# Hourly rate (w/o operator) for skid steers?



## PrecisionSnow

Hi folks. Just wondering on your thoughts on what skid steers might be worth rented by the hour - therefore no fuel and no operator? 

I have some I don't use in the summer and have had some people ask to rent them for a few months. They would probably get used about 50-150 hours over 3-5 months. I would calculate the usage on the hour meter and go from there. payup

I'm guessing smaller machines in the 1500# capacity would be worth $25+/hour, mid sized machines 1600-2000# would be around $30+/hr and big boys might be worth $35 or more/hour.

Any thoughts?


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## JD Dave

I think your on the money but you need a minimum charge. If you can find good people to rent your equipment your machines will actually be more trouble free in the winter. We've been approached about renting our tractors and for the little bit of money I'd rather not bother. That being said, if you plan on trading regularly it might be a feasible option. Most people who rent tend to run the snot out of things.


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## rjigto4oje

PrecisionSnow;1645535 said:


> Hi folks. Just wondering on your thoughts on what skid steers might be worth rented by the hour - therefore no fuel and no operator?
> 
> I have some I don't use in the summer and have had some people ask to rent them for a few months. They would probably get used about 50-150 hours over 3-5 months. I would calculate the usage on the hour meter and go from there. payup
> 
> I'm guessing smaller machines in the 1500# capacity would be worth $25+/hour, mid sized machines 1600-2000# would be around $30+/hr and big boys might be worth $35 or more/hour.
> 
> Any thoughts?


175 to 220 for the day or they can hire you to do the work and you won't have to worry about someone beating up you equipment


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## PrecisionSnow

Thanks guys. 

JD Dave: I figured there would be a minimum per month or per 'off-season'. I'd only rent to people who I qualified and only for low-use applications. Examples include guys that already have a machine but when a job winds down they would like to put their unit on a new job and would use mine to help finish up the work / for their shops to load their trucks in the morning / smaller guys who only use skid steers for a few jobs a month.

I am thinking you might be right re: a bit of regular use is better for the machine. Sort of like a car.

rjigto4oje: I have 15 units right now and only use a handful in the summer. I'm thinking there might be guys that would be happy to pay $3-6k for the summer season to have a machine part-time, albeit with capped hours. 

One concern is the tire wear: I'd basically have to outfit the machines with 'summer tires' and I'd keep good winter rubber separate so I'll still have traction come snow season. Also, I wouldn't have enough excavation buckets so I'll need to buy them specifically for the rentals.


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## peteo1

If I'm spending $6,000 a month on rent that cap better be pretty high. A monthly payment is considerably less than that. Just my .02


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## PrecisionSnow

Peteo1: It would be $500-1000/month for 6 months, but with an hourly cap. 

The going rate is usually $2000-2800/month from the rental stores which would equal $12-15k from mid-April to late Autumn.

I'm just trying to figure out what a machine would "cost" me per hour and then add something on top of that. My guess is that a machine probably costs about $20/hour in maintenance, wear and tear, depreciation and tires.


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## Lt CHEG

PrecisionSnow;1645661 said:


> I'm just trying to figure out what a machine would "cost" me per hour and then add something on top of that. My guess is that a machine probably costs about $20/hour in maintenance, wear and tear, depreciation and tires.


Depending on what skid steer you've got I'd be willing to bet your depreciation and wear and tear costs are a fair amount more than $20 per hour. I've got a NH Powerstar T4.75 enclosed cab tractor with front end loader and an Alamo flail mower. If I do some mowing for a friend or neighbor I figure my wear and tear, maintenance and depreciation costs are close to $30 an hour before fuel.


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## PrecisionSnow

Lt CHEG: Thanks for the thoughts!

The other way to look at it is this way....

Regular hourly rate with fuel and operator (industry average rates for summer work)
Hourly rate: $75.00
Fuel burn/hour: ($10.00) 
Operator w/labour burden: ($25.00)
Profit per hour: ($10.00)

That would leave this: $30.00 per hour for the machine's cost.


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## Ne1

Check what the equipment rental places in your area get for winter skid steer rentals..


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## johnhenry1933

I wouldn't rent my equipment out for $500-$1,000 month, unless it was crap. There's just too many expensive things they could damage.


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## hardwoodcd

I made a deal with a guy about renting a piece of my equipment after the snow season last year. At the last minute he backed out of the deal and I was overly relieved! Won't be renting out my equipment at all. No one has respect for your things. I would rather just have my things get serviced and sit after snow.


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## Neige

Lt CHEG;1645783 said:


> Depending on what skid steer you've got I'd be willing to bet your depreciation and wear and tear costs are a fair amount more than $20 per hour. I've got a NH Powerstar T4.75 enclosed cab tractor with front end loader and an Alamo flail mower. If I do some mowing for a friend or neighbor I figure my wear and tear, maintenance and depreciation costs are close to $30 an hour before fuel.


I don't think his $20 is to low, I am pretty sure its even less then that. Costs are all relative the more you use your machine the less it costs. We all agree we are looking at cost not including fuel. Everyone talks about depreciation but do you consider the resale value of your machine. Here is a real example we bought a Kubota M95X 5 years ago for $55,000.00 with 0% financing over the 5 years. Over those 5 years we put 670 hrs of winter use on the tractor. We do our own oil changes twice a year and had to change the battery twice, a wiper blade, and alternator. Total cost $1680.00 Kubota is willing to give me $38,000.00 trade in for my machine now. So add the 17 grand it cost me + the maintenance and the machine cost $18,680.00 divided by 670 hrs equals 27.88/hr, so yes I proved you right.
Now what I did not mention is we bought two of these Kubotas, and I rented one to a golf course to use the PTO to drive a pump for their irrigation. This Kubota I only had to do one oil change since the golf course does the other. We also did not need to change the alternator on it, and only one battery so our maintenance was only $785.00. We were offered $36,400 trade in for this tractor with the hour meter at 1964. So cost $19,385 divided by 1964 hours = $9.87/hr. Now here comes the beauty part, we rent that tractor for $850/month for 6 months a year with a cap of 250 hrs/year. Multiply that by 5 years and we had an additional income of $25,500 for that tractor compared to the same one we we did not rent. In the end the rental one made me $6,115.00 and cost me nothing for the winter. Once again its all proportionate to how much you work a machine. The best ROI is when you work your machine everyday of the year, because thats what cuts down your capital investment, the biggest expense in the equation. I will end it with this story, my dad bought a MF 30 in 1962 for $6,800. We ended up trading it in 1984 for $8,600.00 go figure.
Kent you are going in a smart direction, just make sure you rent to good people who will not abuse the equipment. Our company policy has not been to rent (not sure if it was wise) but we do keep ouur equipment for 15 years


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