RM Online - What you need to know about mini-excavators

Mini-excavator rentals are rapidly gaining momentum after years of waiting for the market to turn in their favor. They make so much sense that a lot of people in the heavy equipment industry have wondered why they didn't take off from the start. But sometimes a good idea just has to wait until its time has come, and now it appears that for mini-excavators, it has. So OK, why?

"First, mini-excavators are a comparatively low investment, even for the smaller stores," says Keith Rohrbacker, product manager, Kubota Tractor Corp., Torrance, Calif. "Manufacturer financing has become very flexible these days. You can usually get a machine into the store on conditions that are very agreeable to you.

"One of the most popular programs is the rental/split," he says. "With it, just about every rental store can put a mini-excavator in its inventory. It allows you to keep a machine for a certain amount of time - all you do is split the money from your rentals with the machine manufacturer.

"That way, you'll be able to see how your customers accept and use the machine, and you can find out if it is right for your store without a lot of up-front investment."

"One way many stores buy outright is through co-ops," says Bobby Hudson, Tomen America's product support manager in Norcross, Ga. "The American Rental Association's Member Buying Alliance is a good example."

"With rentals, there is a good chance you'll make back the cost of a mini-excavator in two years or so," says Rohrbacker. "You'll also see a good return on them as a used-equipment sale if you properly service and maintain them. Just re-member, you don't have to keep a mini for seven to 10 years or until it completely wears out to make money on it. Minis are so new in the industry that the used market hasn't fully developed yet."

Ray Szwec, product manager, compact products, JCB, White Marsh, Md., suggests that teaming mini-excavators with other units is good for marketing: "One approach is to point out that minis are good supplements to the larger machines in use," he says. "They are a lot more user-friendly and versatile than the larger units and are going to become more important as urban areas develop, where tighter quarters demand smaller, lighter equipment."

That smaller, tighter aspect is a key point. Many mini-excavators have zero tailswing clearance: they turn within the stance of the machine instead of swinging wide, beyond the tracks. You can park the machine next to a wall and swing the tail without hitting anything. That's a plus for convenience and productivity - and a real plus for the safety of workers nearby, not to mention other equipment that sometimes gets clobbered by a swinging excavator.

Szwec says the tried-and-true plan of getting the customer behind the controls still is the best way to break into the marketplace. To do that, the rental-store rep must speak the language and understand the needs of the customer, as well as help the customer solve job-site problems.

"Many times you can package the mini-excavator with a skid-steer loader or small articulated wheel loader," says Hudson. "Two machines can sometimes do what a bigger backhoe can do more economically - dig, move the dirt - and a mini-excavator and skid-steer can work on two different things at the same time, unlike a backhoe."

Many minis come equipped with a backfill blade on the front, too.

Done properly, a head-to-head machine comparison will rent the backhoe and generate new business with the mini-excavator, too, says Szwec.

"You simply get more bang for the buck with the smaller machines," he says. "And the more attachments you have for your excavator, the better. There are lots of manufacturers out there. You have to make sure you match up the attachment to the weight of the machine, its lift capability, hydraulic flow and system pressure."

Rohrbacker says digging depth is the key to most rentals. Buckets also are extremely critical to others. "You have to realize why buckets are important. Some operators are so skilled they can use one to do just about anything on the job site. Usually a 24-inch [bucket] is used for digging footings, 12- and 18-inch [for] utility lines. If you are somewhere like Louisiana, you'll probably want a 36-inch drainage bucket for the water and the loose soil. There are buckets for every type of digging and every type of dirt."

A hydraulic hammer is a necessity for demolition work. "Cities often can get a mini into a site to dig out a curb or sidewalk and not clog the heavy traffic at a busy intersection," says Rohrbacker. "Next is an earth auger followed by a thumb - used to load brush and sort such things as recyclable material."

Rohrbacker says a rental store should develop both product introductions and demonstrations. "There's a big difference between the two," he says.

Product introductions target the audience: "Don't invite everybody to them," he warns. "Focus on existing and good potential customers. Get them thinking about how they can use the mini-excavator with the other machines. Put them all head-to-head - skid-steers with mounted backhoes, larger excavators, trenching machines, tractor-loader-backhoes."

The demo, says Rohrbacker, should be hands-on. For the less experienced operator or the homeowner, that may mean you will get behind the controls and show them exactly how to put the bucket into the ground - actually go through every step of the operation.

"This independent renter might be looking for something entirely different than the contractor," he says. "You might want to point out to that person working in their backyard how low the noise level is and how the ergonomic controls make the machine easy to operate.

"Another important thing you can point out to the homeowner is they can usually move most mini-excavators with a half-ton pickup truck and a tag-along trailer," says Rohrbacker. "Other customers, like contractors, may just need stick time - get the machine out to their job site for a few days with the correct attachment so they can do some work with it.

"All it takes is just one machine moving from job to job on different rental opportunities - others see it working and you have a snowball effect. Demos can really pay off. Many contractors lease or long-term rent rather than buy. They will most likely be your primary used-machine customers, down the road.

"We see the used mini-excavator sales mainly coming from dealer rental fleets," says Rohrbacker.

"The No. 2 market is from independent rental yards. Together, they are from 50 to 75 percent of all used mini sales today."