How Long Will It Take to Spray Your Fields?
A single DJI Agras T50 covers 40 to 60 acres per flight hour at 2 to 5 gallons per acre, treating 300 to 600 acres per day. This calculator estimates total spray time including tank refills, battery swaps and field shape adjustments for 7 drone models.
Job parameters
Estimated job duration
Tight for a single day. Consider adding a second drone or splitting across two days.
Time breakdown (before fleet division)
- Active flight time (46 × 8 min)6 hours, 8 min
- Tank refill & battery swap (46 × 3 min)2 hours, 18 min
- Field shape penalty (Square / rectangular, ×1.00)+0 minutes
- Charging bottleneck1 hour, 32 min
- Single-drone total9 hours, 58 min
Assumes rotating batteries keep the drone airborne unless charge time exceeds flight time. Does not include drive to field or initial mission setup.
How this works
Coverage rates are based on manufacturer specifications adjusted for real-world efficiency using field shape turn penalties: 5% for rectangular fields, 12% for irregular or L-shaped and 20% for narrow strips or pivot corners. Battery times and refill windows reflect experienced operators with a two-person ground crew. Solo operators add 15 to 25% to total job time.
Conditions not in the calculator also affect job time. Winds above 10 mph require slower speeds and tighter spray parameters, reducing effective coverage by 15 to 30%. High temperatures (above 90°F) reduce battery life by 10 to 20%. Early morning starts (5:30 to 7:00 AM) improve both battery performance and spray efficacy.
Coverage time questions answered
Irregular and narrow fields require more turns, slower flight lines and more overlap at edges. A square 160-acre field sprays 15 to 25 percent faster than the same acreage in an L-shaped or strip configuration.
For a T50 running 8 hours, plan on 4 to 6 batteries rotating through the charger. With the DJI rapid charging hub, 4 batteries keep a single drone running continuously. Hylio AG-272 longer charge times (28 min) mean you need 6 to 8 batteries for continuous operation.
Close to it, yes. A 2-drone crew shares the same water and chemical supply station, so refill logistics run in parallel. Actual improvement is roughly 1.8x to 1.9x (not a perfect 2x) because of shared logistics bottlenecks.