World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology

International Journal of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering

Vol:8, No:3, 2014

The Effect of Failure Rate on Repair and Maintenance

Costs of Four Agricultural Tractor Models
Fatemeh Afsharnia, Mohammad Amin Asoodar, Abbas Abdeshahi

probabilities of different kinds of machinery were determined,

Abstract—In economical evaluation literature, although the and their effects on cost load, the use of the data in the
combination of some variables such as repair and maintenance costs planning stage were examined [8]-[11]. If properly and given
and accumulated use hours has been widely considered in the necessary field maintenance tractors will operate for long
determining of optimum life for tractor, no investigation has
period and do a great deal of work before major repairs are
indicated the influence of failure rate on repair and maintenance
costs. In this study, the owners of three hundred tractors, which required [12]. Tractor break down can be of high cost not only
include Massey Ferguson, John Deere and Universal, were from the stand point of the expenditure necessary to effect
interviewed, from five regions of Khouzestan Province. A regression repair, but also because of the disastrous effect on crop
model was used to predict the tractors annual repair and maintenance productivity and the fact that idle staff must still be paid. The
Open Science Index, Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Vol:8, No:3, 2014 waset.org/Publication/9997982

costs based on failure rate. Results showed that the maximum extent of the problem of tractor failure in developing countries
percentage of annual repair and maintenance costs occurred in engine
is more serious compared with developed countries. This is
parts for MF285, JD3140 and U650 tractors while these costs for tire,
ring, ball bearing and operator seat were higher compared to other due to acute shortages in genuine spare parts, affecting
MF399 tractor systems. According to the results of the regression, the preventive maintenance, absence of future planning for
failure rate increase would lead to annual repair and maintenance integrated maintenance management and programs that strive
costs increase for all tractors. But, of all the tractors, repair and to identify incipient faults before they become critical to
maintenance costs of JD3140 tractors extremely affected by the enable more accurate planning of preventive actions. As such
failure rate increase.
system performance can be improved by developing optimal
maintenance prediction models that minimize overall
Keywords—Failure rate, tractor, annual repair and maintenance
costs, regression model, Khouzestan. maintenance cost or maximize system performance measures
[13].
I. INTRODUCTION In practice, most farmers face a number of problems in
using the tractors. Breakdowns which are field stoppage due to
T ODAY, tractor is one of the most important power sources
in agriculture. Effect of tractor power on agriculture is
considerable [1]. The use of modern technology during last
sudden failure of a part [8] are major problems found in the
Khouzestan Province. From an economic point of view,
idleness due to machinery breakdowns can be very costly as a
decades resulted in rapid growth of farm production. Tractors
result of lost working time [14]. Repairs of broken down
and farm machinery are important samples of this modern
machines are also expensive [15], because the breakdowns
technology [2]-[4]. The quality of inputs of mechanization and
consume resources; manpower, spare parts, and even lose of
consequently land and labor productivity in both situations
production [16]. Consequently, the repair costs become an
may differ considerably [5]-[7]. Reduced machine
important component of the total machine ownership costs
performance, combined with the incorrect size selection
[17]. It was found that about 53% of total machine expenses in
during the busiest part of the season, can cause delays in the
developing countries were for repairs of machine breakdowns
completion of operations and result in the loss of crop yields
[18]. Specifically, the causes of breakdowns can be different
and inefficient labor utilization. To make allowance for
from one country to another due to differences in maintenance
machinery failures in planning, the probability of machine
regimes, operator skills, infrastructure and working conditions,
failure needs to be estimated before plans are made. There are
and other factors. Jacobs et al. [14] stated that machines may
very limited studies in relevant literature regarding the
break down due to a design defect, physical damage, or
analysis of machinery failures. In this literature, failure
normal wear and tear, but many times machines fail because
  of neglect and the lack of properly scheduled maintenance
[14]. It was reported that the high frequency of breakdowns
Fatemeh Afsharnia is MS student of Agricultural Mechanization may be attributed to the high cost of imported spare parts,
Engineering, Department of Agricultural Machinery Engineering, Khouzestan misuse of tractors, and a failure of operators to carry out
Ramin Agriculture and Natural Resources University, Ahvaz, Khouzestan, routine maintenance [19]. While a lack of spare parts and poor
Iran (e-mail: afsharniaf@yahoo.com).
Mohammad Amin Asoodar is Associate Professor of Agricultural tractor maintenance were found to be the major causes of
Machinery Engineering Department, Khouzestan Ramin Agriculture and tractor breakdowns in Nigeria [20], these problems
Natural Resources University, Ahvaz, Khouzestan, Iran. subsequently caused around 50% of tractors in the country to
Abbas Abdeshahi is Assistant Professor of Agricultural Economic
Department, Khouzestan Ramin Agriculture and Natural Resources become unserviceable [21]. Costs of owning and operating of
University, Ahvaz, Khouzestan, Iran. farm machinery represent 35 to 50% of the costs of
 

