Each request goes to funding partners, and the one that takes it up sets any terms.
Equipment loans, equipment finance agreements and leases spread a machine’s price over months, and the machine secures the deal. Trucking companies, semi trucks and farm machinery are outside this site. Every example here is invented and computed for illustration.
At a glance
- Construction, Robertson County, TN
211 employer establishments, the most of any sector (County Business Patterns 2023)
- Construction, ZIP 37172
87 employer establishments (ZIP Code Business Patterns 2023)
- Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors, Robertson County, TN
26 employer establishments (County Business Patterns 2023, NAICS 238220)
Equipment finance agreement vs loan, priced on a used excavator for a Springfield, TN plumbing contractor’s sewer-line crew
An equipment loan states an interest rate on the amount financed. An equipment finance agreement (EFA) is a contract to pay for the machine in fixed installments, with the cost built into the payment instead of shown as a rate. In both, the business owns and uses the excavator from the start, and the funding partner holds a security interest until the end.
Illustration only, invented figures: a plumbing contractor buys a used excavator for $72,900 and puts $7,290 down, leaving $65,610 to finance over 60 months. A loan at 9.45% sets the payment at $1,376.33, or $82,579.80 across the term. Quoted as an EFA instead, the excavator runs $1,398.00 a month and $83,880.00 over the term, $1,300.20 above the loan in this example.
The comparison turns on the totals, so ask any partner for the full payment schedule on both, plus any documentation fee.
How does a $1 buyout lease work on an HVAC service van in Robertson County, TN?
In a $1 buyout lease the business makes every lease payment and then buys the vehicle or machine for one dollar at the end. Title passes once the final payment and the dollar are in.
Illustration only, invented figures: an HVAC company leases a $48,250 service van for 48 months at $1,262.00 a month. Counting the $1 buyout, the lease totals $60,577.00 over its 48 payments. The same van on a 48-month loan at 10.35% costs $1,231.87 a month and $59,129.76 in all, so the lease in this invented case costs $1,447.24 more.
The van here carries an HVAC crew’s tools and parts to jobs. Freight haulers, semi trucks and trucking companies sit outside what this site arranges. Service vans come up again in the plumbing and HVAC note on the industries page.
What is a fair market value lease? Three commercial mowers for a Springfield, TN lawn crew, returned or bought at the end
A fair market value (FMV) lease charges for use of the equipment over the term. At the end the business can return it, renew, or buy it at its fair market value at that time, a price set then rather than at signing.
Illustration only, invented figures: a lawn company leases three commercial mowers priced at $41,400 for 36 months at $1,036.00 a month, $37,296.00 over the term. If the end-of-term value comes to $9,500 and the company buys, its cash out is $46,796.00; if it returns the mowers, the $37,296.00 paid buys 36 months of use and no ownership.
| Choice at month 36 | Cash paid over the lease and at the end | What the company holds |
|---|---|---|
| Return the mowers | $37,296.00 | Nothing; the mowers go back |
| Buy at the invented $9,500 value | $46,796.00 | The three mowers |
| Renew | $37,296.00 plus the renewal payments | Use of the mowers for the renewal term |
How does equipment financing work when the machine is the collateral? An aerator and overseeder pair for a Robertson County, TN lawn company
- Get a written quote naming the make, model, year and, for a used machine, the hours and serial number.
- Call (615) 694-4278 or send the short request, then go over the quote on the call.
- The partner reviewing it may want bank statements alongside the quote.
- If an offer is accepted, the partner pays the seller and records its interest in the machine.
- The business makes the payments; the partner’s interest ends with the last one.
Illustration only, invented figures: a lawn company’s aerator and overseeder, bought together for $13,950, financed over 36 months at 10.85%, carry a payment of $455.71 and $2,455.56 of interest in all.
To test the excavator, van or mower numbers, enter the price, any down payment, the annual rate and the months in the calculator on this page; it shows the payment, the interest over the term and the total cost including the down payment. More machine cases are on the blog: a telehandler at 48, 60 or 72 months, a used cargo van and two drain machines, infusion pumps and a bone density scanner, fluid exchange machines and a smoke tester, and which flooring tools belong on a fixed term rather than a credit line.
Is equipment financing debt? What a Springfield, TN landscaping company still owes on a sod cutter and trailer after 12 and 24 months
An equipment loan or EFA is money the business owes until the last payment. How a lease is shown on the business’s financial statements is a question for its accountant.
Illustration only, invented figures: a landscaping company finances a sod cutter and the trailer that carries it, $15,900 together, at 10.6% for 36 months. The payment is $517.54.
| After payment | Balance still owed | Paid so far |
|---|---|---|
| 12 | $11,148.48 | $6,210.48 |
| 24 | $5,868.07 | $12,420.96 |
What a lease on a Springfield, TN plumbing contractor’s ride-on trencher spells out, from first payment to the end of the term
A leasing company buys the trencher the contractor picks, and the contractor pays to use it for the lease term. The lease sets the payment, the term, who insures and maintains the machine, and what happens at the end: return, renewal, or a purchase at a fixed price ($1 buyout) or at fair market value.
- Read the end-of-term clause first; it decides whether the trencher can be kept.
- Check the insurance and maintenance duties the lease places on the business.
- Ask how an early return or payoff is priced.
- Compare the lease total with a loan for the same machine; the business loans page shows the other funding types.
By Swiftpine Loans · Updated