The Geiger Lund Selective Asparagus Harvester Model SP-2010

A Four-Row Selective Mechanical Asparagus Harvester.  Estimated Cost - $150,000
 

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Determining the cost of mechanically harvesting asparagus

The Challenges of machine harvesting asparagus

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Green Asparagus Machine Harvesting Costs

This spread sheet based on:

 48" centers,  1.75 mph,  16 hours per day,  50 cuttings/season.   Scroll down for more examples

                   
                   
Selective Asparagus Harvester Costs of Operation              
                   
Assumptions and Conditions                    
Machine Cost 125,000.00   $/machine              
Financed (80% of Cost) 100,000.00   $/machine              
Financing (5 yrs @ 7.5%) 24,716.47   $/year              
Owner financing (5 yrs @ 8.5%) 6,344.14   $/year              
Maintenance 5,000.00   $/machine/season              
Driver 15.00   $/hour              
Packer  10.00   $/hour  1 Acre = 43560 sq ft. = 208.7' x 208.7'          
Fuel 3.00   $/gal Divide width by row centers to find # of rows          
Mileage 5.00   mpg 52.18 rows          
Speed 1.75   mph x row length & divide by 5280 to get miles          
Operation 16.00   hours/day 2.06 miles/acre          
Row centers 48.00   inches 3.39 acres/hour          
Cuttings 50.00   cut days/season              
# of rows 4.00   rows              
                   
Results                    
Acres/mile 0.48   Acres/mile              
Acres/hour 3.39   Acres/hour Acres/hour = mph x Acres/mile x 3 rows      
Acres/day 54.31   Acres/day Acres/day = acres/hour x hours/day        
(Hectares/day) 21.99                  
                   
Costs per day                    
Labor costs 400.00     Driver and packer costs x hours/day        
Fuel costs 67.20     $/day = (1/(mpg x acres/mile)) x acres/day x $/gal      
Purchasing 494.33     Annual financing/number of days        
Owner Investment costs 126.88     Annual owner financing/number of days      
Maintenance 100.00     Maint per year/number of days        
Total 1,188.41                  
Total/acre 21.88                  
Total/hectare 8.86                  
                   
Total Season Machine Harvesting Cost Per Acre $1,094.13   2702.51 Cost per Hectare    
                   
                   
Machine Yield(lbs/acre)     kg/hectare     Cost Per Pound Cost per kg.  
3000     16339.05      $    0.36   0.17    
3200     17428.32      $    0.34   0.16    
3400     18517.59      $    0.32   0.15    
3600     19606.86      $    0.30   0.14    
3800     20696.13      $    0.29   0.13    
4000     21785.4      $    0.27   0.12    
4200     22874.67      $    0.26   0.12    
4400     23963.94      $    0.25   0.11    
4600     25053.21      $    0.24   0.11    
4800     26142.48      $    0.23   0.10    
5000     27231.75      $    0.22   0.10    
5200     28321.02      $    0.21   0.10    
5400     29410.29      $    0.20   0.09    
5600     30499.56      $    0.20   0.09    
                   


54 inch centers, 2 mph,  20 hours per day, 50 cuttings/season

                   
                   
Selective Asparagus Harvester Costs of Operation              
                   
Assumptions and Conditions                    
Machine Cost 125,000.00   $/machine              
Financed (80% of Cost) 100,000.00   $/machine              
Financing (5 yrs @ 7.5%) 24,716.47   $/year              
Owner financing (5 yrs @ 8.5%) 6,344.14   $/year              
Maintenance 5,000.00   $/machine/season              
Driver 15.00   $/hour              
Packer  10.00   $/hour  1 Acre = 43560 sq ft. = 208.7' x 208.7'          
Fuel 3.00   $/gal Divide width by row centers to find # of rows          
Mileage 5.00   mpg 46.38 rows          
Speed 2.00   mph x row length & divide by 5280 to get miles          
Operation 20.00   hours/day 1.83 miles/acre          
Row centers 54.00   inches 4.36 acres/hour          
Cuttings 50.00   cut days/season              
# of rows 4.00   rows              
                   
Results                    
Acres/mile 0.55   Acres/mile              
Acres/hour 4.36   Acres/hour Acres/hour = mph x Acres/mile x 3 rows      
Acres/day 87.28   Acres/day Acres/day = acres/hour x hours/day        
(Hectares/day) 35.34                  
                   
Costs per day                    
Labor costs 500.00     Driver and packer costs x hours/day        
Fuel costs 96.00     $/day = (1/(mpg x acres/mile)) x acres/day x $/gal      
Purchasing 494.33     Annual financing/number of days        
Owner Investment costs 126.88     Annual owner financing/number of days      
Maintenance 100.00     Maint per year/number of days        
Total 1,317.21                  
Total/acre 15.09                  
Total/hectare 6.11                  
                   
