The question of whether to buy a new crane or hire one is one that is increasingly becoming popular. This could be attributed to the fact that there are some crane hire companies that are taking shortcuts such as not carrying out regular maintenance on their cranes as required which has led to quite a number of accidents. But, it is also important to note that there are some very good and reliable crane hire companies that offer a very good service and so before you make your decision on the topic, here are a few things to consider.

• Buying a new crane

The first thing to ensure when buying a crane is that it is from a reputable company. If you buy a new crane, you can expect your crane to have 25 year lifespan that is with regular maintenance and servicing. If you can look into the future and still see yourself using the crane for up to 25 years in all your construction sites, then you can consider buying one.

This is actually quite economical when it comes to comparing the initial costs with the amount of jobs it will have done in the 25 years and you are going to get a very good rate of return if you are a construction company or if you regularly deal with construction and this would be a very good investment.

• Buying a used crane

This is ideal if you need a crane but don’t see yourself using it over the long term. For example, if you are planning to use a crane for not more than 10 years, buying a second hand crane will be a good idea and it is definitely going to be cheaper than hiring a crane every time you need one.

However, you need to make sure you also don’t buy a crane that has more than 10 years of service because the general lifespan of a crane is 25 years. You definitely want a crane that is in very good condition.

Crane hire

This is a viable option if you have a limited construction job and so it would be uneconomical to buy a crane. Crane hire is also very efficient when you need a specialty crane that you are only going to use once or twice. You however need to do your homework well so you can decide on which of the three options will work best for you.