THE COST OF PLOUGHING BY TRACTOR.
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Some' Useful and Interesting Figures and Comparisons with the Cost of Team Ploughing.
THE FOLLOWING tables of expenses of tractor ploughing compared with that done by the team has been worked out on the basis of figures compiled from work actually done :—
For five Cost per aeres. acre.
2 s. d. s. d.
12 gallons of paraffin at 2s. ... 1 4 0 4 9i 1 gallon of lubricating oil ... 0 10 0 •• • 2 0
1 man at 14 per week 0 la 4 2 8
Petrol and sundries 0 2 6 0 6 12 910 9 11+, The above figures are up to date, and include current prices of fuels and oils and good wage for man, but does not include interest or depreciation.
The cost of Using a team or horses is as follows 3 horses at 12 each Per week 6 0 0 1 carter at 12 15s. per week 2 15 0 1 youth at El 5s. per week 1 5 0 Sundries (incuding vet. and medicines) 0 10 0 110 1C1 0.
Ploughing one acre a day, this team, would take five days to plough five .acres, but it is impossible. to do this with an eight-hour day, so that either overtime must be paid, making the wages bill higher, or thework done will reach not more than three-fourths of an acre a day. -Roughly, it would take a week (having regard to the short day on Saturday) to plough from 4 to 4i acres, costing 110 10s., which equals 46s. 8d. to 52s. 6d. per acre. When it is possible to plough an average of acre a day, 6i days would be required to plough the 5 acres above, and the cost would be 110 18s. 9d., roughly 211.
We' have another example of 100 acres of ploughing. with the following figures:
£s.d.
Cost of keeping three horses at 12 per week each and labour' and sundries as per table .above 10 10 0 Multiplied by the three teams required, equalling, per week 31 10 0
The work done by the three teams averages 12 acres a week. It takes 8/ weeks to plough' the 100 acres, and the cost at 131 10s. a week amounts to 1262 10s., or 52s. 6d. an acre.
The agrimotor did 100 acres at an average of 4 acres a day-25 days in all—at a cost that did not reach 30s. an sore, working costs,. interest, and depreciation included. Putting the tractor at 30s. an acre (as it would be now on this land), the total cost is 1150. It will be seen that a saving is affected of nearly 5 weeks in tiine and of 1112 in cash. ,
A member of the Country Gentlemen's Association in the winter of 1917-18 worked out the cost of ploughing. 452 acres of land with an agrimotor and a fourfurrow plough as follows :-
Driver and ploughman 1,200 gallons of paraffin 60 gallons of petrol 88 gallons of oil Renewals and repairs For 452 Cost per acres. acre.
s. d. s. d 4727 2 1 93 15 0 4 101:3 0 05 16 8 9 0 9 18 16 6 0 9,1 186 15 10 8 3i Add 33i per 'annum depre ciation 170 10 0 5 5 Total 1367 5 10 13 81
The agrimotor cost 1511 10s., but it is not stated how long it took to plough the 452 acres' so that interest is difficult to calculate. Supposing, hoWever, that the work covered .a period of six months, and allowing interest at 5 per cent.. per annum—total 125 its. 6.:1.—the cost per acre would be 13s. 81d. plus is. i4d., which equals 14s. 91d. It would, of course, now be necessary to add 1 or 2 per cent, for interest, and an additional amount for petrol, oil, paraffin, and possibly wages, amounting in all to probably 58. per acre. The total cost per acre would then stand at 19s. 9,30., or, roughly, 11 per acre.
But Mr. S. F. Edge said as far back as last March that it cost 14 an acre tolptough heavy land on,his farm with the team, while,. the tractor would ,plough the same landat a cost of 30s. an acre.