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

From day 3. 3 days at the $600 day rate would be $1,800, but the weekly rate caps it at $1,395.

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

From day 9. At that point the week-and-day composition reaches the $2,595 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 →

andrew farner · Excavators - Mini

Day: $600
Week: $1,395
28 days: $2,595

Daily stops winning on

day 3

3 days at the day rate would be $1,800. On the week rate it is $1,395.

Weekly stops winning on

day 9

9 days at the day rate would be $5,400. On the 28-day rate it is $2,595.

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	$600	$600	—	day
2	$1,200	$1,200	—	day
3	$1,800	$1,395	you save $405	week
4	$2,400	$1,395	you save $1,005	week
5	$3,000	$1,395	you save $1,605	week
6	$3,600	$1,395	you save $2,205	week
7	$4,200	$1,395	you save $2,805	week
8	$4,800	$1,995	you save $2,805	week
9	$5,400	$2,595	you save $2,805	28-day
10	$6,000	$2,595	you save $3,405	28-day
11	$6,600	$2,595	you save $4,005	28-day
12	$7,200	$2,595	you save $4,605	28-day
13	$7,800	$2,595	you save $5,205	28-day
14	$8,400	$2,595	you save $5,805	28-day
15	$9,000	$2,595	you save $6,405	28-day
16	$9,600	$2,595	you save $7,005	28-day
17	$10,200	$2,595	you save $7,605	28-day
18	$10,800	$2,595	you save $8,205	28-day
19	$11,400	$2,595	you save $8,805	28-day
20	$12,000	$2,595	you save $9,405	28-day
21	$12,600	$2,595	you save $10,005	28-day
22	$13,200	$2,595	you save $10,605	28-day
23	$13,800	$2,595	you save $11,205	28-day
24	$14,400	$2,595	you save $11,805	28-day
25	$15,000	$2,595	you save $12,405	28-day
26	$15,600	$2,595	you save $13,005	28-day
27	$16,200	$2,595	you save $13,605	28-day
28	$16,800	$2,595	you save $14,205	28-day
29	$17,400	$3,195	you save $14,205	day
30	$18,000	$3,795	you save $14,205	day
31	$18,600	$3,990	you save $14,610	week
32	$19,200	$3,990	you save $15,210	week
33	$19,800	$3,990	you save $15,810	week
34	$20,400	$3,990	you save $16,410	week
35	$21,000	$3,990	you save $17,010	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 · 9 days: $2,595
Rental protection (RPP): $389.25
Service fee: $259.50
Estimated total: $3,243.75

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.