Repair factor and engine utilisation factor calculations

Two coefficients are important for the calculation of repair costs and machine costs. The repair factor gives the proportion of new value incurred as repair costs in the course of service life. Fuel consumption, and hence fuel costs, are calculated using the average engine utilisation factor. On the basis of an empirical study both coefficients are calculated for seven machine categories, including combine-harvesters and sugar beet harvesters. The utilisation factors are very consistent in a comparison with current ART Machine Cost Report values. There are considerable differences in repair costs and repair factor. Even if the results are relativised by the low number of machines investigated, a clear reduction in repair costs per unit of work is found in relation to previous investigations.