Construction Equipment
Management
Part Four
4. Cost of Owning and Operating Construction Equipment
COST OF OPERATING CONSTRUCTION
EQUIPMENT
• Operating costs of the construction equipment are the costs associated
with the operation of a piece of equipment.
• They are incurred only when the equipment is actually used.
• The operating costs vary with the amount of equipment used and job-
operating conditions.
• The best basis for estimating the cost of operating construction
equipment is the use of historical data from the experience of similar
equipment under similar conditions.
• If such data is not available, recommendations from the equipment
manufacturer could be used.
MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR COST
• The cost of maintenance and repairs usually constitutes the largest
amount of operating expense for the construction equipment.
• Construction operations can subject equipment to considerable wear
and tear, but the amount of wear varies enormously between the
different items of the equipment used and between different job
conditions.
• Generally, the maintenance and repair costs get higher as the
equipment gets older.
MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR COST
• The hourly cost of maintenance and repair can be obtained by dividing the
annual cost by its operating hours per year.
• The hourly repair cost during a particular year can be estimated by using the
following formula
• The lifetime repair cost is usually estimated as a percentage of the
equipment’s initial cost deducting the cost of tires.
• It is adjusted by the operating condition factor obtained from Table below.
Table 1
Example 1
• Estimate the hourly repair cost of the scraper for the second year of
operation. The initial cost of the scraper is $186,000, tire cost
$14,000, and its useful life is 5 years. Assume average operating
condition and 2000 h of operation per year.
TIRE COST
• The tire cost represents the cost of tire repair and replacement.
• Because the life expectancy of rubber tires is generally far less than the life of
the equipment on which they are used on, the depreciation rate of tires will
be quite different from the depreciation rate of the rest of the vehicle.
• The repair and maintenance cost of tires as a percentage of their depreciation
will also be different from the percentage associated with the repair and
maintenance of the vehicle.
• The best source of information in estimating tire life is the historical data
obtained under similar operating conditions.
• Table below lists the typical ranges of tire life found in the most recent
literature on the subject for various types of equipment.
Table 2
TIRE COST
• The following equation may be used to estimate tire repair and
replacement cost:
Fuel Cost
• Fuel consumption is incurred when the equipment is operated.
• When operating under standard conditions, a gasoline engine will consume
approximately 0.06 gal of fuel per flywheel horsepower hour (fwhp-h), while
a diesel engine will consume approximately 0.04 gal/fwhp-h.
• A horsepower hour is a measure of the work performed by an engine.
• The hourly cost of fuel is estimated by multiplying the hourly fuel
consumption by the unit cost of fuel.
• The amount of fuel consumed by the equipment can be obtained from the
historical data. When the historical data is not available, Table 3 gives
approximate fuel consumption (gal/h) for major types of equipment.
Hourly FuelCost = (FlywheelHorsepower)(Fuel Factor)(Unit Fuel Cost)
Table 3
Example 2
• Calculate the average hourly fuel consumption and hourly fuel cost for
a twin engine scraper in Example 1. It has a diesel engine rated at 465
hp and fuel cost $2.00/gal.
• During a cycle of 20 s, the engine may be operated at full power, while
filling the bowl in tough ground requires 5 s.
• During the balance of the cycle, the engine will use no more than 50%
of its rated power.
• Also, the scraper will operate about 45 min/h on average.
• For this condition, find the approximate amount of fuel consummated
during 1 h?
Solution
• Rated power: 465 hp
• Engine factor: 0.5
• Filling the bowl, 5 s/20 s cycle = 0.250
• Rest of cycle, (15/20)*0.5 = 0.375
• Total cycle = 0.625
• Time factor, 45 min/60 min = 0.75
• Operating factor, 0.625*0.75 = 0.47
• From Table 3: use ‘‘average’’ fuel consumption factor = 0.033
• Fuel consumed per hour: 0.47(465)(0.033) = 7.21 gal
• Hourly fuel cost: 7.21 gal/h ($2.00/gal) = $14.42/h.
Lubricating Oil Cost
• The quantity of oil required by an engine per change will include the
amount added during the change plus the make-up oil between
changes.
• It will vary with the engine size, the capacity of crankcase, the
condition of the piston rings, and the number of hours between oil
changes.
• It is a common practice to change oil every 100 to 200 h
Lubricating Oil Cost
• The quantity of oil required can be estimated by using the following formula
• where q is the quantity consumed (gal/h), hp the rated horsepower of engine, c
the capacity of crankcase (gal), f the operating factor, t the number of hours
between changes, the consumption rate 0.006 lbs/hp-h, and the conversion
factor 7.4 lbs/gal.
• The consumption data or the average cost factors for oil, lubricants, and filters
for their equipment under average conditions are available from the equipment
manufacturers.
