Plant hire rates get cheaper per day the longer you hire, so the real question is not “what does a day cost” but “how long will this job actually take”. As a rule of thumb, if there is any chance a job runs past two or three days, price a weekly hire before you book daily.
In this guide
For work stretching over several weeks, monthly or long-term hire usually wins, and if your kit needs change from job to job, a Flex Hire account can beat all of them. This guide walks through how each period works at our Okehampton depot and how to choose.
How plant hire rates are structured
Almost every hire company in the UK prices in bands: a day rate, a week rate, a month rate and negotiated long-term rates. The week rate is not seven day rates added together. It is set lower, because a machine out on a week’s hire costs us less in transport, cleaning and admin per working day than one coming back every evening.
A few things sit outside the headline rate and are worth knowing before you compare quotes:
- Delivery and collection are quoted separately, based on distance from Okehampton.
- VAT is added on top of quoted rates.
- Fuel is yours. Machines go out full and should come back full.
- Insurance is not automatically included, so factor in your own cover. If you have nothing in place, our partner insurance4plant specialises in plant hire insurance.
- Hire runs continuously from delivery until you formally off-hire, including evenings and weekends.
That last point catches people out more than anything else. Telling the driver the machine is finished does not stop the clock. Call or WhatsApp us, get your off-hire reference, and the charges stop there.
What affects plant hire rates
The hire period is the biggest lever you control, but it is not the only thing that moves the price. When we put a quote together, these are the factors that make the difference.
- Machine size and type. A 9 tonne Sunward SWE 90UF or a Merlo P40.14 telehandler is a far bigger investment for us than a Weber MT plate compactor, and the rate reflects that.
- Attachments. Extra buckets, a different bucket width or a specific implement on a tractor can change the quote. Tell us exactly what the job needs so the right kit goes out on the first load.
- Delivery distance. Transport is priced from our depot near Okehampton, so a site in Launceston costs less to reach than one near Yeovil or Dorchester.
- Number of machines. Two or three items going to the same site on the same day often share one transport run.
- Weekend use. Weekly rates assume five working days. Using the machine on Saturday and Sunday may add a weekend charge.
- Account or one-off. Regular customers on a credit account, long-term rental or Flex Hire are priced differently from a single hire paid upfront.
- Time of year. When demand peaks, availability tightens. Booking early matters more than chasing a lower rate.
None of these factors is hidden. Ask us to break the quote down and we will show you what each part covers.
Daily hire: when it makes sense
Our minimum hire is usually one full day. Daily hire suits jobs you can genuinely finish in a day or two, with the ground prepared and materials already on site. Good examples are compacting a sub-base for a shed base with a Weber MT forward plate, cutting a single run of tarmac with the SM 82-3 pavement saw, or a day’s mowing with a pedestrian mower before an event.
The risk with daily hire is optimism. Rain, a late delivery of stone or a buried pipe nobody knew about can turn one day into three, and three separate day rates often cost more than a week would have. If you are not sure, tell us the job and we will say honestly which period is likely to work out cheaper.
Weekly hire: the most popular option
Weekly hire is what most of our customers book, and for good reason. Weekly rates are based on a standard five-day working week, so a Monday-to-Friday job fits neatly. If you want the machine over the weekend as well, a weekend rate may apply, and we will be clear about that when you book.
Weekly hire gives you slack. A footing dig for a garden room, a drainage run across a paddock or clearing an overgrown plot with a mini digger and tracked dumper rarely goes exactly to plan. Having the kit for the week means a wet Tuesday does not cost you a fresh delivery charge on Wednesday.
A worked example without the numbers
Say you are laying a 40 square metre patio in Tavistock. Day one is digging out with a 1.8 tonne Sunward SWE 18UF, day two is barrowing out spoil and bringing in sub-base, day three is compaction. On paper that is three day hires of the digger plus a plate.
In practice the digger is idle on days two and three while you need the plate, and you have paid two delivery runs if you send the digger back early and order the plate separately. One weekly hire of the digger with the plate dropped off on the same lorry is usually simpler and often cheaper overall. Ask us to quote both ways.
Delivery, collection and the true cost of a short hire
On a short hire, transport can be a large share of the total bill. A machine that goes out for one day still needs a lorry or trailer to bring it and another trip to collect it. Stretch the same machine over a week and the transport cost is spread across five working days instead of one, which is a big part of why weekly hire so often works out better.
