A Marysville, OH landscaper can finance a skid steer once a year of rental days costs more than a year of payments, insurance and upkeep. Below that point, renting by the job keeps cash in the business. The worked example shows where the line falls for one invented crew; a funding partner sets any real rate and term.
Owning a skid steer makes sense once yearly rental costs pass the yearly payments plus insurance and upkeep. Attachments and a trailer can sit on the same equipment agreement. A level payment does not shrink in a slow month, so a larger down payment or a credit line can help. Compare dealer plans on total cost, not only the rate.
Rental days vs owning: when a skid steer pays for itself
Renting costs nothing between jobs, and owning costs the same every month whether the machine works or not. The break-even point is the number of rental days a year that would cost as much as owning: payments, insurance and upkeep together. Below it, renting is cheaper; above it, the owned machine is.
Illustration only, invented figures: the dealer quote for the crew's skid steer reads $52,900. With 15% down ($7,935), $44,965 is financed over 48 months at 10.2%, and insurance plus upkeep run $2,400 a year. Renting the same machine costs $385 a day with delivery.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Monthly payment | $1,144.75 |
| Payments for 12 months | $13,737.00 |
| Insurance and upkeep for the year | $2,400 |
| Yearly cost of owning | $16,137.00 |
| Rental days that cost the same | 42 days |
In this example a crew that would rent the machine 42 days a year or more comes out ahead by owning, and a crew renting it for a handful of grading jobs does not. The figure leaves out what the machine can be sold for later, which favors owning a little more.
Payroll counts show the size of the trade here: according to the County Business Patterns, Union County, OH landscaping services establishments (NAICS 561730) had 918 paid employees in the pay period that included March 12, 2023. The landscaping industry page has the county counts for the trade.
Attachments, a trailer and the skid steer on one request
A skid steer rarely works with a bare bucket. Grapples, augers and the trailer that moves the machine between yards are part of the same purchase, and an equipment financing agreement can take all of them when they are on one invoice or one set of quotes.
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Skid steer | $52,900 |
| Grapple bucket | $4,850 |
| Auger drive with two bits | $3,650 |
| Tilt trailer | $9,400 |
| Package total | $70,800 |
In this example, the same 15% down on the $70,800 package leaves $60,180 to finance, and the payment over 48 months at 10.2% becomes $1,532.11, which is $387.36 a month more than the machine alone. A trailer that has its own title can need its own paperwork, so the dealer and the partner should both see it listed.
Slower weeks, an idle machine and a payment that does not change
A level payment lands in the same amount every month, whether the crew billed full weeks or half of them. Illustration only, invented figures: in a month when the crew bills $14,000, the $1,144.75 payment takes 8.2% of that month's billing in this example.
Three ways a crew can plan for that before signing:
- Put more down: in this example, 25% down instead of 15% lowers the payment to $1,010.08, $134.67 a month less
- Ask whether a funding partner can set a payment schedule other than level monthly; any such schedule is the partner's decision
- Keep a business line of credit for wages and fuel in weeks with less billing, so the machine payment does not compete with payroll
- Rent the machine out to another crew only if the agreement and the insurance allow it
A machine that sits for weeks still costs its payment, which is the honest case for renting when work is uneven. The rental invoices from the past two years answer the question better than a guess: count the days the crew actually had a machine on site, then hold that count against the break-even figure from the first table. A crew whose count sits well under that figure can keep renting and revisit the choice when its job list changes.
Dealer financing terms worth comparing
A dealer plan can come with a low promotional rate, and a buyer who brings outside financing can sometimes negotiate a lower cash price instead. The two have to be compared on total cost.
Illustration only, invented figures: the dealer offers 0% for 36 months at the full $52,900 price, $1,469.44 a month. Paying with outside financing earns a $3,200 discount, so the price drops to $49,700; 15% down ($7,455) and $42,245 over 48 months at 10.2% make the payment $1,075.50.
In this example the dealer plan costs $52,899.84 in total and the outside route $59,079.00, so the dealer plan is $6,179.16 cheaper over the life of the machine, with a higher monthly payment. Terms worth reading on any dealer offer:
- Whether the promotional rate needs the full list price or a minimum down payment
- Which attachments the rate covers, and what rate applies to the rest
- A prepayment charge, if the crew clears the balance ahead of schedule
- What happens to the rate after a missed payment
In Union County, OH, 17 machinery, equipment and supplies merchant wholesaler establishments (NAICS 4238) were counted in the 2023 County Business Patterns: the Census group for businesses that sell machines and equipment to other businesses.
By Reedshore Credit · Updated
