Excavator and digger finance for New Zealand contractors.

Excavator finance is a secured facility taken over a specific machine, where the excavator itself carries the security rather than a property charge. The lender registers its interest on the Personal Property Securities Register and the contractor has use of the machine from settlement. Because the security is identifiable and resaleable nationally, indicative pricing generally sits below unsecured business lending.

Most New Zealand contractors finance between $35,000 and $280,000, which spans mini-excavators through to standard 20 tonne machines. Larger quarry and forestry plant runs well above that. The figures on this page are indicative bands rather than quotes, and a dealer price for a specific machine is what decides an actual purchase.

Usually yes, and more so than in almost any other equipment class. Two machines built in the same year with a 7,000-hour gap between them are different assets, and lenders price them differently. Undercarriage wear is assessed separately again, because it is expensive to replace and does not always track the hour meter.

Commonly yes, where they form part of the same purchase. Buckets, hydraulic hitches, tilt hitches, breakers, augers and grapples are usually listed on the same schedule as the machine and financed as one facility. On a mini-excavator the attachment package is frequently a third or more of the total being financed.

Terms of 36 to 60 months cover most New Zealand earthmoving finance. The ceiling is usually driven by the hours and age the machine reaches at the end of the term rather than its condition today, which is why a high-hour machine attracts a shorter term at the same price.

Not always. Nil-deposit facilities are commonly available on newer machines for contractors with a reasonable trading history. Deposits are more often sought on higher-hour machines, on very large plant with a narrow buyer pool, and on businesses trading under two years. A trade-in commonly serves as the deposit.

Above a threshold that varies by lender, an independent inspection is commonly required on used earthmoving plant. It typically covers undercarriage wear, hydraulic condition, structural repairs and the integrity of the hour meter. On a private sale it is worth having regardless of whether the lender asks, because the buyer carries the consequence of what it would have found.

A security interest registered on the Personal Property Securities Register attaches to the machine rather than to the person selling it. A machine sold privately with finance still owing can therefore be recovered from a buyer who paid in full in good faith. Used earthmoving plant changes hands privately more often than most equipment, which makes the search more relevant here.

Under a hire purchase, a GST-registered business is generally able to claim the GST on the full purchase price in the return covering the period the agreement begins rather than spreading it across the payments, subject to the accountant’s confirmation of the accounting basis used. Under an operating lease the GST is typically claimed on each rental as it is invoiced, again subject to the accountant’s confirmation.

It depends on utilisation. Above roughly half-time use across a year, financing is typically the lower total cost because the payments end and an asset remains. Below that, dry hire commonly costs less once servicing, insurance and payments on idle weeks are counted, and it can be stopped when a job ends. The comparison turns on the forward workbook rather than the headline rates.

The outstanding balance is normally settled from the trade value, and any surplus becomes the deposit on the replacement. Where the trade value does not clear the balance, the shortfall is either paid or, with some lenders, rolled into the new agreement. Depreciation on plant is front-loaded, so a shortfall is more likely early in a term than late in one.

It is harder but not impossible. Businesses trading under twelve months are commonly asked for a deposit, a personal guarantee, or both, and the pool of willing lenders narrows. Under six months, asset finance on the machine alone is rarely available and the funding usually has to come from elsewhere.