Relationship Between Work and Heavy Equipment Cost

The type of work a machine performs (See this) and the environment in which it works, affects many items related to the cost of that machine. Here are a few of these affected factors. These will change your machine cost:

• Economic life of the machine
• Fuel consumption (Gallons or Liters per hour)
• Life Cycle of engine and major components
• Tire or Track Undercarriage Life Cycle
• Ground Engaging Tool life
• Production speed of machine
• Production rate of manpower

These changes can easily amount to a project cost difference on a machine of 200% or more. In the past their was no easy way to calculate the cost of these changes. Over time, many owners, estimators and equipment managers grew accustomed to not calculating these real job costs.


Today, the personal computer has brought enormous power to compute what was previously too time consuming or difficult to calculate to millions of people. Many owners, estimators and equipment managers are now using their computer to calculate their true cost with DecisiveCost. These difficult calculations are done seconds without any typing or entering of complex formulas.

Knowing your cost will enable you to win more projects by allowing you to lower your price, to the least amount you can safely bid or tender.


Many Heavy Equipment engineers have noted the close relationship between Fuel Consumption rates and equipment wear. With every revolution of a machine’s crankshaft, many parts are worn. Admittedly, this is a small amount of wear, but consider that a machine operating at 2400 RPM and 1000 hours a year will make 72,000,000,000 revolutions in a 5 year time period! The end of life is coming as sure as death and taxes. The only questions are when and will you have the money to replace the engine and machine major components.


If you want to survive and prosper in this business you must know your cost to know how much to charge for the use of a machine. Your costs are your costs. Someone else will likely have different costs.


You would not want to sell a ton of aggregate used on a project for $15.00 a ton less than your cost. If some other company either does not know what the cost of aggregate is or wants to sell the aggregate at less than their cost, that is their right (and problem) to do so. You must look at your machine cost in the same way.