Fuel burn by machine
Typical diesel burn in gallons per running hour, the figures Site Bid starts a company with. They're round figures inside the ranges manufacturers' performance handbooks publish, typical rather than any one make or model, and your fuel tickets divided by meter hours beat them.
| Machine | Light | Medium | Heavy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mini excavator (under 6 t) | 0.5 | 0.9 | 1.3 |
| Excavator, small (6–15 t) | 1.5 | 2.5 | 3.5 |
| Excavator, medium (20–25 t) | 3.0 | 4.5 | 6.0 |
| Excavator, large (30–40 t) | 4.5 | 6.5 | 8.5 |
| Excavator, very large (45 t and up) | 6.5 | 9.0 | 12.0 |
| Dozer, small (D3–D5 size) | 2.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 |
| Dozer, medium (D6 size) | 3.5 | 5.0 | 6.5 |
| Dozer, large (D7–D8 size) | 6.0 | 8.5 | 11.0 |
| Dozer, very large (D9 size and up) | 9.0 | 12.0 | 15.0 |
| Wheel loader, small (under 2.5 yd bucket) | 2.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 |
| Wheel loader, medium (3–4 yd bucket) | 3.5 | 5.0 | 7.0 |
| Wheel loader, large (5 yd bucket and up) | 5.5 | 7.5 | 10.0 |
| Backhoe loader | 1.5 | 2.3 | 3.0 |
| Skid steer / compact track loader | 1.0 | 1.8 | 2.6 |
| Motor grader | 2.5 | 4.0 | 5.5 |
| Soil compactor / padfoot or smooth-drum roller | 1.5 | 2.5 | 3.5 |
| Small roller / asphalt tandem roller | 1.0 | 1.6 | 2.3 |
| Articulated truck (25–40 t) | 4.0 | 6.0 | 8.5 |
| Off-road rigid haul truck | 6.5 | 10.0 | 14.0 |
| Dump truck (on-road tandem) | 2.5 | 4.0 | 5.5 |
| Wheel tractor scraper | 5.5 | 8.0 | 11.0 |
| Scraper, tandem-powered or push-pull | 9.0 | 13.0 | 17.0 |
| Asphalt paver | 2.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 |
| Water truck | 2.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 |
| Pickup / service truck | 1.0 | 1.5 | 2.0 |
| Zero-turn mower, 60–72 in | 1.1 | 1.5 | 2.0 |
| Stand-on mower, 48–61 in | 0.9 | 1.2 | 1.6 |
| Walk-behind mower, 36–52 in | 0.7 | 0.9 | 1.3 |
| Push mower, 21 in | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| String trimmer | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 |
| Backpack blower | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.5 |
| Hedge trimmer | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 |
| Stick edger | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Stand-on aerator | 0.8 | 1.1 | 1.5 |
| Slit seeder | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.7 |
| Spreader-sprayer | 0.2 | 0.5 | 1.0 |
| Mini skid steer (Dingo class) | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.9 |
| Sod cutter | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Leaf loader / truck vac | 1.0 | 1.5 | 2.5 |
| Mulch blower truck (blower engine) | 2.5 | 3.5 | 5.0 |
| Stump grinder | 1.8 | 2.5 | 3.5 |
| Vibratory plow | 1.0 | 1.5 | 2.2 |
| Walk-behind trencher | 0.7 | 0.9 | 1.2 |
From horsepower instead, the Corps of Engineers uses 0.34 pounds of diesel per horsepower-hour at 7 pounds a gallon, which is 0.0486 gallons per horsepower-hour at full power, times the share of its power the machine uses on average. A 160-horsepower excavator using half its power burns 160 × 0.5 × 0.0486 = 3.9 gallons an hour.
How the calculator works
- Depreciation = (price × (1 − resale share) − tires or undercarriage) ÷ life in hours. Tires and undercarriage wear out on their own clock, so they're charged separately: their cost ÷ the hours they last.
- Cost of money. The money in a machine shrinks as it depreciates, so interest is charged on its average investment. With N = life ÷ hours a year, the average investment factor is ((N − 1) × (1 + resale share) + 2) ÷ 2N, and cost of money an hour = price × that factor × rate ÷ hours a year.
- Fuel = gallons an hour × the price of diesel.
- Owning and operating = depreciation + cost of money + fuel + oil and filters + repairs + tires or undercarriage. Without fuel is the same less fuel, the way Bid carries a machine and prices fuel as its own line.
- Standby = half the depreciation + cost of money: what a machine costs while it's parked on the job and not running, by the Corps' rule.
A worked example
A medium excavator bought for $250,000 delivered, worth 30% at the end of 10,000 hours, run 1,400 hours a year, with money at 7%, burning 4.5 gallons an hour at $3.75, with $12.00 an hour in repairs and $2.50 in oil and filters (example figures):
- Depreciation: $250,000 × 0.7 ÷ 10,000 = $17.50.
- Cost of money: N = 7.1 years, factor 0.699; $250,000 × 0.699 × 7% ÷ 1,400 = $8.74.
- Fuel: $16.88.
- Owning and operating: $57.61 an hour, $40.74 without fuel. Standby: $17.49.
Checking against published rates
Public rate books are a sanity check for your own figures. Caltrans publishes equipment rental rates by machine, covering ownership, fuel and repairs but not the operator, and the Corps of Engineers publishes its schedule by region. They're set for force-account and government work and their fuel prices are their own, so expect your rate to differ; a large gap is worth a second look at the life, resale and repairs you entered.
Sources
- US Army Corps of Engineers, EP 1110-1-8, Construction Equipment Ownership and Operating Expense Schedule (2018): the depreciation, average investment, standby and fuel formulas. Read it. Checked October 3, 2026.
- Caltrans, Labor Surcharge and Equipment Rental Rates. dot.ca.gov. Checked October 4, 2026.
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