Farm tools
Know your farmBefore you commit
19 free farm tools on South African figures: Grain SA, SAFEX and the Land Bank. Pick one, type your own numbers.
Diesel per hectare
How much for each pass?
1. Your crop
Fuel line in the crop budget: R 1 942.04/ha (Grain SA 2026-09-04, one total; Grain SA publishes no passes or litres behind it).
2. Diesel and your land
The guide's three soils for ripping, ploughing, discing and planting; the other passes have one figure.
3. Your passes
How many times you do each in the season (0 for none), the size from the guide's list, and your own litres a hectare if you know them. The season starts with one pass to plant, spray, harvest and cart; your tillage is yours to add.
Rip Ripper plough, 380 mm deep, tines 500 mm apart
Guide: 16.1 l a hectare, R 514/ha a pass; 14 ha a 10-hour day.
Chisel plough Chisel plough, 200 mm deep, tines 300 mm apart
Guide: 10.7 l a hectare, R 340/ha a pass; 20 ha a 10-hour day.
Plough Mouldboard plough, 250 mm deep
Guide: 20.0 l a hectare, R 639/ha a pass; 9.0 ha a 10-hour day.
Heavy disc Heavy disc (offset or one-way), 150 mm deep
Guide: 10.2 l a hectare, R 326/ha a pass; 25 ha a 10-hour day.
Light disc Light disc harrow, 65 mm deep
Guide: 4.3 l a hectare, R 139/ha a pass; 38 ha a 10-hour day.
Field cultivator Field cultivator for the seedbed, 75 mm deep
Guide: 4.3 l a hectare, R 139/ha a pass; 38 ha a 10-hour day.
Harrow Heavy spike-tooth harrow, 150 mm deep (sandy loam)
Guide: 2.5 l a hectare, R 78/ha a pass; 55 ha a 10-hour day.
Spread fertiliser or lime Spreader, lime or fertiliser (sandy loam)
Guide: 2.2 l a hectare, R 69/ha a pass; 58 ha a 10-hour day.
Plant Row planter (the guide's maize planter), 8 km/h
Guide: 5.1 l a hectare, R 164/ha a pass; 35 ha a 10-hour day.
Drill Wheat drill, rows 350 mm apart
Guide: 4.5 l a hectare, R 144/ha a pass; 34 ha a 10-hour day.
Cultivate (weeding) Row-crop cultivator between the rows, 6 km/h
Guide: 4.3 l a hectare, R 138/ha a pass; 36 ha a 10-hour day.
Spray Boom sprayer, 6 km/h
Guide: 1.7 l a hectare, R 56/ha a pass; 43 ha a 10-hour day.
Harvest Self-propelled combine (the guide's maize rates)
Guide: 6.8 l a hectare, R 217/ha a pass; 25 ha a 10-hour day at 6.20 t/ha.
Cart to the silo Tractor and trailer, litres per ton-km
Enter the distance to count the carting.
The answer
Your season's 4 passes use 13.7 litres of diesel a hectare: R 437/ha at R 31.95 a litre. Enter the distance to the silo before you compare it with Grain SA's fuel line for Eastern Free State maize (R 1 942/ha).
| Pass | Litres | Rand |
|---|---|---|
| Rip 5 tines, 2.5 m | 16.1 | R 514 |
| Chisel plough 3.4 m | 10.7 | R 340 |
| Plough 5 x 406 mm, 2.03 m | 20.0 | R 639 |
| Heavy disc 3.8 m | 10.2 | R 326 |
| Light disc 4.5 m | 4.3 | R 139 |
| Field cultivator 4.5 m | 4.3 | R 139 |
| Harrow 8 sections, 7.3 m | 2.5 | R 78 |
| Spread fertiliser or lime 12 m | 2.2 | R 69 |
| Plant 8 x 0.91 m trailed, full fertiliser; 1 in your season | 5.1 | R 164 |
| Drill 18 rows, 6.30 m | 4.5 | R 144 |
| Cultivate (weeding) 8 x 0.91 m | 4.3 | R 138 |
| Spray 12 m boom; 1 in your season | 1.7 | R 56 |
| Harvest 6 x 0.91 m, 95 kW, with unloading wagon; 1 in your season | 6.8 | R 217 |
| Cart to the silo Tractor and trailer, undulating (0.1 l per ton-km); 1 in your season | 0.0 | R 0 |
| Your season | 13.7 | R 437 |
| Crop budget fuel line (Grain SA) | R 1 942 |
If diesel is 20% dearer: R 525/ha; 20% cheaper: R 350/ha (hypothetical, not a forecast).
Diesel is the Gauteng diesel 0.05% sulphur, wholesale list price from 2026-10-07; it changes on the first Wednesday of each month. Enter what you pay, after any diesel refund you claim. Enter the distance to the silo to count carting the crop. A yield of 6.2 t/ha is above the guide's combine table: the hectares a day are its tons a day divided by your yield.
Litres an hour are the power the guide gives for the job on firm soil times its litres per kWh; a hectare takes the hours of its work rate. Diesel only: not the tractor, repairs or the operator.
Choose what goes along to the other crop tools
What you untick starts from Grain SA's figures in the other tool. Nothing personal goes along: farm figures only.
How this works and the sources
How many litres of diesel, and how many rand, each pass costs you a hectare: rip, plough, disc, cultivate, harrow, spread, plant, drill, spray, harvest and cart to the silo. The work rate and the power of each implement come from the Department of Agriculture's Guide to Machinery Costs; choose your sizes and soil, set the passes of your season, and see it against the fuel line of your crop budget. Type your own litres over any pass you know.
What this does not tell you
- This is diesel only. Owning the tractor and implement, repairs, oil and the operator are not in it: "Own tractor and implement, or a contractor?" works those out.
- The work rates and the power are the guide's field capacity table of its 2015-2016 edition, the latest it publishes. Bigger modern machines, such as a 24 m sprayer or a 300 kW combine, are not in it. Your own litres a hectare win.
- The guide gives combine rates for maize only; for other crops they are an estimate. Carting counts the loaded ton-kilometres the guide gives, not the empty trip back.
- The diesel price is the Gauteng wholesale list price of the month shown; you pay more or less at your depot, and a diesel refund lowers it. Enter your own.
- Nothing you enter is uploaded or kept by us; the share link carries farm figures only.
Sources
- Department of Agriculture, Guide to Machinery Costs: field capacities of agricultural machinery (Directorate: Agricultural Engineering) (2015-09-21)
- Department of Agriculture, Guide to Machinery Costs 2025-2026 (2025-2026)
- Fuels Industry Association of South Africa, 2026 petroleum product prices (wholesale list price, diesel 0.05%) (2026-10-07)
- Grain SA summer grain production budgets 2026/27 (2026-09-04)
Estimate, not advice. Confirm every figure with your bank, attorney and tax practitioner before a decision.