What a Day of Dry Hire Costs in WA, and When Owning Wins

Hiring makes sense for a one-off job. Most people who buy a machine do so after the third or fourth hire, when they realise they have paid a good part of the purchase price and own nothing.

What Perth hire actually costs

Rates change, so treat these as the shape of the market in 2026 rather than a quote. A 1.7 tonne mini excavator dry hire around Perth typically runs $250 to $350 per day or $1,000 to $1,400 per week. A compact tracked loader is similar. Then the extras:

• Delivery and pickup: $150 to $300 in the metro area, more to the Hills or Peel.
• Damage waiver or insurance: commonly 10 to 15 percent of the hire.
• Attachments: augers, breakers and tilt buckets are $50 to $150 a day each.
• Fuel: returned full or charged at a premium.
• Weekend and minimum hire rules: a Saturday job is often a two- or three-day charge.
• Cleaning fees if it comes back muddy.

A realistic weekend with a machine, a breaker and delivery is $700 to $1,000. A week with attachments is $1,500 to $2,000.

The ownership side

At current WA pricing an R15 is around $18,500 and an R18 PRO around $25,750. Ownership costs on top:

• Servicing: a few hundred dollars a year for filters and oil if you do it yourself.
• Insurance: optional for private use, worth having; a few hundred a year.
• Trailer: $4,000 to $8,000 for a suitable plant trailer, or hire one.
• Depreciation: compact machines with a Kubota engine and service history hold value well. Assume a third of the price over five years as a conservative figure.

Break-even

Divide the purchase price by what a hire weekend costs you. For an R15 against $800 weekends, that is about 23 weekends, or roughly one weekend a month for two years. Add the trailer and it is nearer three years. If you would use the machine more than that, or if your jobs are the kind you would never hire for (the small ones that get done because the machine is there), owning wins.

For a tradesperson billing the machine at hire rates on client jobs, the maths is faster: the machine pays for itself inside a year of regular use.

What hire still does better

• One-off jobs needing a machine class you would never own, such as a 5 tonne for a big site cut.
• Specialist attachments used once.
• Testing whether you like operating before buying.

Middle paths

Buy the machine and hire the trailer. Buy with finance so the monthly cost looks like a hire bill; see finance on the main store. Or buy jointly with a neighbour on acreage, which works surprisingly often on lifestyle blocks in the Hills and Peel.

Current machine prices are always on the machines pages, synced from the main store.