Equipment Rate Calc

Equipment Production & Unit Cost Calculator

Convert rated capacity, fill factor, observed cycle time, production efficiency, and loaded hourly cost into effective output, job duration, schedule requirements, and internal cost per unit.

Inputs

Quantity and unit bridge

Use the unit carried in the estimate or pay item, such as BCY, CCY, tons, acres, square feet, linear feet, loads, or each.

Enter 1 when both units match. Example: use supported LCY per BCY when the bucket is measured loose but the bid quantity is bank yards.

Use the capacity for the actual bucket, blade, drum, attachment, or repeatable work package. Confirm the basis in the applicable manufacturer information.

Use measured payload or a supported planning factor. Do not assume every cycle reaches nominal capacity.

Cycle and schedule

Time the full repeatable cycle from the same start point back to that point. Include the ordinary movement that belongs in every cycle.

Use this once for losses not already embedded in cycle time. Avoid counting the same waiting, breaks, or interruptions twice.

Use working production time after known startup, shutdown, access, and schedule limits.

Enter the production window you need to meet. The result shows the required output and maximum average cycle time at the other assumptions.

Internal production cost

Use the internal machine cost appropriate to the decision. If you do not yet know it, calculate it first with the Equipment Hourly Rate Calculator.

Include only labor or support that runs with production and is not already inside the loaded machine cost.

Use for task-specific wear or consumables not included above. Enter zero rather than counting fuel, wear, or maintenance twice.

Use only for a recurring cost tied to each bid unit. Trade-specific materials, hauling, and disposal belong in the appropriate job calculator.

Include one-time setup or support cost attributable to this production activity. Keep mobilization and customer pricing separate when they require their own scope.

Calculations run in this browser. Saved scenarios remain in this browser; a share link places the entered values in the URL.

Internal Cost per Bid Unit0

The calculation in one line

Effective working units/hour = capacity/cycle × fill factor × (60 ÷ cycle minutes) × efficiency. Bid units/hour = working units/hour ÷ working units per bid unit. Whole cycles are rounded up before estimating hours and time-based cost. Internal cost/bid unit = (time cost + total other direct cost + fixed cost) ÷ job quantity.

Read the methodology and editorial policy

When to use this calculator

This page answers the step between equipment cost per hour and a trade-specific estimate: how much repeatable work the machine can complete, how many hours the quantity requires, and what the production activity costs per measured unit. It derives production from capacity and cycle observations instead of asking you to guess a finished units-per-hour number.

It does not replace the Excavation Cost Calculator, Grading Cost Calculator, or Dirt Work Bid Calculator. Use those pages for scope-specific customer estimates. It also excludes dump-truck payload, route, loader balance, queueing, and disposal logic; use the Dump Truck Cycle and Hauling Cost Calculator for a hauling fleet.

Name the bid unit and working unit first

A bid unit is the quantity used for estimating, payment, or comparison. A working unit is the quantity carried by one production cycle. They may match: square feet per pass, tons per load, acres per hour, or items per cycle can use a factor of 1. They can also differ. An excavator bucket may be described in loose cubic yards while the pay quantity is bank cubic yards.

When they differ, enter the number of working units represented by one bid unit. The calculator divides working output by that factor to report bid units per hour. Do not use an unsupported generic conversion. FHWA's Earthwork Design guidance explains that material commonly changes volume between its bank, loose transport, and compacted states and recommends project-specific information. Use the Swell, Shrink, and Spoil Calculator or Cubic Yards and Tons Calculator when the quantity basis still needs to be established.

Capacity, fill factor, and cycle time do different jobs

Rated capacity is the nominal size of the bucket, body, attachment, or repeatable work package. Fill factor adjusts that size to the amount actually moved. Cycle time measures how long the repeatable action takes. Caterpillar's wheel-loader productivity guidance likewise treats bucket fill factor and total cycle time as separate production drivers.

Use the capacity and operating limits for the actual machine and attachment. A larger nominal bucket does not prove that the machine can safely lift, carry, reach, or dump the assumed load in the current configuration. This calculator does not determine machine compatibility, rated operating capacity, ground pressure, stability, or safe procedure.

Apply efficiency once

Theoretical cycles per hour are 60 divided by average cycle minutes. Production efficiency reduces that continuous-cycle result for losses not already included in the timed cycle. The official OSMRE equipment-productivity worksheets use capacity, cycle time, and an efficiency factor to estimate hourly production and hours required.

