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You will find ownership really useful for jobs which digger hire could never be justified but if you have one it is used...
I own my own machine, servicing cost providing nothing much needs doing is about £70 or so from a local agri-machanic. I decided to get a one tonne machine as 90% of the time access is via a tight passage or gate to get in a garden and it saves the hassle of removing/ rebuilding a section of fence. Been fine for small/ medium driveways as well although a 1.5 tonne machine would be quicker.
Your main issue will be buying a decent machine and keeping it safely locked up.
Been great to have for those little jobs where hiring wouldn't be viable. Although would still say that hiring may still be more cost effective that owning unless your using the machine every week.
that was kind of my thinking and as we are using them more and more anyway, the rental cost is starting to get close to the cost of buying one
Massive theft risk. Worth considering, as a friend now spends more time watching the machine to stop it going walkies than he did hiring them!
He's also had to hire machines when his breaks.
Also get to know someone who can fix it quick when it breaks down on site. Last year this happened twice to me.
also it may be worth thinking about potentially hiring yours out too when its not needed on your sites.. so it's still earning money and not just sitting around.
check for pin wear, generally lower the hours the better, check track wear and also condition of hoses
dont think there are any 1.5t machines that will squeeze down for access through gates <900mm
pipes arent too bad to replace if you go to a fluid hose company rather than ringing pirtek or similar call out repairers
tracks are fairly straight forward to replace but the bigger the machine the more the cost my tb108 tracks were around £120 a pop
you can add the machine to your liability insurance policy mine covers all plant, tools and trailer upto a value of £12000 and covers the machine if its parked at a customers house or according to the representative at the side of the road as long as left securely
By doing this a machine like an excavator is invaluable as a purchase. Monthly finance payments for this piece of kit are simply then a monthly expense.
It all depends on the size of your outfit though and what sort of jobs you do.
I was in the same position as you about a year ago, we were hiring them out all the time and I realised that in the long run it would be cheaper to buy one. I bought a Takeuchi TB108 micro digger and I can confidently say it has been one of my best business purchases ever. Once you get one you'll wonder how you ever managed without it! We would use it at least once a week for removing stumps, digging large holes, loading wheel barrows, tidying up the yard, etc. Be very careful if buying second hand as theres quite a lot of things that can go wrong with them and try and get one with a dealer service history if possible. If buying new I would go for either Takeuchi, Yanmar, Cat or JCB as they will hold their value much better than the less well known makes. Good luck!
Thanks chaps. I think I will show your post to the boss...sorry the wife Chris! Did you buy yours second hand?
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