Three habits keep transport costs down:
- Group your kit. If you need a mini digger, a tracked dumper and a plate, ask for them on the same delivery rather than three separate drops.
- Plan the order of work. Sending a machine back early and then needing it again two days later means paying for two extra runs.
- Consider collecting. You can collect from our depot during business hours with a suitable vehicle and trailer. Check your towing limits first, and remember the hire period starts when the machine leaves the yard.
Delivery and collection are always quoted separately, so you can see exactly how much of the bill is transport and decide whether a longer hire makes more sense.
Monthly and long-term plant hire rates
Monthly plant hire rates are priced on a four-week basis. Monthly hire suits extensions, small developments and seasonal farm work where the same machine is needed week after week. The per-week cost drops again compared with weekly hire.
Once you are looking at four months or more, our long-term rental contracts give the best rates we offer. You agree the kit, the term and the rate up front, routine servicing is covered, and you get a named account manager. If the project runs on, we extend; if it finishes early, there are reasonable early termination terms built in.
Flex Hire: one monthly fee, swap whenever you need
Traditional hire assumes you know what machine you need and for how long. A lot of contractors and estates don’t. A landscaper might want a trencher one week, a chipper the next and a compact tractor the week after. That is what Flex Hire is for.
You pay one flat monthly fee for a tier of equipment and swap kit as often as you need, with servicing included and a 10% loyalty rebate. There are no long-term contracts. The tiers are:
| Tier | Monthly fee | Adds access to |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | £795 +VAT & delivery | Compact kit and everyday tools, including 1 tonne excavators, plates and trenchers |
| Tier 2 | £895 +VAT & delivery | Crushers, chippers and 1.8–2 tonne excavators |
| Tier 3 | £995 +VAT & delivery | 2.5 tonne excavators, electric forklifts, scissor lifts and UTVs |
| Tier 4 | £1,495 +VAT & delivery | Everything, including 9 tonne excavators and tractors |
Worked scenarios: matching the job to the hire period
These are illustrations to show the thinking, not real customers or real quotes. Plant hire rates vary by machine, site and season, so ask us to price your own job both ways.
A drainage run on a smallholding near Holsworthy
A 60 metre land drain across a wet paddock, dug with a 2.5 tonne Sunward SWE 25UF, stone delivered in two loads, pipe laid and backfilled. On a dry week it is three days of digging. On Culm clay in October it could easily be five or six, with a day lost to rain. Booking daily and extending each morning risks paying more than a week, and a weekly hire with the Hyundai 500kg tracked dumper on the same lorry removes the pressure to rush in bad conditions.
A ten-week extension in Exeter
A builder needs a 1.8 tonne zero tail excavator for footings and drainage over the first three weeks, then a mixer and a dumper on and off for the rest of the job. Hiring the excavator weekly for three weeks makes sense. For the mixer and dumper, monthly hire for the remaining period usually beats rolling weekly hires, and avoids repeated deliveries to a street where parking is tight.
A landscaping firm working across Cornwall
Four or five small jobs a month: a trencher for a cable run, a plate for a patio, a mini digger for a soakaway, a chipper after hedge work. Each job is only a day or two, so daily hires plus transport add up quickly, and the firm spends hours booking and chasing invoices. This is the kind of pattern Flex Hire was designed for, with one monthly fee and a swap each time the job changes.
An estate needing a loader all season
An estate needs a Venieri 1.63D pivot loader every working day from spring to late autumn. That is six months or more of the same machine on the same site, which points straight to long-term rental with routine servicing covered and a named account manager.
Choosing the right hire period
Here is a quick way to think about it before you message us.
| Your job | Usually best value | Why |
|---|---|---|
| One clearly defined task, done in a day | Daily | No point paying for days you won’t use |
| Two to five working days, or weather-dependent | Weekly | Lower rate per day and room for delays |
| Three to twelve weeks on one site | Monthly | Same machine, steadily lower cost per week |
| Four months or more, fixed kit | Long-term rental | Best rate, servicing and account manager |
| Ongoing work, kit needs change often | Flex Hire | One fee, unlimited swaps within your tier |
Mistakes that push your hire bill up
- Booking daily “to see how it goes” and then extending day by day.
