Rent vs own equipment decision
Annual cost of owning a machine versus renting it by the day, week or 4-week month, and the break-even hours.
Get this tool with its role plan
This is a premium tool. It comes with its role's plan: sign in, then add the role in Billing.
Comes with the project manager plan: every tool for the role, from $10.20 a month at the launch price.
- Your own numbers, worked out as often as you like
- The full rent or buy sheet you can print or save to My work
- 3 cited sources, linked, with the checks to make
- Every other tool for the same role, in the same plan
- A plain-words read of your result (a fuller AI read with the Bifrost AI add-on)
Included in these role plans
Example result · fictional numbers
What you get: rent or buy sheet
Worked out by this tool from its default inputs. Its role plan lets you run your own numbers, print the sheet and save it.
Rent: owning $43,235.00 against renting $33,012.00 a year at 900 h
- Owning cost per year
- $38,785
- Renting cost per year
- $27,600
- Owning cost per hour
- $43.09
- Renting cost per hour
- $30.67
- Verdict
- Rent: saves $11,185 a year
- Break-even use
- about 1,624 h per year
Owning, full year
- Depreciation, interest, insurance and repairs
- $38,785.00 (the shared tool's figure)
- Moving it to 6 jobs
- $1,200.00
- Stand-in rental for 5 repair days
- $3,250.00
- Owning cost per year
- $43,235.00
- Owning cost per hour
- $48.04
Also on the sheet
- Renting, 6 separate rentals · 5 lines, starting with “Rent at the cheapest mix”
- Decision · 8 lines, starting with “Verdict”
- Cash if you buy · 4 lines, starting with “Down payment”
The plain-words read of this example
At 900 h a year, owning costs $43,235.00 once moving it to 6 jobs and 5 days of stand-in rental are added, and renting costs $33,012.00 in 6 rentals with delivery, pickup and fees. Rent: saves $10,223.00 a year once transport, fees and downtime are counted. The break-even, all costs counted, is about 1,064 h a year. Buying takes $29,000.00 down and $2,352.06 a month for 60 months. Taxes are left out; Section 179 and depreciation can change the first-year answer, so check with your accountant.
3 cited sources
- Publication 946, How to Depreciate Property (Internal Revenue Service)
- FAR 31.105(d)(2), Construction equipment ownership and operating costs (Acquisition.gov (Federal Acquisition Regulation))
- Caterpillar Performance Handbook, Edition 49 (owning and operating costs) (Caterpillar, via MacAllister Machinery (Cat dealer download page))
Plus 5 step-by-step checks, a print layout and a link that reopens it with your numbers.