Rent vs buy: honest math

Rental-yard dollars against owning — no loans, no APR, no payment estimator. Just the math we would run with you.

u003cdiv class=u0022page-bodyu0022u003enu003cp class=u0022text-legalu0022u003eInformational only — not professional mechanical or safety advice. Always consult the manufacturer’s operator manuals and documentation for your machine. We take no responsibility for actions you take based on this guide. See our u003ca href=u0022/terms-of-use/u0022u003eTerms of Useu003c/au003e.u003c/pu003ennu003cpu003eIf you have rented a mini excavator more than once, you already know the parts that matter: how the machine handles, what your ground is like, and how fast the rental clock turns a Saturday project into a Monday-morning bill. So the real question is not whether you can run one. It is whether owning one beats renting for the way you actually work.u003c/pu003ennu003cpu003eHere is the honest version — the same math we would run with you at the counter. No loan talk. We do not quote APR, monthly payments, or pre-approval, and we do not hide a lender inside a calculator. If you ever bring your own financing to the table, that is your bank’s conversation with its own disclosures, not ours.u003c/pu003ennu003ch2u003eWhat renting really costs around hereu003c/h2u003ennu003cpu003eAcross Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, a 1-to-1.8-ton mini excavator rents for roughly u003cstrongu003e$300 to $400 a dayu003c/strongu003e for the machine alone. The day rate is the part everyone remembers. The rest is what adds up:u003c/pu003enu003culu003enu003cliu003eu003cstrongu003eDelivery and pickupu003c/strongu003e — figure $150 to $350 each way for a trailer drop, depending on distance and how tight your driveway is.u003c/liu003enu003cliu003eu003cstrongu003eBillable daysu003c/strongu003e — a Friday drop and a Monday pickup is usually billed as three or four days, even if you only dug Saturday and Sunday morning.u003c/liu003enu003cliu003eu003cstrongu003eDamage waiver and fuelu003c/strongu003e — small on their own, real over a season.u003c/liu003enu003c/ulu003ennu003cpu003ePut numbers to one weekend:u003c/pu003enu003culu003enu003cliu003eMachine, 3 days u0026times; $350 = $1,050u003c/liu003enu003cliu003eDelivery and pickup = $400u003c/liu003enu003cliu003eWaiver and fuel = $75u003c/liu003enu003cliu003eu003cstrongu003eWeekend total: about $1,525u003c/strongu003e before taxu003c/liu003enu003c/ulu003ennu003cpu003eDo that three times in a year and you are near u003cstrongu003e$4,500u003c/strongu003e, with nothing parked by the barn when the next job shows up in October. Four weekends and you are past u003cstrongu003e$6,000u003c/strongu003e. That is still under most delivered machine prices — but you own none of it.u003c/pu003ennu003ch2u003eWhat owning really costs (past the sticker)u003c/h2u003ennu003cpu003eBuying is not pay once and forget. Count the quiet line items so the comparison stays fair:u003c/pu003enu003culu003enu003cliu003eu003cstrongu003eDelivered price.u003c/strongu003e We quote crate freight with a free liftgate to a standard-access driveway in our four states. A limited-access lane — soft ground, low wires, or no room for the truck to turn around — gets a surcharge quoted u003cemu003ebeforeu003c/emu003e you pay, never after. See u003ca href=u0022/delivery/u0022u003ehow delivery worksu003c/au003e.u003c/liu003enu003cliu003eu003cstrongu003eYour setup time.u003c/strongu003e Plan about u003cstrongu003e45 minutesu003c/strongu003e before first start: check fluids, remove transport bolts, grease the pins, and look over the canopy. That part is on you, and we walk you through it on u003ca href=u0022/setup/u0022u003eSetup u0026amp; first startu003c/au003e.u003c/liu003enu003cliu003eu003cstrongu003eFluids and filters.u003c/strongu003e Oil, hydraulic top-offs, fuel. For landowner-pace use, year one is usually hundreds of dollars, not thousands.u003c/liu003enu003cliu003eu003cstrongu003eWear parts.u003c/strongu003e Teeth, pins, grease, and tracks if you are hard on rock. Order through u003ca href=u0022/parts/u0022u003epartsu003c/au003e when you need fitment help.u003c/liu003enu003cliu003eu003cstrongu003eAttachments.u003c/strongu003e A thumb or a second bucket changes what jobs you can take. Look at u003ca href=u0022/attachments/u0022u003eattachmentsu003c/au003e before you compare a bucket-only rental to a machine set up your way.u003c/liu003enu003cliu003eu003cstrongu003eStorage and insurance.u003c/strongu003e A tarp or a shed, and a call to your farm or home carrier. We are not your insurance agent.u003c/liu003enu003c/ulu003ennu003cpu003eWhat you should not fold in: interest on a loan we do not offer, dealer-prep fees we do not charge, or free delivery to a spot no carrier can reach.u003c/pu003ennu003ch2u003eBreak-even, without pretending money is freeu003c/h2u003ennu003cpu003eCompare rental-yard dollars to the delivered price we quote you. Leave financing out of it, so you are comparing a