded or whatever. Buying a machine by hp is really hit and miss because that really doesn't tell you much. How much do you need to lift (ROC) do you need to load trucks (vertical lift) or is it mostly digging and grading (radial) how much hyd flow do I need. The answers to these questions I would put in front of hp, because usually by the time you answer those questions the hp decision has worked itself out.
KSSS, you are exactly right. Wow!! Todd all I would add to that is that diesel engines will far exceed the gas engines if your going to be working it hard, also shop around your area to find out what dealer has the best support that too will be help you with your business ventures.
very true , about the only time HP comes into play is on a machine that is going to run some attachment that is high flow like a mulching head.
There are benefits to a smaller machine, though. Access, *ease of towing*, ground impact etc. Don't go big just to go big, consider your use. If you are not going to be a commercial operator, taking twice as long becomes irrelevant, since you are not competing against a larger machine, but against a shovel. I would avoid a gas engine if at all possible, though. Especially if you are not a commercial operator. Gas engines don't like to sit. Carbs plug up, points corrode fuel get old etc. Diesels can sit and still fire up like you ran them yesterday. A lot of the older gas engines are TRULY dinosaurs. May are air cooled valve in block iron fin boat anchors-compared to your average diesel they are pretty bad. Air cooled gas will burn twice the fuel of a diesel, and diesel is not flammable.