Tree service
Tree Service Fuel Cost Calculator
Fuel across the whole kit for a day of tree work, which is several machines burning at very different rates rather than one.
Result
Machines are separated because their burn rates differ by close to an order of magnitude: a saw sips fuel while a chipper or a grinder under load drinks it, so a day heavy on grinding costs very differently from a day of pruning even at identical crew hours. Burn rates here are editable defaults rather than specifications, since actual consumption depends on the machine, how hard it is worked and how much of the hour it spends idling. The blended price accounts for mixed fuel and bar oil costing more per gallon than what comes out of the pump, which is easy to leave out and applies to a meaningful share of the total.
Get a Free Business AuditHow the calculation works
Machine hours times burn rate for each piece of kit, plus the truck's miles over its towing economy, then gallons times a blended price. The machines are separated because their consumption differs by close to an order of magnitude: a saw sips while a chipper or grinder under load drinks. The blended price accounts for two stroke mix and bar oil costing more per gallon than pump fuel.
What moves the number
- Mix of work in the day, since grinding and chipping burn far more than pruning.
- Machine hours against idling, which published burn rates assume differently.
- Towing economy, which is well below the truck's unladen rating.
- Share of mixed fuel and bar oil, which is dearer per gallon.
Where this one goes wrong
Burn rates here are editable defaults rather than specifications, and the honest figures come from logging gallons into each machine against hours run over a few weeks. Idling matters more than people expect: a chipper left running between loads consumes fuel at a meaningful rate while producing nothing, and a crew habit of leaving machines idling is a real and invisible cost. Bar oil is frequently left out of fuel budgets entirely despite being expensive per unit and consumed steadily.
Before you quote
- Log gallons against machine hours to get your own burn rates.
- Count bar oil rather than leaving it out of the fuel line.
- Watch idling time, which consumes fuel for no output.
Questions
About this calculator
Why separate the chipper from the chainsaws?
Because the burn rates are nothing alike. A chipper or stump grinder working under load can consume several times what a saw does per hour, so the mix of work in a day changes fuel cost far more than total crew hours do. Averaging them hides that.
Should bar oil be in here?
It is a real consumable and it is expensive per unit, which is why the mix premium exists rather than treating everything as pump price. If you track bar oil separately, set the premium to cover only the fuel mix and add oil as its own cost.
How do I get accurate burn rates?
Log it. Note the gallons put into each machine over a few weeks against the hours it ran, and you will have figures specific to your kit and your kind of work. Published rates assume a duty cycle that may not match yours, particularly on idling.
The formula
gallons = sum of machine hours x burn rate + truck miles / mpg; cost = gallons x blended price
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How to use this calculator
- Work it out by. Enter your own figure; the page starts at Burn rate per hour for each machine.
- Chainsaw hours. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 4.
- Chainsaw fuel per hour (gal). Enter your own figure; the page starts at 0.35.
- Chipper hours. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 3.
- Chipper fuel per hour (gal). Enter your own figure; the page starts at 1.6.
- Stump grinder hours. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 1.5.
The result updates as you type, so you can try a figure, see what it does to fuel cost per day, and change it back. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere or saved.
A worked example
These are the figures the calculator opens with. Every number in the results column below is produced by the same calculation the page runs, so you can follow it through before putting your own figures in.
What goes in
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Work it out by | Burn rate per hour for each machine |
| Chainsaw hours | 4 |
| Chainsaw fuel per hour (gal) | 0.35 |
| Chipper hours | 3 |
| Chipper fuel per hour (gal) | 1.6 |
| Stump grinder hours | 1.5 |
| Stump grinder fuel per hour (gal) | 2.2 |
| Truck and chipper tow miles | 45 |
| Truck fuel economy towing (mpg) | 9 |
| Fuel price per gallon | $4.1 |
| Share that is two stroke mix | 25% |
| Extra cost of mix and bar oil | 35% |
| Working days per month | 20 |
What comes out
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Fuel cost per day main result | $64.65 |
| Fuel cost per month | $1,293 |
| Fuel cost per year | $15,516 |
| Gallons per day | 14.5 |
| Gallons in the equipment | 9.5 |
| Gallons in the truck | 5.0 |
| Blended cost per gallon | $4.46 |
A day of work burns 14.5 gallons, 9.5 in the equipment and 5.0 in the truck, at a blended $4.46 a gallon. That is $64.65 a day and $15,516 a year.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only fuel price per gallon, this is what happens to fuel cost per day. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| Fuel price per gallon ($) | Fuel cost per day |
|---|---|
| $2.05 | $32.33 |
| $3.08 | $48.57 |
| $4.1 example above | $64.65 |
| $6.15 | $96.98 |
| $8.2 | $129.30 |
Every other input is held at the example value while this one changes, which is not how a real job behaves. Treat it as a guide to which number matters most, not as five separate quotes.
What each figure means
- Work it out by
- Choose from Burn rate per hour for each machine, Gallons per day for the whole crew.
- Chainsaw hours
- A number, between 0 and 24, starting at 4.
- Chainsaw fuel per hour (gal)
- A number, between 0 and 10, starting at 0.35.
- Chipper hours
- A number, between 0 and 24, starting at 3.
- Chipper fuel per hour (gal)
- A number, between 0 and 20, starting at 1.6.
- Stump grinder hours
- A number, between 0 and 24, starting at 1.5.
- Stump grinder fuel per hour (gal)
- A number, between 0 and 20, starting at 2.2.
- Truck and chipper tow miles
- A number, between 0 and 2000, starting at 45.
- Truck fuel economy towing (mpg)
- A number, between 0 and 40, starting at 9.
- Fuel price per gallon ($)
- A money amount, between 0 and 50, starting at $4.1.
- Share that is two stroke mix (%)
- Mixed fuel and bar oil cost more per gallon than pump fuel.
- Extra cost of mix and bar oil (%)
- A percentage, between 0 and 300, starting at 35%.
- Working days per month
- A number, between 0 and 31, starting at 20.
What the results tell you
| Result | What it is |
|---|---|
| Fuel cost per day | The headline result. A money figure. |
| Fuel cost per month | A money figure. |
| Fuel cost per year | A money figure. |
| Gallons per day | A decimal figure. |
| Gallons in the equipment | A decimal figure. |
| Gallons in the truck | A decimal figure. |
| Blended cost per gallon | A money figure. |
Keep going
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