Own it, lease it, or hire it done?

Same machine, three ways to put it on your field. This tool models each path's annual cost and $/acre across your acreage so you can pick the cheapest — and see exactly when the answer flips.

Buy vs Lease vs Custom-Hire Comparator

Which way to get the machine on your field is cheapest?

Compare the all-in annual cost — and $/acre — of owning, leasing, and hiring a custom operator across your acres. Crossover points show exactly when each option flips to being the better deal.

Equipment

Price $18,000 · life 12 yr · capacity 200 ac/yr · custom rate $85/ac

Acres / yr

Financing rate %

Lease rate % / yr

Repairs / fuel $/ac (buy + lease)

Operating cost the custom rate already bundles.

Lease assumption: annual % of purchase price, no down payment, lessee responsible for fuel & repairs. Adjust for an operating-lease quote you've received.

Cheapest

Buy

$2,568

$43/ac at 60 ac

Lease

$3,420

$57/ac at 60 ac

Custom-hire

$5,100

$85/ac at 60 ac

$/acre across scale

Buy beats custom-hire above 30 ac

Buy vs custom-hire crossover: 30 ac/yr

Lease vs custom-hire crossover: 40 ac/yr

Method: Buy uses straight-line depreciation, average-investment interest, and insurance/housing. Lease assumes an annual operating-lease rate as a % of price. Custom-hire uses the published USDA NASS rate; operator and operating costs are bundled into that figure.

When the math is close, tiebreakers usually live outside the model: timeliness of operations, mechanic access, neighbor relationships, and cash-flow flexibility. Use the crossover number as a planning anchor, not a verdict.

Capital is too expensive to guess on.

Pair this comparator with BAU's ROI calculator to see whether ownership pays for itself — and with the labor planner to see whether the machine actually relieves your peak-week bottleneck.

Run the ROI calculator Open the labor planner