Total Season Machine Harvesting Cost Per Acre $754.58   1863.81 Cost per Hectare    
                   
                   
Machine Yield(lbs/acre)     kg/hectare     Cost Per Pound Cost per kg.  
3000     16339.05      $    0.25   0.11    
3200     17428.32      $    0.24   0.11    
3400     18517.59      $    0.22   0.10    
3600     19606.86      $    0.21   0.10    
3800     20696.13      $    0.20   0.09    
4000     21785.4      $    0.19   0.09    
4200     22874.67      $    0.18   0.08    
4400     23963.94      $    0.17   0.08    
4600     25053.21      $    0.16   0.07    
4800     26142.48      $    0.16   0.07    
5000     27231.75      $    0.15   0.07    
5200     28321.02      $    0.15   0.07    
5400     29410.29      $    0.14   0.06    
5600     30499.56      $    0.13   0.06    
                   


40" centers,  1.5 MPH, 16 hour day,  60 cuttings/season 

 
                   
                   
Selective Asparagus Harvester Costs of Operation              
                   
Assumptions and Conditions                    
Machine Cost 125,000.00   $/machine              
Financed (80% of Cost) 100,000.00   $/machine              
Financing (5 yrs @ 7.5%) 24,716.47   $/year              
Owner financing (5 yrs @ 8.5%) 6,344.14   $/year              
Maintenance 5,000.00   $/machine/season              
Driver 15.00   $/hour              
Packer  10.00   $/hour  1 Acre = 43560 sq ft. = 208.7' x 208.7'          
Fuel 3.00   $/gal Divide width by row centers to find # of rows          
Mileage 5.00   mpg 62.61 rows          
Speed 1.50   mph x row length & divide by 5280 to get miles          
Operation 16.00   hours/day 2.47 miles/acre          
Row centers 40.00   inches 2.42 acres/hour          
Cuttings 60.00   cut days/season              
# of rows 4.00   rows              
                   
Results                    
Acres/mile 0.40   Acres/mile              
Acres/hour 2.42   Acres/hour Acres/hour = mph x Acres/mile x 3 rows      
Acres/day 38.79   Acres/day Acres/day = acres/hour x hours/day        
(Hectares/day) 15.71                  
                   
Costs per day                    
Labor costs 400.00     Driver and packer costs x hours/day        
Fuel costs 57.60     $/day = (1/(mpg x acres/mile)) x acres/day x $/gal      
Purchasing 411.94     Annual financing/number of days        
Owner Investment costs 105.74     Annual owner financing/number of days      
Maintenance 83.33     Maint per year/number of days        
Total 1,058.61                  
Total/acre 27.29                  
Total/hectare 11.05                  
                   
Total Season Machine Harvesting Cost Per Acre $1,637.38   4044.32 Cost per Hectare    
                   
                   
Machine Yield(lbs/acre)     kg/hectare     Cost Per Pound Cost per kg.  
3000     16339.05      $    0.55   0.25    
3200     17428.32      $    0.51   0.23    
3400     18517.59      $    0.48   0.22    
3600     19606.86      $    0.45   0.21    
3800     20696.13      $    0.43   0.20    
4000     21785.4      $    0.41   0.19    
4200     22874.67      $    0.39   0.18    
4400     23963.94      $    0.37   0.17    
4600     25053.21      $    0.36   0.16    
4800     26142.48      $    0.34   0.15    
5000     27231.75      $    0.33   0.15    
5200     28321.02      $    0.31   0.14    
5400     29410.29      $    0.30   0.14    
5600     30499.56      $    0.29   0.13    
                   
                   


70" centers, 20 hours/day,  1.5 MPH,  50 cuttings/season

                   
                   
Selective Asparagus Harvester Costs of Operation              
                   
Assumptions and Conditions                    
Machine Cost 125,000.00   $/machine              
Financed (80% of Cost) 100,000.00   $/machine              
Financing (5 yrs @ 7.5%) 24,716.47   $/year              
Owner financing (5 yrs @ 8.5%) 6,344.14   $/year              
Maintenance 5,000.00   $/machine/season              
Driver 15.00   $/hour              
Packer  10.00   $/hour  1 Acre = 43560 sq ft. = 208.7' x 208.7'          
Fuel 3.00   $/gal Divide width by row centers to find # of rows          
Mileage 5.00   mpg 35.78 rows          
Speed 1.50   mph x row length & divide by 5280 to get miles          
Operation 20.00   hours/day 1.41 miles/acre