should you rent or buy heavy construction equipment?

My husband is a contractor that does all sorts of jobs. There have been times that he has had to turn down a job because he didn't have some of the equipment that he needed to do the job right. Other jobs require that he rents some heavy construction equipment. We have been trying to decide if we should invest in purchasing some of that equipment that he needs or if it is better to continue renting it. Go through our blog to learn about purchasing heavy construction equipment. Here, you will learn the cost of purchasing and maintaining versus renting it.

Save Money On A Residential Crane Rental By Considering Traffic

Articles

Occasionally, renting a crane is the only way to proceed with a residential construction project. If buildings and landscaping prevent carrying the needed supplies around a house, then they'll need to be lifted over the house. While a crane rental may significantly increase the cost of your home improvement project, you can reduce the cost of your crane rental by considering your local traffic.

Contract Lifts are Used for Residential Projects

Cranes that are needed for small, residential building projects are hired via contract lifts. A contract lift is, as Allegiance Crane & Equipment explains, a contract between the homeowner and crane rental company to perform a specific lift. It includes the crane, other required equipment, an operator, any necessary support staff and insurance.

The other method used for renting cranes is called crane hires, but this type of rental agreement is usually reserved for commercial construction. Unlike a contract life, a crane hire only includes the crane. The renter is responsible for providing an operator and insurance.

Because they aren't in a position to operate the crane themselves or find someone else to, and since they don't have the required insurance, homeowners usually rent cranes via a contract lift.

Contract Lifts are Priced by the Hour

While crane rental companies often offer hourly, daily and weekly rates, lifting residential building materials over a single obstacle rarely takes more than a few hours. Therefore, an agreement that bases the total cost on an hourly rate will probably be the most affordable option.

The hourly rates for cranes are not low, though. According to HowMuchIsIt.org, crane rentals range between $100 and $600 per hour. Therefore, anything you can do to minimize how long your contract lift will take could save you hundreds of dollars.

Because a contract lift agreement doesn't grant you control over any of the crane operations, you can't speed up the lift, itself. You can, however, minimize any delays that traffic might cause. There are three ways you might reduce the effect traffic has.

Schedule the Lift Around Rush Hour

First, you can schedule the lift so the crane isn't being transported during rush hour. Many companies price contract lifts according to how long the crane is off their property, not how long it's on yours. The time it takes to get the crane to your lift site and back to the crane rental facility will likely be included in your price.

You can reduce how long it takes to transport the crane by scheduling the lift for late morning. This will provide enough time for driving to your site after morning rush hour, completing a basic lift and returning before the evening rush hour. Depending on how bad rush hour is where you live, scheduling a lift around rush hour could reduce your lift time by anywhere from a few minutes to an hour or more.

Offer to Direct Traffic

Second, you might offer to direct traffic. Once the crane arrives at your site, traffic will likely need to be temporarily blocked while the crane is positioned for the lift. If there's only an operator and one spotter, having an extra person direct traffic could speed up the set-up process.

Choose the Most Accessible Location

Third, if it's possible, you should have the crane arrive from a side street. Even though a side street may be narrower than a major avenue, there will be fewer cars to maneuver around and less traffic for the crane transporter to worry about.

With hourly rates in the hundreds of dollars, crane rentals are not cheap. If you need a crane to lift building materials for your residential project, though, you can keep the cost of the contract lift as low as possible by reducing how much traffic will delay the lift.

Share

24 June 2015