Hiring An Excavator Versus Buying: Which Is The Better Option?

Excavators are useful machines. They are designed to dig large holes but, at the same time, they are capable of lifting large objects, demolishing things, and they can even be used for landscaping. The majority of excavators have tracks and they come in a huge variety of sizes, you’ll need to pick one large enough to dig the depth of hole you need. 

If you need to use an excavator then you’ll no doubt be trying to decide whether to buy or rent. It is worth noting that there are some great companies offering excavator hire and this is generally the best route. 

Here’s why:

Cost

The most obvious reason to rent an excavator instead of buying is that they are very expensive to buy. If you aren’t using the excavator a lot or need several different sized ones, you’re likely to find it is significantly cheaper to simply rent one when you need it. 

Of course, if you rent an excavator enough times the cost of renting will equal the cost of buying. 

But, you can’t simply decide you will use an excavator enough to justify the cost of buying one. In addition, you need to consider:

Additional Costs

Renting is a set fee but if you own an excavator you’ll need to have adequate insurance for it, and the people using it. Alongside this, you’ll need to pay to have the excavator serviced and maintained regularly and you may even need to factor in repair costs. 

These all affect the viability of buying an excavator.

Lifespan of Excavator

You also should consider how long the excavator is expected to last. This will allow you to work out how many times you would use it during that period and whether this would be more cost-effective than simply renting when you need one. 

In most cases, renting as needed is the better option.

Transport

In general, you can’t move an excavator from one place to another under its own steam. Instead, it needs to be moved by a dedicated truck. That means, if you want to buy an excavator and use it on more than one site, you’re going to need to buy transport as well or rent it every time you need to move your excavator to a different site. 

This can make a significant difference to the cost of owning an excavator.

Don’t forget, an excavator is an expensive bit of kit, you’ll want to have somewhere safe to store it between jobs.

Buying An Excavator

In most cases, you are better off renting an excavator when needed. But, if you feel that it would be used more than 70% of the time then it can be worth buying your own. If this is the case you’ll need to make sure you choose the right one. That means selecting an excavator big enough to handle the biggest jobs you normally undertake. Of course, it also needs to be small enough to handle the smaller jobs!