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 World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
International Journal of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering
Vol:8, No:3, 2014

agricultural production when excluding the land [2]. The semiarid agricultural regions in southwest of Iran that the
repair and maintenance cost is an important item in costs of abundance of water and fertility of soil have transformed this
owning and operation. In general, the costs other than those province into a rich and well-endowed land. Data for the study
for repair and maintenance usually decrease with increasing was collected from agricultural tractor operators in five
usage, but the reverse is true with respect to repair and famous agricultural regions. These selected regions were
maintenance costs. The cost of repair and maintenance is named Dezful, Andimeshk, Shush, Ahvaz and Behbahan.
usually about 10% of the total cost; as the machine age These regions were chosen for survey locations because of
increases the cost increases until it becomes the largest cost their high tractor uses and the importance of crop production
item of owning and operating of farm machines [7]. which uses predominantly tractors to mechanized land
Agricultural engineers have done many studies regarding preparation and crop harvesting. The details of the tractor
repair and maintenance of farm machines. Several studies models and number of tractors in each model were obtained
were conducted in both developed and undeveloped countries from the Census Department, Agricultural ministry,
either to develop models to determine the cost during annual Government of Iran; Khouzestan Centre based on the 2011
repair and maintenance costs certain period or to get absolute census. A total of 300 tractors from 30 villages -six villages
numbers to represent owning and operating certain equipment from each region- were selected randomly from lists of
[5], [6], [17], [22]-[25], while no investigation has indicated tractors in each village. Data were collected from Massey
the influence of failure rate on repair and maintenance costs. Ferguson (MF285 model and MF399 model), John Deere
Open Science Index, Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Vol:8, No:3, 2014 waset.org/Publication/9997982

This study attempts to uncover specific issues associated to the (JD3140 model) and Universal (U650 model) tractor operators
costs of the tractor breakdowns by investigating the frequency and derived from farm records valid in the study region. These
of breakdowns in field operations to obtained models for study tractors were chosen because of their population were higher
tractors based on their failure rate. compared to other tractor models and also they were all still
serviceable. Technical features of all tractors are shown in
II. MATERIALS AND METHODS Table I.
A. Sampling Method
The survey was made in 2012-2013 by interviewing the
tractor operators in Khouzestan Province, one of the arid and
TABLE I
TECHNICAL FEATURES OF ALL TRACTORS
Tractor Type
Technical Features
MF 285 MF 399 JD 3140 U 650
Factory ITM ITM Mannheim Tractorul
Rated Engine Power /HP 75 110 97 65
Maximum Torque /Nm 278 376 297.92 252.84
Weight /Kg 2812 3677 3991 2980
Fuel Gasoil Gasoil Gasoil Gasoil
Fuel Tank Capacity /Lit 90 118 125.9 98
Engine Model Perkins A4-248 Perkins A 63544 John Deere D- 110
No. Of Cylinders 4 6 6 4
Bore ×Stroke /Mm 100×127 100×127 106×110 108×130
Hydraulic Pump Type 4 Piston Scotch-Yoke 4 Piston Scotch-Yoke Radial (8 Pistons) Gear
Pump Flow /Lit Min-1 26.5 27.6 68.1 40
Transmission Sliding Synchronizer Synchromesh Mechanical
Gears /Forward + Reverse 8+2 12+4 16+8 5+1
Steering Hydro Mechanic Hydrostatic Hydrostatic Hydraulic
Brakes Wet Disc Oil Cooled Disc Wet Disc Dry Friction Disc
Rear PTO Independent Independent Independent Independent Or Synchronous
Rear /Rpm 540 540/1000 540/1000 540
3-Point Hitch Rear Type II Rear Rear Type II Front And Rear

B. Data Collection tractors excluding engine, hydraulic, transmission, electrical,

The tractor operators (also farmers) were personally brakes, steering, fuel, cooling, etc (tire, ring, ball bearing and
interviewed through home or workplace visits by using a face- operator seat) were recorded.
to-face questionnaire. Information was sought on tractor C. Failure Rate
characteristics such as tractor age, use of tractor each year,
The reliability of a machine is its probability to perform its
failure number of each system and economic costs. All
function within a defined period with certain restrictions under
definable failures causing any delay in different systems of the
 

