Preparing for your next heavy lifting project? Choosing the right cranes for your project is a key part of any job, and oftentimes the first choice you need to make is whether you should rent or buy your cranes.
As North America’s largest privately-owned crane rental and sales enterprise, ALL Crane has extensive experience supporting both crane rentals and sales. This guide will walk you through key considerations, the pros and cons of each choice, and real-world scenarios to help you make an informed choice.
Key Factors to Consider Before Renting or Buying a Crane
Your project and business requirements have a direct impact on whether renting or buying a crane is the ideal option for your organization. Let’s break down a few core factors to help you determine which option is better for your projects.
Project Duration
Consider how long and how often you’ll need your crane. If you have shorter projects or the crane will be infrequently used, renting is typically more cost effective. Long-term projects where your equipment will be used every day can help you spread out the purchase cost and make the investment less costly in the long run.
Flexibility and Project Requirements
Projects can vary widely, and so do crane types. If your jobs differ in scale and lifts required, renting allows you to select the best crane model for each project’s requirements without committing to them long-term.
Budget and Asset Management
Simply put, your budget will always play a role in which crane solution you choose. The cost of buying a crane can range from $10,000 to hundreds of thousands of dollars depending on the specific crane you need. Renting allows your business to lower those upfront costs to avoid large expenditures and preserve cash for other needs. However, buying a crane gives you full control of the equipment as part of your official fleet.
Storage, Maintenance, and Ownership Overhead
It’s important to also think of the long-term responsibilities associated with renting and owning heavy lifting equipment. When you own a crane, you handle maintenance, repairs, inspections, insurance, and storage. These responsibilities add ongoing costs and logistical challenges, but renting a crane offloads these burdens to the rental company if you don’t want to go that route.
Advantages of Renting Cranes
- Lower upfront costs: Renting requires much less capital, allowing you to pay a much smaller fee to help you complete lifts instead of making a major purchase.
- No maintenance or storage burden: Rental companies can deliver, maintain, inspect, and transport equipment back when you’re done with it. As such, you’re not paying for extra storage space or keeping cranes ready for work at all times.
- A wider variety of heavy lifting options: There are several crane types available, and rental companies can give you access to the most suitable models based on your project’s needs so you don’t have to invest in a massive fleet of machines.
- Newer crane technology: Unless you plan on buying new machines every few years, rental companies will have newer equipment with the latest technology available to support your jobs if they need that extra boost.
- Included support and experience: Good rental companies can offer a variety of benefits in addition to providing equipment, including logistical support, certified crane operators, and lift planning solutions.
Advantages of Buying Cranes
- Immediate availability: When you own a crane, you completely control where and when you deploy it. This level of control can keep projects moving faster than having to rely on outside sources for equipment.
- Long-term cost savings: Buying cranes can be more cost-efficient over time if you plan to regularly use it for a long time. Ownership can yield lower cost-per-use over the crane’s lifespan when properly maintained, giving you a financial edge compared to repeated rental fees.
- Asset value and equity: Every crane you buy becomes another asset for your business. Each machine retains its residual value, meaning you can resell or trade it in to potentially earn back a part of your investment. Crane ownership can also build your company’s equity and allow for some tax deductions or other tax benefits.
- Familiarity: The longer you get to use the same crane, the more you get to know how it operates and. Ownership also allows you to modify equipment as you see fit, both for performance and branding.
What Sets ALL Crane Apart for Crane Rental and Sales
Whether you decide to rent or buy, ALL Crane is uniquely positioned to be your crane solutions partner. We understand the benefits and challenges of both options and have built our services to help you invest in the best fit for your business. Here’s how ALL Crane stands out:
Unmatched Fleet Variety & Availability
Simply put, ALL Crane is the largest privately-owned inventory on the continent. This breadth of options means that we have plenty of options to help you find the right fit for your lifts and your budget. Key highlights include:
- A fleet of more than 3,600 pieces of lift equipment, with everything from all-terrain cranes to aerial lifts at just about every size and lift capacity you need.
- Regular investment in new crane technology every year, giving us the most modern fleet of equipment available.
- Authorized dealer status for major crane brands.
- Rental purchase options that allow you to apply a portion of rental payments toward a final purchase to offer added buying flexibility.
Fleet Reliability
ALL strives to keep its fleet rent-ready at all times. We take several measures to reduce downtime and keep our equipment in top working condition, whether it’s a brand-new machine ready for sale or an experienced piece of equipment.
- 24/7 service support from a staff of 300 service mechanics who can provide proactive maintenance and on-site repairs depending on your needs.
- Regular equipment maintenance and inspections that utilize asset management software and business intelligence technology to keep cranes in rent-ready condition.
- Ongoing oil testing to detect any issues early and prolong machine life.
- Crane winterization to prepare heavy equipment for wind, rain, snow, and ice that can cause potential breakdowns and delays.
- A comprehensive parts inventory that gives you access to more than 100,000 pieces of aftermarket parts.
Nationwide Coverage and Logistics Support
With 29 branch locations across the U.S., ALL Crane provides local service with a national reach. In addition, the combination of our geographical reach and specialized transport makes buying or renting from us a smoother experience.
- ALL maintains a fleet of nearly 3,000 tractors and trailers to haul equipment without needing to rely on third-party vendors.
- Our premium logistics support handles all the small details that go into planning transport, from pulling permits to shipping equipment.
- ALL is a founding member of SC&RA (the Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association) and deploys hundreds of cranes to jobsites every day.
Experienced Lift Planning and Engineering Support
One of the hallmarks of ALL Crane is our ability to handle heavy lifting projects of all complexities. If needed, we have the experience and resources available to provide tailored recommendations for your specific projects.
- Virtual reality technology allows lift planners to use state-of-the-art tools to offer detailed recommendations long before your equipment reaches a site.
- Multiple licensed engineers on staff who can create and verify plans for projects with complicated aspects like sensitive ground bearing pressure, space constraints, and other challenges.
- Lift planning solutions for both one-off jobs and long-term project collaborations.
Ready to Decide?
Every project and company is different, and ALL Crane is here to help you find the right choice that best supports your goals and project requirements. ALL Crane is truly all you need for renting or buying the perfect crane for your needs, and we look forward to supporting your lifts every step of the way.