Renting or Buying heavy machineries ?

Question

My company ask me to do a cost study on buying heavy machineries (e.g. Shovel, Excavator, 16 tonne Tipper). Can anybody give me an advice on whether to buy or to rent the machineries for long term use. Which one is more cost effective in term of usage and maintenance.

Answer 1

Renting might be a little more expensive up front, but maintenance on heavy machinery can be very expensive. If your company purchases one and a hydraulic hose breaks it is costly not only to fix but the amount of time it takes. If you just rent the machine and something breaks the rental company will replace either the entire machine or the hose, which costs you company no money to fix just the time. So in the long run it might be better to rent because then you do not have to worry about maintenance and fixing it when it breaks down. Parts for heavy machinery are definitely not cheap at all. I would recommend renting the machine.