International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation 8(3) 2014 287 ISNI:0000000091950263
 World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
International Journal of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering
Vol:8, No:3, 2014

certain conditions [26], [27]. A machine’s operational correlation coefficients of power model and using of this
availability is the proportional expression of reliability; model by other researchers, in the present study, power model
therefore, it is the period during which a machine can perform as given in (3) was suggested as final form of the repair and
its function without any breakdowns [28]. The reliability of maintenance cost model.
any equipment is related to frequency of failures, which is
expressed by the “mean time between failures (MTBF).” The Y = ax b (3)
MTBF was determined using (1). The parameter defining a
machine’s reliability is the failure rate (λ), and this value is the The data was analyzed using the computer software SPSS
characteristic of breakdown occurrence frequency. Failure rate 21.0. These data were tabulated and then analyzed using
which is equal to the reciprocal of the mean time between simple descriptive techniques including percentages and
failures (MTBF) defined in hours (λ) was calculated by using means. Differences between mean values were based on
the equation (2) as is suggested by Tufts (1985) and Billinton Duncan’s multiple range tests [30]. Different letters in the
and Allan (1992) [28], [27]. columns of curves indicate significant differences by Duncan
test. Then Basic information on failure rate and annual repair
T (1) and maintenance costs were entered into Excel’s spreadsheet
MTBF =
n and evaluated by the computer software SPSS 21.0.
1 (2)
λ=
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MTBF III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The average annual use hours, average age and failure rate
where, MTBF is mean time between failures (h); T is total at the overall of the machine´s life are presented in Table II.
time (h); n is number of failures; λ is failure rate (failures The average age and annual use hours of tractors were 11.61
per103 h). years & 1079.16h, 9.74 years & 1227.37h, 25.04 years &
D. Modeling Method and Data Analysis 1460.61h and 23.02 years & 1242.13h for MF285, MF399,
Repair and maintenance costs for the study tractors were JD3140 and U650 tractors respectively. The average tractors
investigated to present an appropriate mathematical model in failure rate were 12.2, 12.7, 14.5 and 15.5 failures per 103 h
order to predict these costs versus failure rate. Power model for MF285, MF399, JD3140 and U650 tractors respectively.
gave better cost prediction with higher confidence and less As depicted in this table, the average failure rate of the MF
variation than that of polynomial, exponential and logarithmic tractors was quite near each other and U650 tractors had the
models [29]. Because of, easiness in calculations, the high highest failure rate in compared to all tractors.

TABLE II
SOME DESCRIPTIVE DATA FOR TRACTOR TYPES
Tractor Type Average Annual Use Hours/ h Average Age/ Year Failure Rate/ Failures Per103 h Tractor Number
MF 285 1079.16±60.36* 11.61± 0.87 12.2± 0.00053 60
MF 399 1227.37±38.55 9.74±0.38 12.7± 0.00041 102
JD 3140 1460.61±62.25 25.04±0.57 14.5± 0.00063 49
U 650 1242.13±30.04 23.02±0.36 15.5± 0.00044 89
*: Standard error=standard deviation/√n

Table III summarizes some descriptive information MF399 tractors had the lowest values. This difference was due
regarding Annual repair and maintenance costs data derived to JD3140 and U650 tractors were aged. This value
from valid records for the study tractors. The maximum encountered for MF285, MF399, JD3140 and U650 tractors
average Annual repair and maintenance costs occurred in was US$395.11, US$561.01, US$776.98 and US$616.58.
JD3140 and U650 tractors respectively while MF285 and
TABLE III
SOME DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS OF ANNUAL REPAIR AND MAINTENANCE COSTS
Annual Repair and Maintenance Costs/ US$
Tractor Type
Minimum Maximum Average
MF 285 4.13 1111.57 395.11±34.03
MF 399 46.83 1747.93 561.01±37.75
JD 3140 133.06 1832.78 776.98±62.52
U 650 115.15 1794.77 616.58±39.2

Fig. 1 presents failure types and their distribution as a brakes, steering, fuel, cooling, etc (tire, ring, ball bearing and
percentage of total failure recorded in different systems of the operator seat). As indicated, the electrical system caused the
tractors included engine, hydraulic, transmission, electrical, majority of recorded failures in given groups for all tractors.
 

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Vol:8, No:3, 2014

The electrical system failures generally resulted from short life 35

MF285 MF399 JD3140 U650

Annual repair and maintenance costs/ %

of the battery and dynamo in these tractors. Therefore this
30
result coinciding with Ishola and Adeoti (2004) who revealed
that the electrical systems were more prone to failure than the 25

engine, cooling, transmission, fuel and hydraulic systems [31]. 20

Fig. 2 shows percentage of annual repair and maintenance 15
costs recorded in different systems of tractors surveyed. The
10
maximum percentage of annual repair and maintenance costs
occurred in engine parts for MF285, JD3140 and U650 5

tractors while these costs for tire, ring, ball bearing and 0
operator seat were higher compared to other MF399 tractor

