When is it cheaper to rent a caterpillar 259d by the week than by the day?

From day 5. 5 days at the $325 day rate would be $1,625, but the weekly rate caps it at $1,500.

When is it cheaper to rent a caterpillar 259d on the 28-day rate?

From day 17. At that point the week-and-day composition reaches the $3,700 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.

caterpillar 259d

See the listing →

Kevin Martin · Excavators - Crawler

Day: $325
Week: $1,500
28 days: $3,700

Daily stops winning on

day 5

5 days at the day rate would be $1,625. On the week rate it is $1,500.

Weekly stops winning on

day 17

17 days at the day rate would be $5,525. On the 28-day rate it is $3,700.

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 caterpillar 259d, days 1 to 35
Days	At the day rate	On the ladder	Difference	Rate in play
1	$325	$325	—	day
2	$650	$650	—	day
3	$975	$975	—	day
4	$1,300	$1,300	—	day
5	$1,625	$1,500	you save $125	week
6	$1,950	$1,500	you save $450	week
7	$2,275	$1,500	you save $775	week
8	$2,600	$1,825	you save $775	week
9	$2,925	$2,150	you save $775	week
10	$3,250	$2,475	you save $775	week
11	$3,575	$2,800	you save $775	week
12	$3,900	$3,000	you save $900	week
13	$4,225	$3,000	you save $1,225	week
14	$4,550	$3,000	you save $1,550	week
15	$4,875	$3,325	you save $1,550	week
16	$5,200	$3,650	you save $1,550	week
17	$5,525	$3,700	you save $1,825	28-day
18	$5,850	$3,700	you save $2,150	28-day
19	$6,175	$3,700	you save $2,475	28-day
20	$6,500	$3,700	you save $2,800	28-day
21	$6,825	$3,700	you save $3,125	28-day
22	$7,150	$3,700	you save $3,450	28-day
23	$7,475	$3,700	you save $3,775	28-day
24	$7,800	$3,700	you save $4,100	28-day
25	$8,125	$3,700	you save $4,425	28-day
26	$8,450	$3,700	you save $4,750	28-day
27	$8,775	$3,700	you save $5,075	28-day
28	$9,100	$3,700	you save $5,400	28-day
29	$9,425	$4,025	you save $5,400	day
30	$9,750	$4,350	you save $5,400	day
31	$10,075	$4,675	you save $5,400	day
32	$10,400	$5,000	you save $5,400	day
33	$10,725	$5,200	you save $5,525	week
34	$11,050	$5,200	you save $5,850	week
35	$11,375	$5,200	you save $6,175	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: $3,700
Rental protection (RPP): $555
Service fee: $370
Estimated total: $4,625

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.