How much does it really cost to own your own a mini excavator?

People who work with big equipment have a saying: “You can be going broke in this business and not know it for six months.”

The one cost that can be very hard to gauge if you’re a small contractor or new to this business is the real owning and operating costs of your equipment.  

Total Landscape Care has worked out a tool to help you understand the true cost of ownership - read more HERE

Results

Based on their findings, owning an excavator costs over $44,000. That is assuming you purchase new, maintain it well, and sell it in good condition. Once you start to factor in other costs like hauling fees and down time, for when the equipment goes down, and the huge operating and purchase cost increases from the new Tier IV requirements, the operating costs quickly escalate. 

To be fair, there are certainly times when owning your own equipment is a better deal than renting it. When a tool is used daily and you have staff to properly care for it, owning some of your own equipment fleet can be a sound investment or if you need something very unique that can't be rented. BUT when you don't have the mechanic staff, hauling fleet, and steady work for the equipment renting is a much more efficient use of your capital and helps free up cash flow.

A time tested rule in business is to stick to what you can do better than anyone else. You build skyscrapers, factories, homes, waterfalls, and all kinds of other amazing things. You have enough to worry about, let us handle your equipment needs. That's what we do best! Visit your nearest equipment rental store today!