Plant Hire and Equipment Hire: The Complete Guide to Hiring Machinery

Whether you are a groundworks contractor who needs an extra machine for a job, a farmer with a one-off task, or a homeowner tackling a big landscaping project, at some point you need a machine you do not own. That is what plant hire is for. It puts the right kit in your hands for exactly as long as you need it, without the cost of buying it outright.

This is the complete guide to hiring plant and machinery: what you can hire, how it works, what it costs, and how to find the right plant hire near you.

What is plant hire?

Plant hire, sometimes called machinery hire, equipment hire or plant and machinery hire, simply means renting construction, groundworks or agricultural machinery for a set period rather than buying it. You pay for the time you use it, and hand it back when you are done.

It is one of the most useful tools any contractor, farmer or builder has, because it turns a massive capital outlay into a manageable, predictable cost, and it means you always have access to the right machine for the job without a yard full of kit sitting idle between uses.

What can you hire?

Just about any machine you can think of is available to hire. The most commonly hired plant includes:

Mini diggers, the most popular hire item of all, perfect for drainage, foundations, landscaping and tight-access work
Larger excavators, from 3-tonne up to heavy tracked machines for serious groundworks
Dumpers, for moving spoil and materials around site
Telehandlers and loading shovels, for lifting, loading and materials handling
Rollers and compaction equipment, for groundworks and surfacing
Tractors and agricultural machinery, for seasonal and one-off farm tasks
Access equipment, cherry pickers and scissor lifts for work at height
Attachments, breakers, augers, grabs and buckets to go with the machine

Whether you need one machine for a day or a fleet for a contract, if it works for a living, you can almost certainly hire it.

Mini digger hire: the most popular hire of all

If there is one machine that gets hired more than any other, it is the mini digger, so it is worth its own mention.

Mini digger hire is popular because these machines are astonishingly versatile. A 1 to 3-tonne mini digger will get through a gate, work in a back garden, dig footings and drainage, clear ground, and handle a huge range of jobs that would take days by hand. For contractors, homeowners and landscapers alike, digger hire is often the single most cost-effective way to get a job done.

When hiring a mini digger, think about:

Size and access. Measure your tightest gateway or access point. A micro digger can get through a standard doorway, while a larger machine needs proper access.
Dig depth and reach. Make sure the machine can actually reach the depth your job needs.
Operated or self-drive. Do you have someone competent to operate it, or do you need it supplied with a driver?
Attachments. A breaker for hard ground, an auger for post holes, the right bucket for the job.

Get the size right and a mini digger hire will save you days of graft. Get it wrong and you are back on the phone swapping it for the right one.

Operated hire vs self-drive

There are two ways to hire most plant, and the difference matters:

Self-drive hire means you take the machine and operate it yourself. It is cheaper, but it means you or your team need to be competent and, where required, properly trained and certified to run it safely and legally.

Operated hire means the machine comes with an experienced operator. It costs more, but you get the job done by someone who knows the machine, and the responsibility for operating it safely sits with an expert. For bigger machines and specialist work, operated hire is often the sensible choice.

What does plant hire cost?

Hire is normally priced by the day, the week, or longer, with the rate usually dropping the longer you keep the machine. What you pay depends on:

The machine. A mini digger is a fraction of the cost of a large excavator or telehandler.
The hire period. Weekly rates work out cheaper per day than daily hire, and long-term contract hire cheaper still.
Operated or self-drive. Operated hire includes the operator’s time.
Delivery and collection. Getting the machine to and from site is usually charged on top, based on distance.
Extras. Attachments, fuel and insurance may be additional, so always check what is included.

Always confirm exactly what the quoted price covers, delivery, fuel, insurance and attachments, so there are no surprises on the invoice.

How to find good plant hire near you

When you search for plant hire near you, a few things separate a good hire company from a bad one:

Well-maintained, reliable kit. A machine that breaks down on site costs you a day. Ask about the age and condition of the fleet.
Local to you. A nearby hire company means lower delivery costs and faster turnaround if something goes wrong.
The right range. Somewhere that has the machine you actually need, in the size you need, ideally available when you need it.
Backup and support. What happens if a machine goes down mid-job? A good firm gets you going again fast.
Clear pricing. A straight quote with everything included beats a cheap headline rate with extras piled on later.

The best hire is usually local, properly equipped, and straight with you on price.

Find plant and machinery hire on Plant And Tractor Trader

Plant And Tractor Trader lists plant hire and equipment rental specialists across the UK and Ireland, so whether you need a mini digger for the weekend, an excavator for a contract, or a telehandler for the season, you can find a hire company that covers your area and has the kit you need.

Browse plant hire and equipment rental specialists here.

From a single machine to a full fleet, hiring the right plant is often the smartest, most cost-effective way to get the job done.

Run a plant hire business? Get found by the people who need your machines

If plant hire is your business, this is the part worth reading.

Every contractor, farmer, builder and homeowner reading the guide above needs a machine, and they are looking for it right now. Most of them start the same way: a search for plant hire near me, digger hire, mini digger hire or machinery hire in their area. The only question is whether they find your fleet or a competitor’s when they do.

Getting listed on Plant And Tractor Trader puts your hire business in front of them. Around 30,000 contractors, farmers, dealers and machine users visit the site every month, with 15,000 on the email list and 35,000 following across social, exactly the audience hiring plant and machinery. A listing works quietly in the background, getting your fleet found on the searches that turn into bookings, for a fraction of what that reach costs anywhere else.

Every machine you have got sitting in the yard between hires is money not being made. Getting it in front of more people is how you keep the fleet working.

List your hire business on Plant And Tractor Trader →

Browse the current plant hire and equipment rental listings to see the section your business could be part of.