The question comes up every spring: rent the excavator for the season or buy one. Here is how to think about it without a spreadsheet.
Count the months of work you can actually see. Signed contracts, not hopes. A rental covers the months you can see; a purchase has to pay for itself through the months you cannot.
Ask what the machine does in the off season. If it sits from December to March, you are paying to store it and to watch it lose value. If it moves snow, clears lots or does interior demolition, it earns through the winter and buying starts to make sense.
Ask who fixes it. A rental comes with the dealer's service. A purchase means your own mechanic or a service agreement. Price the service agreement before you compare numbers.
Ask about rent to own. Many Ontario dealers will apply part of the rental toward a purchase if you decide to keep the machine. Get the terms in writing before the rental starts.
Ask about the buyback. If you buy, ask the dealer what they would give you for the machine in two years at a given hour reading. Their answer tells you what the machine really costs to own.
Then ask for both numbers: the seasonal rental rate with service, and the purchase price with the service agreement and the buyback. Put them side by side for your real months of work. One request through this site gets both from the dealers that stock the class you need.