Avoid counting the same loss twice. If the observed cycle already includes normal positioning and recurring travel, leave those minutes in the cycle. If a separate efficiency factor accounts for breaks, coordination, or intermittent delays, do not also add the same loss to every cycle. Keep a note beside the input so the next estimate uses the same definition.

Build cost from consistent boundaries

Loaded machine cost should come from a defined internal rate. It might include ownership, maintenance, repair reserve, fuel, and operator cost, or it might exclude some of them. Use the Equipment Hourly Rate Calculator when that cost still needs to be built. Then enter crew, support, or consumables only when they are not already inside the loaded figure.

Komatsu's cost-per-ton framework emphasizes consistent hourly cost and production definitions. This calculator follows the same principle: time-based cost is hourly production cost multiplied by estimated hours; direct per-unit and fixed production costs are then added once. The output is an internal cost, not a customer rate or a market average.

Worked example: loose bucket capacity to bank-yard cost

The sample models a 600-BCY activity with 1.25 loose working yards per bank bid yard. A 2.0-LCY bucket at a 90% fill factor carries 1.8 working yards per cycle. A 1.2-minute cycle produces 50 theoretical cycles per hour; at 75% additional production efficiency, the effective rate is 37.5 cycles, 67.5 loose working yards, or 54 bank bid yards per hour.

The quantity requires 417 whole cycles and about 11.12 production hours. The sample combines $125 per hour for the machine, $55 for crew and support, and $15 for additional consumables. After $3 per bid unit and $500 of fixed production cost, total internal production cost is about $4,468.40, or $7.45 per bank bid yard. Those numbers are a transparent example, not a recommended default.

Use the target-hours result as an operational test

The target section works backward from the planned quantity. A 600-unit job that must finish in 10 production hours needs 60 bid units per hour. With 1.25 working units per bid unit, that becomes 75 working units per hour. At the sample capacity, fill, and efficiency, the average cycle would need to be no slower than about 1.08 minutes.

A negative production-rate gap means the current plan misses the target. That does not automatically justify pushing the machine or operator faster. The appropriate response may be a different attachment, better staging, a smaller scope per shift, another machine, changed schedule, or a revised quote. Safety, manufacturer limits, site control, and contract requirements remain controlling.

Read the slower-cycle test before committing the estimate

The sensitivity test increases cycle time by 10% while leaving capacity, fill, efficiency, and unit definitions unchanged. That lowers hourly output, increases duration, and raises the time-based portion of internal unit cost. It does not pretend to forecast the exact delay.

Use the difference to decide which assumption deserves field verification. If a small cycle change materially moves unit cost, record several representative cycles, separate normal work from unusual disruption, and price the uncertainty in the scope-specific estimator rather than hiding it inside an unexplained production rate.

Field calibration checklist

  • Name the activity, machine, attachment, material, operator, unit basis, and site condition.
  • Record complete cycles from the same start point to the same return point.
  • Measure payload or completed quantity rather than assuming nominal capacity was achieved.
  • Separate working time, recurring delay, breakdown, weather, and customer-caused interruption.
  • Compare planned production hours with paid and meter hours at job close.
  • Use the Estimate vs Actual Profit Calculator to connect the production variance to the finished job result.

The downloadable workbook adds a readable production model and field-cycle log without requiring an account or transmitting the entered job information.

Download production and unit-cost workbook

Method, sources, and limitations

The production relationship is supported by the OSMRE equipment-productivity worksheets and Caterpillar's capacity, fill-factor, and cycle-time explanation. FHWA supports the warning that bank, loose, and compacted quantities must not be treated as interchangeable. Komatsu supports connecting consistently defined hourly cost with measured production to calculate unit cost. Sources and method reviewed August 21, 2026.

This free tool is for planning and sensitivity analysis. It does not provide manufacturer performance guarantees, engineering design, a safety plan, legal compliance, contract interpretation, market pricing, or a customer quote. Replace sample values with documented project and machine information, and use qualified professional advice when the decision affects safety, design, compliance, tax, accounting, or contract rights.

Important disclaimer Internal production-cost planning estimate only—not a customer quote. Verify capacity, units, field conditions, safety requirements, contracts, and actual costs before using the result.

Frequently asked questions

Should cycle time already include waiting?

Include repeatable movement that belongs in the ordinary cycle. Use the efficiency input only for additional loss not already timed, and document the boundary so delay is not counted twice.

Is fill factor the same as production efficiency?

No. Fill factor adjusts quantity carried per cycle. Production efficiency adjusts how much theoretical cycling is achieved over the working period.

Where should margin be added?

Use the Markup vs Margin Calculator to add customer margin after internal production cost is known.