Most searches for pipe threading machines are looking to buy one, and for a job that lasts a week that is the wrong purchase: a power threader is a classic tool-counter hire. Yards stock the common bench and portable machines, usually covering half-inch to two-inch pipe, and hire them by the day. What decides the hire is the pipe size, the number of joints and where you have to cut them.
The size range a hire machine covers
The standard yard machine threads half-inch to two-inch pipe, which covers most gas, water and sprinkler work in a building. Larger machines exist for two-and-a-half inch and up and are rarer on a counter, so ask before you plan around them. If a handful of joints are oversized, threading those at a supply house is often cheaper than hiring the bigger machine.
Check which dies come with it
The machine is useless without die heads in the sizes you need, and yards do not always include every size in the base rate. Confirm the die sizes, the cutting oil, and whether the stand or transport cart is part of the hire. Turning up on site with a threader and the wrong dies loses the same day as turning up with no threader.
Power, weight and where you can set it up
These machines are heavy and want a solid, level footing and a dedicated 120-volt circuit; on a long extension the motor labours and trips breakers. Portable models are made to be carried up to a floor but still take two people. Work out where it lives on site before delivery, because moving it repeatedly costs more time than the hire saves.
Rotating stock is the hazard
A powered threader turns the pipe, and long lengths whip if they are not supported. Use the pipe stand, keep gloves and loose sleeves away from the rotating work, and keep the foot switch where you can lift off it instantly. Before changing a die or clearing chips, isolate the machine rather than trusting the switch.
Questions people ask about pipe threading machines
Can you rent a pipe threading machine?
Yes. Power threaders are a standard tool-counter hire, priced by the day, with the common machines covering half-inch to two-inch pipe. For one job of a few dozen joints, hiring costs a fraction of buying.
What does a pipe threader rental include?
Normally the machine, a set of die heads and cutting oil, and often a stand. The die sizes included vary between yards, so name the pipe sizes you are threading when you book rather than assuming the full range is in the box.
Threading machine or pre-threaded pipe?
If the run is standard lengths and you can measure accurately, buying pipe cut and threaded at the supply house avoids the hire entirely. Hire the machine when the lengths are site-measured, when there are many joints, or when changes on the fly are certain.