FAQ

We’ve been at the same Vermont location since 1973! Our address is 405 Canterbury Road Vermont, but entry is via Trade Place. We’re open 7am to 5pm Mondays to Fridays, and 8am to 12:30pm on Saturdays. We’re closed on Sundays, but we do offer great value weekend rates, so you can still get your job done!

Our hire periods are:

  • 4-hour hire (during the day) – Equipment returned within 4.5 hours – we give you a 1/2 hour grace period – with up to 4 hours metered use;
  • 4-hour hire (overnight) – Equipment picked up 4-5pm and returned the following morning 7-8am (Mon-Fri) or 8-9am (Sat) with up to 4 hours metered use;
  • 24-hour hire – Equipment returned within 24 hours with up to 8 hours metered use;
  • Weekend hire – Equipment picked up from 8am Saturday and returned between 7 and 8am Monday with up to 9 hours metered use;
  • 1-Week hire – Equipment returned within 7 calendar days with up to 40 hours metered use;
  • 4-week hire – Equipment returned within 4 weeks with up to 160 hours metered use.

We always work out the best available hire rate for you. So if you paid for a 1-week hire, but returned it within 2 days, the hire charge becomes 2 days and we refund the difference. If you paid for a 2 day hire but extended it to 4 days, rather than charge the 24-hour rate multiplied by 4, we’ll automatically put you onto the cheaper 1-week rate – and let you know you have another 3 days use of the equipment at no extra charge!

We initially charge the 24-hour rate and deposit at on-hire, but when you return the equipment during the day within 4½ hours – we give you a ½ hour grace period – or hire it overnight between 4 and 5pm and return it the next morning between 7 and 8am (8-9am on Saturdays), we refund the deposit and the 4-hour discount.

Not all equipment has a 4-hour rate so check out the equipment rates on our website.

Hire equipment on a Saturday between 8am and 12:30pm and return it Monday between 7am and 8am for our great value weekend rate. If the equipment’s available the night before, pick it up between 3:30 and 5pm Friday for even greater value. 9 hours of usage is included for metered equipment. If you have any issues with the equipment when we’re closed on Saturday afternoon and Sunday, we provide you with an after-hours number to call.

Our hire rates include:

  • GST – we hate it when we’re quoted GST exclusive, so we will never do it to you! All our rates are GST inclusive.
  • Petrol – our smaller machines come with a full tank of petrol, with no need to refuel them before returning (excludes: mini loader compact – tracks and dedicated tracks)
  • Trailers – most of our machines come on their own trailers at no extra cost including 1T and 1.7T excavators, mini loaders, 1.8T bobcats, scissor lifts, elevating work platforms, rotary hoes and stump grinders. We also have towable chippers, log splitters and concrete mixers. Scaffold, trestles & planks, material lifts, hydraulic post hole augers and other equipment can be hired with a half-priced 6×4 trailer.
  • 30 minutes of cleaning – this covers over 95% of equipment returned to us.
  • For metered equipment such as excavators, mini loaders and bobcats, each hire includes 8 hours usage (24-hour hire), 9 hours usage (weekend hire) 40 hours usage (1-week hire), and 160 hours usage (4-weeks hire). Any hours over this are charged at 1/13th of the machine’s 24-hour rate – but most people stay well within the standard usage inclusions!
  • 2mm of diamond usage on equipment with diamond blades. Any extra usage is charged at just $35/mm. Core drills include up to 1mm of diamond wear.

Our hire rates do not include:

  • Damage waivers – they sound great on paper but they cover very little. In fact, we had a damage waiver for over 45 years but we can count on one hand the number of times our customers were found not liable for damage or theft by insurance companies. So, we’ve removed the damage waiver, reduced our insurance bill and passed the savings on to you by way of lower hire rates. We recommend checking your insurance policies to see if your insurance would cover machine damage or theft before hiring.
  • Diesel – our large equipment is hired out full of diesel and petrol. We recommend you fill up with diesel and unleaded petrol (mini loader compacts) before returning as we charge $3.30 and $2.75 per litre respectively.
  • Machines covered in mud, paint, concrete or render can take hours to clean. Each hire includes ½ an hour of cleaning, anything extra is charged at $22 for every 15 minutes.

The deposit is usually the daily hire rate rounded up to the nearest ten, so if the daily hire rate is $95, the deposit would be $100 and the total amount payable at on-hire will be $195. For our larger equipment, the deposit is usually a bit more e.g. if the 24-hour hire is $335, the deposit is $390. The full deposit is refundable when you bring the equipment back undamaged and in good working condition. Deposits are refunded using the same method by which payment was made, so you’ll need to bring the same credit/debit card back so we can process the refund.

For high demand equipment such as excavators, mini loaders, bobcats, scissor lifts and cherry pickers, we take $100 of the deposit when we take your booking:

  • cancel with over 24-hours’ notice and you receive a full refund;
  • cancel with under 24-hours’ notice and you may lose your deposit if we’ve lost a hire.

When you pick the equipment up, the $100 booking deposit becomes part of your equipment deposit, meaning you pay $100 less of the equipment deposit at on-hire.

You automatically accrue loyalty rewards every time you hire with us, so long as you’ve provided us with an email address for tax invoices and safety & operating documents. The 5% loyalty rewards that accrue from each hire are applied as a discount on your next hire within 6 months. So the more you hire with us, the more you save!  Find out more about loyalty rewards including T&C’s here.

Firstly, you’re not alone. As we only charge you for the time you have the equipment, we recommend hiring it for the longest time you think you’ll need it – that way the equipment won’t be booked out in the interim, and you won’t need to return it before you’ve finished. If you do return the machine early, we’ll refund you for the extra time at the best possible rate. However, if you do get caught needing the equipment for an extra day, just give us a call to check the machine is available, and we’ll take payment for the extra time, at the cheapest possible rate.

All you need to bring is your current, physical Victorian driver’s license for identification, and eftpos, visa, or mastercard for payment. We try to make the hiring process as easy as possible; follow the link here to learn more.

We can certainly deliver; in fact we deliver equipment every day all over Melbourne at very competitive rates. Use the delivery rate calculator on the bottom left of each equipment page (delivery rates vary depending on equipment and suburb) to estimate the cost and learn more about the delivery process here.