Fleet and equipment
Plant hire attachments: profitable add-ons
The excavator attachments that earn most for a hire firm, how to price and track them, and the quick hitch checks that keep operators safe.
Key takeaways
- Attachments cost little to buy, need little maintenance and raise the value of every hire.
- Start with what customers ask for: buckets, a breaker, an auger and a grading bucket.
- Price them per day or per week, quoted with the machine, not as a free extra.
- Quick hitches cause serious accidents. Check locking and familiarise every operator.
- Give every attachment a serial number, photo and booking record, or they go missing.
Why attachments earn
A hydraulic breaker or auger can earn a meaningful share of an excavator's weekly rate while costing a fraction of the machine to buy. Attachments also make a machine more useful, which means it goes out on hire more often. For a small fleet they're one of the easiest ways to improve margin.
Attachments that hire well
| Attachment | Used for | Typical customers |
|---|---|---|
| Digging buckets (several widths) | Trenching, footings, general digging | Everyone |
| Grading / ditching bucket | Levelling, landscaping, ditch cleaning | Landscapers, groundworkers |
| Hydraulic breaker | Concrete, rock, old foundations | Builders, demolition, groundworkers |
| Auger drive and bits | Fence posts, piles, tree planting | Fencers, landscapers |
| Tilt bucket | Shaping banks and slopes | Landscapers, groundworkers |
| Grab / selector grab | Handling stone, logs, demolition waste | Landscapers, demolition |
| Ripper tooth | Breaking hard ground | Groundworkers |
| Riddle / screening bucket | Sorting soil and stone on site | Landscapers |
Match each attachment to the machines' weight class and hydraulic flow.
Pricing attachments
- Quote attachments alongside the machine on every booking: "Would you like a breaker or grading bucket with that?"
- Price breakers and augers per day or week; standard buckets are often included or cheap.
- Use the same rate method as for machines: cost, expected utilisation, margin.
- Charge for lost or damaged attachments at replacement cost, as stated in your hire terms.
Quick hitch safety
Buckets falling from quick hitches have caused deaths on UK sites. HSE and the CPA publish guidance on quick hitch use. For a hire firm, that means:
- 01
Supply suitable hitches
Fully automatic or with a positive locking mechanism and warning device.
- 02
Check before every hire
Locking pins, mechanism and warning devices working.
- 03
Familiarise the operator
Show how to attach, lock and visually confirm the bucket is secure.
- 04
Record it
Note the familiarisation on the delivery or handover record.
Stopping losses
- Give every attachment an asset number, serial number and photo.
- Paint or mark attachments in your colour with your phone number.
- Book attachments on the hire like machines, so they appear on the delivery and collection notes.
- Check them off at collection before the driver leaves site.
- Fit small GPS tags to high-value attachments such as breakers.
Buying attachments
Buy attachments that match your machines' weight, pin size and hydraulic flow, preferably from the same manufacturer or a known UK attachment maker. Used attachments can be good value, but check breaker tool wear and bushings, auger gearbox condition and hitch pin wear. Attachments can often be added to a machine's finance agreement; see finance options.
FAQs
Common questions
What are the most profitable plant hire attachments?
Should I charge for excavator buckets?
How do I stop attachments going missing?
Keep going
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Tick-box checks before you pay for a used machine.
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Maintenance
Service intervals, off-hire checks and records.
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This guide is general information for people setting up a plant hire business in the UK. It is not legal, tax, insurance or financial advice. Rules and thresholds change, so check current guidance on GOV.UK and take advice from an accountant, solicitor or broker before acting.