Starting New - which machines to get

[Smiffy]

My local plant hire firm reckon they do really well hiring out their large tile cutter - it’s like this but a different make -

Rubi DC 250 1200 Wet Cut Bridge Saw: Electric Tile Cutter 110v (Weekly Hire) | The Paving Experts

Hire the Rubi DC 250 1200 Wet Cut Bridge Saw: Electric Tile Cutter 110v. Transformer included. Delivery from Tamworth, Staffs. Book online or call ☎️ 0330 122 1025

www.thepavingexperts.co.uk

I’ve had it a couple of times recently at around £60 per day - it looks a good return on a £3-4K machine (too expensive for most people to buy for one or two projects so it goes out a lot, but very cheap capital cost when you consider the outlay/return on items of plant).

The costs for small kit looks to be way better than big kit. A big hilti is the same on day hire as a 1.5t machine. Core drills, electric breakers,cobras trench compactors disk cutters all look to be better money than diggers and dumpers. Even a breaker for a mini is nearly as much to hire as the mini itself. This is from the perspective of hiring kit at least. We hire a lot of kit. And the small kit is far more expensive to hire Vs purchase cost than big kit.

 

[DaveDCB]

My local plant hire firm reckon they do really well hiring out their large tile cutter - it’s like this but a different make -

Rubi DC 250 1200 Wet Cut Bridge Saw: Electric Tile Cutter 110v (Weekly Hire) | The Paving Experts

Hire the Rubi DC 250 1200 Wet Cut Bridge Saw: Electric Tile Cutter 110v. Transformer included. Delivery from Tamworth, Staffs. Book online or call ☎️ 0330 122 1025

www.thepavingexperts.co.uk

I’ve had it a couple of times recently at around £60 per day - it looks a good return on a £3-4K machine (too expensive for most people to buy for one or two projects so it goes out a lot, but very cheap capital cost when you consider the outlay/return on items of plant).

Got the same saw as that.. was around 1200 pre covid! Paid for itself easily!

 

[6feetdown]

I'm debating whether to buy 1 then next year it will be finished with and sell it.
Been looking at the Zoe saw

 

[Stroppymonkey]

Often thought about hire, but it’s a well covered area and you’re constantly dealing with idiots. You would need very thick skin and also the skills to run maintenance yourself as outsourcing it would remove all profit.
Bespoke stuff is better. We’ve done a few insurance jobs and hired out dehumidifier’s and usually get the money back on one job, whereas at the other end of the spectrum I can hire a 100k machine for less than £80 a day

 

[6feetdown]

Often thought about hire, but it’s a well covered area and you’re constantly dealing with idiots. You would need very thick skin and also the skills to run maintenance yourself as outsourcing it would remove all profit.
Bespoke stuff is better. We’ve done a few insurance jobs and hired out dehumidifier’s and usually get the money back on one job, whereas at the other end of the spectrum I can hire a 100k machine for less than £80 a day

Yeah de humidifiers lights and heaters good in the winter also pumps

 

[pettsy]

Thought about hire side of things myself, but would just lose my temper with the dickheads that abuse kit.

 

[DaveDCB]

Thought about hire side of things myself, but would just lose my temper with the dickheads that abuse kit.

Exactly why I stopped doing it!

 

[Nick...]

Wacker plates are best thing to hire out at £25/30 a day.got one from Lidl or Aldi for about £200.people only use em for 10/15 mins so never over worked either.
nick...

 

[Storrsy]

Wacker plates are best thing to hire out at £25/30 a day.got one from Lidl or Aldi for about £200.people only use em for 10/15 mins so never over worked either.
nick...

Pretty hard to abuse too. As long as they don't tip it on its side running

 

[pettsy]

Would still misfuel, tip over and steal. Can guarantee if it stops working they’d expect a replacement on site in 10mins.

 

[Brendan]

Haha.

I love all this. I suspect you are all very much on the ball.

I have two companies that I run from home at the moment and which are very flexible with my time as they mainly involve just loads of emails so my main thing was to do it as a side job. My main idea was to buy a second hand machine (in good condition) and then send it out as and when someone wants. I could then also drive the machine when someone needs a driver.

I needed the information more as a sense of which machines are more popular so I can capitalise on making sure a get a machine that is going to be most popular to hire.

Can you operate a digger? You'll also want public liability if your out working on it

Good luck if you give it a go but not as straight forward as buying a machine.

Do you have a suitable tow vehicle? If not you'll need a different vehicle and then a suitable trailer plus the machine and then somewhere to store the trailer/digger. You would then need a tacho and need to add or change your vehicle insurance to cover transporting the machine for hire and reward. You could avoid all that by paying someone else to shift it but then you would be at a loss.

You'll need to feel zero attachment to the machine you have just spent 10k or so on, as it will be abused pretty much from the turn of the ignition key when delivered and you can safely guarantee that none of the hirers will grease it (even if you supply them a grease gun and cartridges)

If your not handy with a set of spanners you'll want to find a local, decent plant fitter, plus find where your local hydraulic hose suppliers are, as calling any of the big named hydraulic hose repairers will result in big bills

Then be prepared for all the calls for ssues that the machine has suddenly had where someone's ripped a hose, ran it out of fuel/put wrong fuel in it, or even worse put adblue in the diesel tank. Then the misery of trying to get paid for any damage they have caused

 

[Russell]

I recon buying and selling could be a better idea, especially if your based centrally in the country. I saw on euros a while back slanetracks sold for £4000. I've never seen one on ebay for less than £7000+.
If I lived on the mainland and didn't enjoy playing in the mud and filth I would have a go at buying and selling.

 

[Brendan]

I recon buying and selling could be a better idea, especially if your based centrally in the country. I saw on euros a while back slanetracks sold for £4000. I've never seen one on ebay for less than £7000+.
If I lived on the mainland and didn't enjoy playing in the mud and filth I would have a go at buying and selling.

Any time I've seen them at auction they have not been far off new money, amazed that there would be any profit by the time they were sold on again

 

[Russell]

The one I saw, i think it was within the last 12 months, several slanetracks went for cheap.

 

[Furniss]

Ive done a fair bit of sales over the years and nearly went all sales and not groundwork (maybe should of) there was a fantastic mark up bringing kit from uk to Europe, anyhow its not what it was.
I had the notion back then that it was about finding the customer but obviously its not, its about finding the plant, buy the right kit at the right price and and it was easy to do o.k.
Unless youve got some clout its hard to get the stock,i had built up a couple of contacts with odd machines, 2 at a time etc when I started getting offered larger batches of say 10 x 1.5t at a time and unfortunately I didnt have the working capital and quickly sliped off their radar.
Otherwise you do a lot of legwork finding stock of 1 or 2 bargains here and there.
Nowts easy..if it was everyone would be at it.

 

[Brendan]

The one I saw, i think it was within the last 12 months, several slanetracks went for cheap.

I watched one a few months ago, was at least 6, all went for something like 8k hammer. I was working and stopped to watch the auction as was going to bid, but even the oldest one went for more than I had seen listed on ebay

 

[Russell]

Luck of the draw I suppose.

 

[V8Druid]

Luck of the draw I suppose.

yeh I've been to engineering auctions (when they were proper auctions - turn up - make your assessment and stand and nod) and have had some serious bargains - odds and/or loads in one day - but only needed the wrong man there and you'd get sod all
went to a decent sized engineering works once and two indian 'gentlemen' turned up with two suitcases full of cash - absolutely no one bought a damned thing that day and many left after an hour's selling -- they wanted and got the entire place