When is it cheaper to rent a Cat 259D Skid Steer by the week than by the day?

From day 5. 5 days at the $400 day rate would be $2,000, but the weekly rate caps it at $1,800.

When is it cheaper to rent a Cat 259D Skid Steer on the 28-day rate?

From day 17. At that point the week-and-day composition reaches the $4,800 28-day rate, and the price stops climbing for the rest of the cycle.

Break-even duration

Equipment rents on three rates — a day rate, a week rate and a 28-day rate — and the cheapest one changes as the job runs long. This finds the two days where it changes, on a real listing’s real published rates.

Cat 259D Skid Steer

See the listing →

Paul Boos · Loaders - Skid Steers

Day: $400
Week: $1,800
28 days: $4,800

Daily stops winning on

day 5

5 days at the day rate would be $2,000. On the week rate it is $1,800.

Weekly stops winning on

day 17

17 days at the day rate would be $6,800. On the 28-day rate it is $4,800.

The working

Whole weeks bill at the week rate; the leftover days bill at the day rate but never add up to more than one extra week; and a whole 28-day cycle never costs more than the 28-day rate. That is the rule, applied one day at a time.

Rental price by duration for Cat 259D Skid Steer, days 1 to 35
Days	At the day rate	On the ladder	Difference	Rate in play
1	$400	$400	—	day
2	$800	$800	—	day
3	$1,200	$1,200	—	day
4	$1,600	$1,600	—	day
5	$2,000	$1,800	you save $200	week
6	$2,400	$1,800	you save $600	week
7	$2,800	$1,800	you save $1,000	week
8	$3,200	$2,200	you save $1,000	week
9	$3,600	$2,600	you save $1,000	week
10	$4,000	$3,000	you save $1,000	week
11	$4,400	$3,400	you save $1,000	week
12	$4,800	$3,600	you save $1,200	week
13	$5,200	$3,600	you save $1,600	week
14	$5,600	$3,600	you save $2,000	week
15	$6,000	$4,000	you save $2,000	week
16	$6,400	$4,400	you save $2,000	week
17	$6,800	$4,800	you save $2,000	28-day
18	$7,200	$4,800	you save $2,400	28-day
19	$7,600	$4,800	you save $2,800	28-day
20	$8,000	$4,800	you save $3,200	28-day
21	$8,400	$4,800	you save $3,600	28-day
22	$8,800	$4,800	you save $4,000	28-day
23	$9,200	$4,800	you save $4,400	28-day
24	$9,600	$4,800	you save $4,800	28-day
25	$10,000	$4,800	you save $5,200	28-day
26	$10,400	$4,800	you save $5,600	28-day
27	$10,800	$4,800	you save $6,000	28-day
28	$11,200	$4,800	you save $6,400	28-day
29	$11,600	$5,200	you save $6,400	day
30	$12,000	$5,600	you save $6,400	day
31	$12,400	$6,000	you save $6,400	day
32	$12,800	$6,400	you save $6,400	day
33	$13,200	$6,600	you save $6,600	week
34	$13,600	$6,600	you save $7,000	week
35	$14,000	$6,600	you save $7,400	week

Rental rates only. Protection and the marketplace service fee are added on top — see the checkout figure below.

What checkout will quote you

Rental · 17 days: $4,800
Rental protection (RPP): $720
Service fee: $480
Estimated total: $6,000

Pick a listing

The numbers come from one operator’s published rates, so the tool needs to know whose.

Where these numbers come from

The rates are the operator’s own, read live from their listing. The arithmetic is the same best-price billing engine that produces 2Quip invoices — not a second copy written for this page — run on the industry-standard terms: a 28-day cycle, whole weeks at the week rate, leftover days at the day rate capped at one more week.

An operator can agree different terms on an individual rental, and a long rental bills per 28-day cycle rather than in one lump. So treat this as what the rate card says, and the operator’s quote as what you are agreeing to.