5 Garden Tools I Lease Instead of Buy

When you have a large yard like I do, gardening costs can add up in a hurry. Some of the ways I keep down my gardening costs is by taking excellent care of the tools and supplies I own so that they will see years of use. Another strategy is to lease high-priced garden tools and equipment instead of buying these tools outright.

When does it make sense to rent instead of buy? For our family, if the garden implement will only be used once a year or less, then leasing is the smarter option. Leasing garden equipment is not only easier on the budget, it frees up storage space in our tool shed. Leasing also means that we don’t have to bother with winterizing or taking it in for routine service. Here’s five yard and garden implements that we’ve discovered make sense to lease:

Rototillers. This basic garden tool tills the soil under and prepares it for planting. To buy, a quality rototiller runs about $600 with a two hour rental only costing $35. Even though we have nearly 1800 square feet of tillable garden space, two hours of rental time a year is more than enough.

Wood chipper. For families with numerous trees and shrubs in their yard, a wood chipper is a great tool for reducing the branches into mulch. A high quality wood chipper starts at $2200 with a two hour rental running $80. If I was mulching branches and twigs once a month, I might consider buying one of these tools. For the once every two years that our family has tree limbs for mulching, leasing makes more sense.

Power rake. If your lawn suffers from thatch build up, a power rake is a gentle way to remove the thatch without damaging the lawn itself. Since a lawn should only be power raked in the fall, I always felt it was silly for us to buy this machine for $1500 when a two hour rental is only $40.

Log splitter. We supplement our household heat with a wood insert using wood that we’ve pruned from trees in the yard. While most of the wood is cut up with a chainsaw, tougher pieces have to be split with a log splitter. An all day rental costs $90, compared to a $2000 purchase price. Again, unless you are using this tool for several weeks at a stretch, renting is the more affordable alternative.

Gas powered lawn edger. With over 350 feet of sidewalk on and surrounding our property, preventing the grass from encroaching over the concrete takes regular maintenance. To jump start the summer lawn care season, I’ll rent a gas powered lawn edger for a couple of hours to trim away heavy grass buildup. Even though gas powered lawn edgers aren’t terribly expensive to buy at $300, a two hour rental for $30 is all I really need since the edges can be kept under control with a string trimmer for the rest of the summer.

There’s no arguing that owning specialty yard equipment is convenient, especially for families who do a lot of gardening. However, for those of us who are watching costs — and that’s most of us these days, renting large garden tools instead of buying them is much easier on the wallet.

More by this contributor:

How to save money without changing your lifestyle.
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