To hire or buy -that is the question...

[Millbert]

Hello everyone,

I am always faced with the yearly dilemma of do i keep hiring in certain plant & machines or buy it and then always have it available?

i have my own reasoning on how i make the decision based on usage, cost, storage etc but wanted to know other peoples views.

I look forward to hearing what you guys think and how you decide.

cheers

chris aka millbert

[henpecked]

We crossed this one on my CIOB course. Hiring does have the advantages of maintenance, transport is dealt with and no storage costs . Alternatively, you can be paying top hire rates for a donkey of a machine and poor response from the hirer.
Buying is about half the cost of a long term hire ( 3 years) also ,sellers are more competitive with market sales these days and also you get 3 years service cover anywhere. I'd buy, you have equity in the machine at the end of its life but you have to take into account transportation and storage

HP

[lutonlagerlout]

a decent breaker and stihl cut off saw are a must,but after losing our 3rd wacker we hire them now rather pay £25 a day or £50 a week than lose another load of money,plus for us on the building side a wacker only gets used maybe 1 day in 20,cut off and breaker are daily usage
i would try and buy what you use daily ,and hire the one off stuff
LLL

[GB_Groundworks]

we run 360's from 1 ton to 16 ton, 3cx, telehandler, tractor, couple of dumpers and rollers, trailers, but then we hire in gear when we need it like just had 22 ton machine on hire for a month and sheet pile hammer. got 300 7 metre long sheet piles on hire from mgf at mo £1800 for 2 weeks, hire so far is somewhere near £18k since january. bloody annoying thing is a mate who runs a steel holders said the other day he had some we could have borrowed for free.



Edited By GB_Groundworks on 1240519022

[lutonlagerlout]

the biggest problem for us is storage,yards round here cost a small fortune,my mate gave 40 k for a 30ft by 100ft yard in luton,and that is just a piece of waste ground
and the mrs hates me bringing tools home
LLL

[Millbert]

thanks for the comments, it always helps to get another view on things to check I am not going mad!!

cheers
cm

[Rich H]

I'm with LLL on the whacker. Now only hire them.

I have a breaker and cut-off saw; essential tools. The breaker is second-hand, bought from a hire-company that was going under.

I bought an old K008 about 2 1/2 years ago which paid for itself in the first year. You've got the hassle of tracks breaking and hoses going from time to time, but once you've got your service support sorted it's no big deal.

I have a 1/2t tracked dumper which has been a real boon; we use it all the time, but financially it probably wasn't a good buy as we used to manage perfectly well with barrows for all but the biggest jobs (for us at any rate).

With the dumper I bought a big Fort rotorvator which is brilliant but will probably still be paying for itself in 5 years' time.

The digger came from ebay (£4500) and the dumper and rotorvator 2nd hand from Henley Plant Hire.

[lutonlagerlout]

most of our regular jobs are in less than 750mm access so pretty used to barrowing,good thing with a barrow is that it keeps you fit and it doesnt wreck walls
1 slip with a dumper or digger and walls come tumbling down
same with hand digging foundations,it can be a bit slower but you rarely burst pipes or wreck the lawn
LLL

[DNgroundworks]

I have been buying quite alot of equipment latley small stuff, wackers, lasers, pokers etc seems to be alot of cheap gear around at the minute.

But as for bigger stuff diggers etc, im not going to bother with the way things are at the minute, i just give the business to local plant hire firms.

Still keen on buying a crusher tho' just had a tcp on hire from the yeadon depot cracking little machine, good rates aswell:p

[Dave_L]

a decent breaker and stihl cut off saw are a must,but after losing our 3rd wacker

How the hell do you loose 3 wackers?

[msh paving]

If i use a tool often i will always buy one,its there when i need to use it,no waiting for hire depots ,i have a diesel wacker plate for block paving, cost £1800 8 years ago vibrates 1.5ton good for sub-base and sand and blocks

I have had good buys from ebay in the tools section bought a probst vacume slab lifter 2 months ago for £160 new price they are £1200 its great for a slab repair contract I have in local town centre,it depends on your cash flow and storage area on how much plant you buy,if im busy block paving the wacker gets used 4 days a week or so so it makes sense to own one, same as a blockcart and a block cutter,they save so much manual work a block cart is esential for blockpaving work

MSH

[ambient]

a decent breaker and stihl cut off saw are a must,but after losing our 3rd wacker

How the hell do you loose 3 wackers?

to thieves ive lost two stihl saws, 1 wacker, 2 vans full of tools, loads of wheelbarrows
agree with msh block cart saves a mans wages on a decent size job, if i hire something more than once a week i usually buy one, looking for a micro digger at the moment hire shops only got piles of crap ???

[Dave_L]

Not seen a block cart in use until a few weeks back on a road paving job, what a timesaver they are! If we did more block paving, then we'd have one for sure.

That's the sort of gadget that would pay for itself in under a month.

[msh paving]

a block cart will pat for it's self on a 200m job,I have laid 100m jobs on my own with one move a tier of blocks at a time usually 100+blocks it will carry 150 if you hand stack em

iv owned 2 since i started in 1993 the last one from 1997 to now cost £557,

only lost 1 jcb beaver pack since iv been in buisness which was stolen from a customers shed,but insurance paid out,diggers are the thing i worry about most as hire customers don't care ,crime is not to much about this area MSH

[Tony McC]

I've been after a cheap block cart that I can use for demonstration purposes on my block laying training courses, so I've been following them on EBay. New they are around 650 +VAT but even 2nd hand they are fetching 300-400 quid, which is a testament to just how bloody useful they are!