ic
ts

g
el
al

c
n

in

et
ul

ak
ar

io

in

Fu
ric

ol
ra

iss

r
p
systems. The annual repair and maintenance costs of

Br

ee
te

Co
yd
ne

sm

ec

St
H
gi

El
an
En
Transmission system had the secondary share within the total

Tr
Different sysytems of tractor
recorded data of MF285, MF399 and JD3140 tractors while it
occurred in tire, ring, ball bearing and operator seat for U650 Fig. 2 Annual repair and maintenance costs types and their
tractors. distribution for tractors
The most percentage of annual repair and maintenance costs
Open Science Index, Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Vol:8, No:3, 2014 waset.org/Publication/9997982

for engine parts and steering systems were in JD3140 tractors, According to Fig. 3, a significant difference was recorded
hydraulic and brake systems in U650 tractors, Transmission where four types of tractors were compared for annual repair
system and etc (tire, ring, ball bearing and operator seat) in and maintenance costs (P≤0.01). The annual repair and
MF399 tractors and electrical, fuel and cooling systems in maintenance cost of MF285 tractor was lower than the others.
MF285 tractors but The minimum percentage of these costs JD3140 tractors showed maximum annual repair and
for engine parts, electrical and cooling systems were in maintenance costs, while the annual repair and maintenance
MF399 tractors, hydraulic and brake systems in MF285 costs of MF399 and U650 tractors had been found quite near
tractors, Transmission and steering system in U650 tractors each other, implying that there was no significant difference in
and fuel system and etc (tire, ring, ball bearing and operator annual repair and maintenance costs for MF399 and U650
seat) in JD3140 tractors. tractors.
MF285 MF399 JD3140 U650 10
25
Annual repair and maintenance costs/ 100US$

c
20

b
15 b
Failure/ %

5
10 a

0
0
li c
s

c
el
l
n

g
ng
rt

ca

et
ak

lin
io

Fu
u
pa

MF285 MF399 JD3140 U650

ri

ri
iss

Br
ra

oo
te

ee
ne

yd

sm

C
ec

St
gi

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an
En

Tr

Tractor type
Different sysytems of tractor

Fig. 3 Comparative analyses of annual repair and maintenance costs

Fig. 1 Failure types and their distribution for tractors for tractor types

Fig. 4 is shown the changes on annual repair and

maintenance costs based on failure rate for all tractors and the
relationship between the calculated annual repair and
maintenance costs and failure rate of tractors are given in
equations. In this figure, the failure rate increase would lead to
annual repair and maintenance costs increase for all tractors.
But, of all the tractors, repair and maintenance costs of
JD3140 tractors extremely affected by the failure rate increase,
because of, JD3140 tractors were aged in comparison to other
tractors surveyed and the most of their failures were major
overhaul.

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 World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
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Vol:8, No:3, 2014

Power (MF285) Power (MF399) Power (JD3140) Power (U650) [12] Elbashir A.H., 1996. Tillage for sugar cane in Sudan with special
reference to Kenana, PhD Thesis, 1996 university of Khartoum, faculty
25
y = 0.137x1.479
of agricultural.
Annual repair and maintenance costs/ 100US$

R² = 0.591 [13] Musa Abbas O., Ibrahim Mohammad H., Abdelgadir Omer N., 2011.
Development of predictive markov-chain condition- based tractor failure
20
analysis algorithm. Research Journal of Agriculture and Biological
Sciences, 7(1): 52-67.
[14] Jacobs C.O., Harrell W.R., Shinn G.C., 1983. Agricultural power and
15
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10 R² = 0.398
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5
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[18] Inns F.M., 1978. Operational aspect of tractor use in developing
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for tractors surveyed Engineering in Agriculture, 10(5): 623-626.

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IV. SUMMARY
and Latin America, 27(3): 23-26.
Conclusions from this study can be summarized as follows: [22] Farrow S., Shepherd J.F., Waelti H., 1980. A regional test of machinery
repair cost equations. ASAE Paper No. 80-1017.
1) The average failure rate of the MF tractors was quite near
[23] Rotz C.A., 1987. A standard model for repair costs of agricultural
each other and U650 tractors had the highest failure rate machinery. AppliedEngineering in Agriculture 3(1): 3-9.
in compared to all tractors. [24] Gliem J.A., Stinson D.M., Carpenter T.G., Holmes R.G., Ozcan H.E.,
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ASAE paper No. 86-1024.
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while MF285 and MF399 tractors had the lowest values. comparison of ASAE estimated tractor and combine repair and
3) The failure rate increase would lead to annual repair and maintenance costs to actual repair and maintenance costs of selected
farms. ASAE paper No. 89-1024.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 453.
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The authors gratefully acknowledge all farmers and tractor harvesting equipment. Transactions of the American Society of
operators that contributed for completing the questionnaires Agricultural Engineers, 28 (4):1673-1677.
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