This page prices hiring a skid steer rather than buying one, because hire by the day and the week is what this site covers. A compact machine runs roughly $200 to $280 a day, a mid frame $250 to $350, and a large or tracked unit $350 to $450, with a week landing near three of those day rates.
Frame size is the first fork in the price
Machines are sorted by rated operating capacity. Under about 1,750 pounds is the small frame that fits a back garden and lifts a pallet of turf. Around 1,750 to 2,200 is the mid frame most contractors hire. Above that is the large frame for grading and loading trucks, and it costs the most to move as well as to hire.
The rate quoted is not the invoice
Four other lines land on the ticket: haulage out and back, fuel policy, a damage waiver offered as its own charge, and an environmental or recovery line some yards add. Attachments are separate again. Ask for every line before comparing yards, because the headline day rate is the part that varies least.
Haul it or tow it yourself
A mid frame machine and a suitable trailer come to somewhere around 9,000 to 12,000 pounds, which is beyond what most half ton pickups can legally tow. Once you price a tow vehicle, a trailer hire and the fuel, yard delivery is often the cheaper answer as well as the easier one.
Making two quotes comparable
Ask each yard the same four questions: the rate for the term you actually want, haulage each way to your address, whether the waiver is included or added, and the fuel policy on return. The cheapest daily rate loses on haulage often enough that it is worth writing the four numbers down.
How many yards are competing for the job
Nobody licenses this trade, so there is no list of companies anywhere, only a count. County Business Patterns puts the total at 5,830 establishments, found in 544 counties and in all fifty states. Where a metro county holds a dozen, collect several quotes; where a rural one holds one, haulage will dominate the price.
Questions people ask about how much does a skid steer cost
Is it cheaper to hire by the week?
Nearly always, if the work runs past two days. A week is commonly priced near three day rates, so three days at the daily rate costs about the same as seven. Book the longer term and ask what the early return policy is before you sign.
How much do attachments add?
Forks are modest, an auger or a breaker more, and a mulching head is a significant daily charge in its own right. Every attachment is a separate line and has to be reserved with the machine, since the yard cannot always send one out to a job later in the week.
Does a homeowner pay the same rate as a contractor?
The published rate is usually the same, but account customers negotiate and may have haulage bundled. A homeowner is more likely to be asked for a card deposit and to be sold the damage waiver rather than showing a certificate of insurance.
Why do quotes for the same machine differ so much?
Distance from the yard, which term the quote assumes, whether the waiver is inside or outside the number, and which attachment is included. Two yards quoting the same tracked loader can differ by a third once haulage each way is added.