machine to a machine.u003c/pu003ennu003cpu003eTake the delivered number we give you and divide by your day rate. If the delivered price lands near u003cstrongu003e$9,000u003c/strongu003e and rentals run u003cstrongu003e$350 a dayu003c/strongu003e for the machine alone:u003c/pu003enu003culu003enu003cliu003e$9,000 u0026divide; $350 u0026asymp; u003cstrongu003e26 working daysu003c/strongu003e to break even on machine rentu003c/liu003enu003c/ulu003ennu003cpu003eNow fold in the delivery you pay on every rental weekend, and break-even comes sooner — owning has one freight event, renting keeps paying the truck. If you already burn u003cstrongu003e8 to 12 rental days a yearu003c/strongu003e, owning usually pencils out inside two seasons for a landowner, and faster for a contractor billing the machine to jobs.u003c/pu003ennu003cpu003eFlip it around. If you dig two days every other year, keep renting. Owning iron that sleeps under a tarp is how people talk themselves into regret, and we will say so on the phone.u003c/pu003ennu003ch2u003eThe cost that never shows on an invoiceu003c/h2u003ennu003cpu003eRental yards run dry right when you need them — the week after a storm, the spring everyone decides the drain cannot wait. Owning means the machine is ready when u003cemu003eyouru003c/emu003e weather window opens, not when the yard’s schedule opens.u003c/pu003ennu003cpu003eIf you are a contractor, put a price on the job you cannot take because the yard is empty. If you are a landowner, put a price on a week of half-dug trench across the yard while you wait on a trailer.u003c/pu003ennu003ch2u003eWhen renting is still the right callu003c/h2u003enu003culu003enu003cliu003eYou need a bigger class for one job — say 2.5 to 3.5 ton — and will not need it again.u003c/liu003enu003cliu003eYour access cannot take a crate and liftgate without major tree work. Ask us for a site check first through u003ca href=u0022/contact/u0022u003econtactu003c/au003e.u003c/liu003enu003cliu003eYou are still deciding whether this is even work you want to do. One rental weekend is cheap tuition.u003c/liu003enu003cliu003eStorage or setbacks at your place make keeping a machine more trouble than it is worth.u003c/liu003enu003c/ulu003ennu003ch2u003eWhen owning makes senseu003c/h2u003enu003culu003enu003cliu003eYou have rented the same size class more than once and already know the boom height, tail swing, and trailer you need.u003c/liu003enu003cliu003eYou have a place to park it and an afternoon for the setup check on delivery day.u003c/liu003enu003cliu003eYou want a thumb, a few auger days, and the freedom to dig for an hour after work without calling a counter.u003c/liu003enu003cliu003eYou are comparing real delivered prices on machines like the u003ca href=u0022/machinery/hy12c-mini-excavator/u0022u003eHY12Cu003c/au003e, u003ca href=u0022/machinery/mini-excavator-hy16c/u0022u003eHY16Cu003c/au003e, or u003ca href=u0022/machinery/mini-excavator-hy18b/u0022u003eHY18Bu003c/au003e.u003c/liu003enu003c/ulu003ennu003cpu003eStart on the u003ca href=u0022/mini-excavators/u0022u003emini excavatorsu003c/au003e catalog, then ask us for a delivered number for your ZIP. If limited access changes the freight, we will tell you before you ever put a card down.u003c/pu003ennu003ch2u003eA worksheet you can actually useu003c/h2u003enu003cpu003eGrab a pen:u003c/pu003enu003colu003enu003cliu003eDays you rented in the last 12 months: ____ u0026times; your day rate $____ = $____u003c/liu003enu003cliu003eDelivery and pickup you paid: $____u003c/liu003enu003cliu003eJobs you skipped because the yard was empty: ____u003c/liu003enu003cliu003eDelivered price we quoted you: $____u003c/liu003enu003cliu003eYear-one fluids, teeth, and grease: $____ (try $300 to $600 for light use)u003c/liu003enu003c/olu003ennu003cpu003eIf lines 1 and 2 over the next two years add up to more than lines 4 and 5, owning is not a splurge — it is cheaper dirt moving. If they do not, stay on the rental list and keep your cash where it is.u003c/pu003ennu003ch2u003eWhat we will tell you straightu003c/h2u003ennu003cpu003eWe will help you size the machine, talk through a hydraulic thumb versus a mechanical one, and quote crate-to-driveway freight with the access notes spelled out. We will not run a fake payment estimator that sneaks a lender onto the page. Send us your ZIP, a note on your soil, and how many days a year you really dig, and we will tell you to buy, rent, or wait — whichever is honest. Give us a holler.u003c/pu003ennu003cpu003e— Trevor u0026ldquo;TJu0026rdquo; Lowing, Holler Equipmentu003c/pu003ennu003cpu003eNext: u003ca href=u0022/delivery/u0022u003edeliveryu003c/au003e, u003ca href=u0022/setup/u0022u003esetup u0026amp; first startu003c/au003e, u003ca href=u0022/parts/u0022u003epartsu003c/au003e, and the u003ca href=u0022/guides/chinese-mini-excavator-buyers-guide/u0022u003eChinese mini excavator buyer’s guideu003c/au003e if you are still weighing factory-import tradeoffs.u003c/pu003enu003c/divu003e