Buy or hire a mini excavator? When your own machine pays off

For a garden pond over the weekend, you hire a mini excavator. But if you need one again and again, hiring soon costs you more than a machine of your own. Here you can see what hiring and buying really cost and after how many days of use your own excavator pays off, with a worked example for the Rippa R18 PRO.

What does it cost to hire an excavator?

Hire prices depend on the weight class, the region and the hire period. The German hire portal Miet24 gives these guide prices for Germany in 2026:

In big cities such as Munich, prices are at the top end, in rural areas closer to the bottom. Prices in other countries differ. On top of the hire price there are almost always extra costs:

• Transport: delivery and collection cost €50 to €150 each way. For a short hire, this is often more than the hire price itself.
• Operating hours: the daily rate usually covers 8 operating hours. At Zeppelin Rental, every extra hour costs one eighth of the daily rate.
• Fuel and cleaning: you pay for the diesel yourself. Many hire companies charge €40 to €120 for a dirty machine.
• Excess and deposit: in the event of damage, you usually pay €1,000 to €2,500 yourself. On top of that, you leave a deposit of €300 to €800.
• Attachments: a second bucket costs €15 to €30 a day, a hydraulic breaker €40 to €80.

What does your own excavator cost?

A new Rippa excavator costs less than many people expect. The table shows how many weeks of hire in its weight class the purchase price corresponds to:

Model	Weight	Price excl. VAT	Weekly hire in this class	Price equals
R06	735 kg	€5,490	€350–480	about 13 weeks
R10 ECO	1,028 kg	from €5,990	€350–480	about 14 weeks
R15 ECO	1,445 kg	from €10,490	€450–650	about 19 weeks
R18 PRO	1,818 kg	from €15,590	€450–650	about 28 weeks
R22 PRO	2,439 kg	€19,990	€600–800	about 29 weeks

Rippa prices excluding VAT, as of 20 October 2026. Calculated with the average weekly hire rate of each class; for the R06 and the R10 ECO, we used the class up to 1 t.

But the purchase price is not everything. Over the year, these costs add up for your own excavator, here using the example of the R18 PRO at €15,590:

Diesel and your working time are not included, because they are the same whether you hire or buy. If the excavator does not stay on your own property, you also need a trailer. What to consider regarding weight and trailers is explained in our guide Transporting a mini excavator.

Worked example: after how many days of use does buying pay off?

Divide the annual cost of your own machine by the hire cost per day of use. The result is the number of days from which buying is cheaper:

For the R18 PRO at about €3,000 a year and a hire machine in the 1.5 to 2 t class, using average hire prices, this gives:

• Hire by the day, two days at a time: €230 per day of use, that is €130 daily rate plus €100 transport each way. Buying pays off from about 13 days of use.
• Hire by the week: €150 per day of use, that is €550 weekly rate plus €200 transport for five days of use. Buying pays off from about 20 days of use.
• Hire by the month: about €83 per day of use, that is €1,450 monthly rate plus €200 transport for 20 days of use. Buying pays off from about 36 days of use.

And if the excavator loses more value? If you assume a residual value of only 20% after five years, the cost rises to about €3,600 a year. Compared with weekly hire, buying then pays off from about 24 days of use.

Self-build calculation: buy and sell again

Are you building a house or a large outdoor area yourself? Then you need the excavator again and again over several months: for utility trenches, drainage and foundations, and finally for the garden. An example with six months of construction and 40 days of use:

In this example, buying and selling again costs about as much as targeted hiring and a good €3,000 less than hiring for the whole period. And the excavator is ready whenever you need it, even when the hire depot is fully booked or the weather changes your schedule. One risk remains: if you sell for 60% instead of 70% of the purchase price, you pay about €1,560 more. How to dig a pit or a pool with an excavator is shown in our guide Digging a pool with a mini excavator.

When hiring is the better choice

• You need the excavator for a single project, such as a garden pond or a utility trench.
• You need a large machine just once, for example a 5-tonne excavator for a single big excavation.
• You have no space to park the excavator dry and secure.
• You do not want to deal with maintenance, insurance and resale.

When your own excavator pays off

• Landscaping, caretaking services and trade businesses with regular earthworks
• Agriculture, forestry and horse keeping: ditches, fences, tracks and stable work come up all year round.
• Self-builders with a lot of their own work who sell the excavator again afterwards
• Large properties where the machine is used again and again

There are also advantages that do not appear in any calculation: you work when it suits you, not when the hire company delivers. You know your machine, and your own attachments such as an auger, fork or ditching bucket are always to hand. Matching attachments are under Attachments for excavators.

Tax: what businesses should know

• VAT: as a business, you reclaim the VAT on both hire and purchase as input tax. For private customers, VAT applies to hire and purchase alike, so it does not change the comparison.
• Depreciation: hire costs are business expenses straight away. A purchased excavator is depreciated over its useful life. In Germany, the depreciation table of the Federal Ministry of Finance for the construction industry sets five years for hydraulic excavators up to 35 kW, which covers all Rippa excavators.

Depreciation rules differ from country to country. Clarify the details for your business with your tax adviser.

Frequently asked questions

Matching excavators

R10 ECO
1,028 kg, for gardens and small projects

R18 PRO
1,818 kg, the machine from the worked example

R22 PRO
2,439 kg, for larger earthworks