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| How much do you wanna suffer? Are you wanting to buy a new drone or buy a used one? Do you have a pickup to pull a trailer? Do you have a trailer you can work with? I personally think a T60 isn't worth it, new or used. You can get a P150 or a Vector for similar prices and they perform better.
Rough numbers here if someone is starting out and wants to ease into it. Using a Vector for my example. Everyone will have a different opinion on what it costs, but at the simplest, here's my take.
Budget Setup - Basic Trailer, landing on the ground
2k for licenses
4-5k for insurance (hull and chemical for 1 drone).
2.5k for a Champion 15kw/12kw generator
1.5k for a couple decent pumps for agitation/drone filling and one for fresh water only. (I use pacer pumps, but have heard people using AMT)
3k for a cone bottom tank, I'd get at least a 200gal tank, but preferably more. Can get by with a smaller one if you really need to or already have one laying around.
1-2k for hoses, fittings, wiring. Might be more might be less.
Grab some free chemical totes for fresh water.
Fuel for 5k acres? That gen uses roughly 20-25gals a day. Vector on a good long day can spray 400-500 acres if you're running ~25mph, so let's just say 1k in gas. Maybe another 500-1k for the pickup.
My trailer was 5k on auction.
Brand new vector is 38k
So 60-70k is my estimate. You'll suffer, but it's doable. And that's actually little higher than what my 1st year ended up costing me.
Call it $10/acre and that setup would pay itself off in less than 2 years if you're doing 5k each year and no custom work.
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Cost to own/operate and depreciate of drone per year? Low acerage
