When is it cheaper to rent a Mini Excavator by the week than by the day?

From day 4. 4 days at the $385 day rate would be $1,540, but the weekly rate caps it at $1,350.

When is it cheaper to rent a Mini Excavator on the 28-day rate?

From day 17. At that point the week-and-day composition reaches the $3,500 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.

Mini Excavator

See the listing →

Bradley Newton · Excavators - Mini

Day: $385
Week: $1,350
28 days: $3,500

Daily stops winning on

day 4

4 days at the day rate would be $1,540. On the week rate it is $1,350.

Weekly stops winning on

day 17

17 days at the day rate would be $6,545. On the 28-day rate it is $3,500.

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 Mini Excavator, days 1 to 35
Days	At the day rate	On the ladder	Difference	Rate in play
1	$385	$385	—	day
2	$770	$770	—	day
3	$1,155	$1,155	—	day
4	$1,540	$1,350	you save $190	week
5	$1,925	$1,350	you save $575	week
6	$2,310	$1,350	you save $960	week
7	$2,695	$1,350	you save $1,345	week
8	$3,080	$1,735	you save $1,345	week
9	$3,465	$2,120	you save $1,345	week
10	$3,850	$2,505	you save $1,345	week
11	$4,235	$2,700	you save $1,535	week
12	$4,620	$2,700	you save $1,920	week
13	$5,005	$2,700	you save $2,305	week
14	$5,390	$2,700	you save $2,690	week
15	$5,775	$3,085	you save $2,690	week
16	$6,160	$3,470	you save $2,690	week
17	$6,545	$3,500	you save $3,045	28-day
18	$6,930	$3,500	you save $3,430	28-day
19	$7,315	$3,500	you save $3,815	28-day
20	$7,700	$3,500	you save $4,200	28-day
21	$8,085	$3,500	you save $4,585	28-day
22	$8,470	$3,500	you save $4,970	28-day
23	$8,855	$3,500	you save $5,355	28-day
24	$9,240	$3,500	you save $5,740	28-day
25	$9,625	$3,500	you save $6,125	28-day
26	$10,010	$3,500	you save $6,510	28-day
27	$10,395	$3,500	you save $6,895	28-day
28	$10,780	$3,500	you save $7,280	28-day
29	$11,165	$3,885	you save $7,280	day
30	$11,550	$4,270	you save $7,280	day
31	$11,935	$4,655	you save $7,280	day
32	$12,320	$4,850	you save $7,470	week
33	$12,705	$4,850	you save $7,855	week
34	$13,090	$4,850	you save $8,240	week
35	$13,475	$4,850	you save $8,625	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: $3,500
Rental protection (RPP): $525
Service fee: $350
Estimated total: $4,375

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.