- Forgetting to off-hire properly, so charges run over a weekend.
- Ordering machines on separate days when one delivery could bring them together.
- Returning kit dirty or without a full tank, which adds cleaning and fuel charges.
- Hiring a bigger machine than the access allows and paying for an abortive delivery.
Seasonal demand across the South West
Availability shapes what you pay as much as the rate card does. If the machine you want is already out, you either wait or take a different size, so it pays to know when demand peaks in Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset.
- Spring (March to May): landscaping, garden projects and the start of the groundworks season. Mini diggers, plates, trenchers and dumpers are busy, so book a few days ahead.
- Summer: event kit such as generators and UTVs, mowers and toppers for grass, and agricultural machinery around silage and harvest.
- Autumn: hedge and tree work brings chippers out, along with drainage and track repairs before the ground gets too wet.
- Winter: Airrex indirect heaters for marquees, workshops and drying out buildings, plus tracked machines for sites that keep going through the wet.
If your job can move by a week or two, ask us when the machine is likely to be free. A flexible start date can be worth more than a lower rate.
How to plan a hire so you only pay for what you use
- Write down the tasks in order. Dig, cart away, bring in stone, compact, lay. Note which machine each task needs.
- Estimate days honestly, then add a margin. Allow for rain, late material deliveries and surprises in the ground.
- Get materials and skips booked first. A digger standing idle while you wait for stone is the most expensive kind of hire.
- Check access before booking. Measure gateways and side passages so the machine that arrives is the one that fits.
- Locate services before the machine arrives. Time spent scanning and hand digging trial holes is cheaper on day zero than on day two.
- Ask for two prices. Daily versus weekly, or weekly versus monthly, so you can see the break-even point for your job.
- Off-hire as soon as you finish. Call or WhatsApp for your off-hire reference the moment the machine is ready for collection.
Done this way, the cheapest hire period usually becomes obvious before you book, and you avoid paying for days the machine sits doing nothing.
Hire terms worth knowing
Quotes and hire agreements use a few terms that are easy to misread. Here is what they mean on our paperwork.
- Hire period: the time from the machine leaving the depot until it is formally off-hired, including evenings, weekends and bank holidays.
- Off-hire reference: the number we give you when you tell us the machine is finished. Charges stop from that point, not when the driver arrives.
- Weekly rate: priced on a standard five-day, 40-hour working week. Weekend use may be charged extra.
- Monthly rate: priced on four calendar weeks.
- Abortive delivery: a wasted trip because the machine could not be unloaded or reach the work area. The cost falls on the hirer, so check access first.
- Exclusive of VAT: all quoted rates and transport charges have VAT added at the prevailing rate.
Many UK hire agreements are based on the model conditions published by the Construction Plant-hire Association.
Frequently asked questions
Is weekly hire always cheaper than daily?
Not for a genuine one-day job. But once a hire runs to around three days, the weekly rate often costs the same or less, so it is worth asking for both prices.
Can I extend a hire once it has started?
Yes. Message us before your original end date and we will extend it, subject to availability, and confirm the rate for the extra period.
Do you charge for weekends?
Hire runs continuously, but weekly rates are built on a five-day week. If you need the machine at the weekend, tell us at booking and we will confirm any weekend rate upfront.
Why don’t you publish plant hire rates online?
Because the right price depends on the machine, the site, the delivery distance and the hire length. We would rather give you an accurate quote than a headline figure that doesn’t match your job. See our hire FAQs for more on payment and deposits.
When does the hire period start and stop?
Under our terms the hire period starts when the equipment leaves the depot and runs continuously until it is formally off-hired. That is why getting an off-hire reference matters, rather than just leaving the machine by the gate.
Is a deposit needed on top of the hire rate?
A refundable security deposit may be needed for some equipment, particularly high-value machines. We confirm it at booking, and it is returned within five working days once the kit is back undamaged and charges are settled.
What happens if I cancel?
Cancelling with more than 72 hours’ notice is free. Shorter notice may carry a charge based on the first day’s hire, depending on how late it is. The full schedule is in our terms and conditions.
Get a quote for your hire period
Send us the machine, your site postcode, the dates and any access details, and we will tell you which hire period works out cheapest. WhatsApp or call 07841 036064, Monday to Friday 7:30am to 5:30pm, or use our contact page for written quotes and accounts.
