Skid Steer Financing: Comparing Loans, Leases & Monthly Rates
Skid steer financing turns a machine that costs tens of thousands of dollars into a monthly payment you can plan for. A new mid-size unit runs past $50,000 before you even add attachments.
A used one in decent shape still clears $30,000 more often than not. Pay in cash and you tie up money you need for payroll, materials, or the next bid.
Dimension Funding finances construction equipment, including skid steers, for businesses across the U.S. Your loan or lease can run up to 60 months, and approval can move fast since it doesn’t always take a full set of financial statements to get a decision.
Sign the paperwork electronically and your funding can go through the same day. Find the right unit this week, and you’re not stuck waiting on it.
What Skid Steer Financing Covers
You’re choosing between two structures here: a loan that builds toward ownership, or a lease that spreads the cost of using the machine over a fixed period. Either one works for new or used equipment.
Dimension Funding has been financing equipment since 1978. That’s long enough for their underwriting to adjust to how contractors like you buy machines: in bursts, tied to a job, not on some long planning cycle.
Loans vs Leases: What Changes
The mechanics differ more than the monthly number on the page. A loan finances the purchase, so you own the skid steer once the term ends. A lease finances the use of the equipment for a set period, and what happens when that period ends is where the real difference from a loan shows up.
Loan | Lease | |
Ownership | Yes, once paid off | Not automatic |
End of term | Machine is owned outright | Return, buy out, or upgrade |
Best fit | Long term fleet additions | Equipment likely to be swapped or upgraded |
Payment basis | Reflects the full purchase price | Reflects the value used during the term |
How a Skid Steer Loan Works
The lender covers the purchase price. You repay it in fixed monthly installments, and the machine is yours from the day the loan closes, subject to the lender’s lien until you pay it off. No return process. No buyout decision at the end. Once your last payment clears, it’s simply yours.
How a Skid Steer Lease Works
A lease prices your payment against the equipment’s value over the lease term, not its full purchase price. That’s why a lease payment can look different from a loan payment on the same machine.
At the end of the term, you return the unit, buy it at a price set when the lease began, or roll into something newer.
Neither structure is the automatic right call. A landscaping company running the same skid steer for a decade has different priorities than a contractor who wants a newer, lower hour machine every couple of years.
Why Skid Steer Prices Push You Toward Structured Payments
What Different Size Classes Cost
Size class moves the number more than brand does. A small frame unit like the Bobcat S70 runs about $23,000 new and $18,300 used, according to Heavy Equipment Appraisal’s 2026 value guide.
Step up to a mid-size machine like the John Deere 312GR or Kubota SSV75, and new pricing lands between $50,600 and $54,500, with used units running $25,000 to $36,500 depending on hours. Komatsu’s comparable model prices close to $50,000 new and around $29,750 used, right in that same band.
High-output machines push higher still. The Caterpillar 226D3 and Case SV300 both list around $63,000 to $65,000 new, dropping to about $30,000 used. Know which class your job needs before you shop, since jumping one tier up can add $15,000 or more to what you’re financing.
Renting Against Financing
You might be weighing renting against financing too. The numbers explain why renting rarely wins beyond a short job. A skid steer typically rents for around $300 a day, $1,200 a week, or $3,000 a month, per the same Heavy Equipment Appraisal guide.
Keep renting for three or four months on a longer project and the total can pass what a loan payment would have cost. You’re left without a machine to show for it either way.
A rental still makes sense for a single week-long job or a one-off task. Financing pays off once the machine is earning its keep across more than one job.
Financing Activity Industry Wide
Financing activity across the equipment industry has been picking up as well. The Equipment Leasing and Finance Association’s Monthly Confidence Index climbed to 64.6 in January 2026, up from 58.3 the month before, inside a U.S. equipment finance market the association sizes at $1.3 trillion.
Skid steers are a small piece of that number, but the same math applies to your purchase too: a payment instead of a lump sum.
What Shapes Your Monthly Payment
Equipment Price and Term Length
A higher purchase price or a shorter term raises the monthly payment. Stretch the term out and the payment drops, but you could end up paying on a machine well past its most productive years.
Dimension Funding runs terms as long as 60 months, long enough to match your schedule to how much work the equipment still has left in it.
New Condition vs Used Condition
A new skid steer supports a longer term since it has more work ahead of it. Choose used, especially with higher hours already on it, and you’ll usually get financed over a shorter stretch. The hours on the meter matter as much as the age on the title.
What Attachments Add to the Financed Amount
Attachments change the number more than people expect. Pallet forks run $500 to $1,000, and a basic bucket adds another $750 to $1,000, according to Skid Pro’s pricing breakdown.
An auger lands between $2,000 and $2,500, and heavier attachments like brooms, trenchers, or stump grinders run $4,000 to $7,000 each. A dozer blade or snow plow sits in the same range, $3,000 to $6,000, per Skid Pro’s breakdown.
Buy a $50,000 skid steer with a $6,000 broom and a $2,000 auger, and you’re financing closer to $58,000, not $50,000. Roll attachments into the same loan or lease and the payment reflects the full package, not the base machine alone.
Credit Profile and Business Documentation
Skid steer financing doesn’t always ask for what a bank loan does. Dimension Funding can approve amounts up to $500,000 on the application alone, and works with most types of credit rather than requiring a long, clean financial history.
That matters most if you’re a newer business that hasn’t had time to build the track record a traditional bank usually wants before signing off on an equipment purchase.
New vs Used: How the Financing Picture Changes
Used skid steers aren’t a fallback option. They’re a normal part of how this equipment gets financed.
Bobcat led new unit financing with more than 28 percent of the market between May 2025 and April 2026, yet new volume overall slipped nearly 10 percent industry wide over that same stretch, according to Equipment World’s tracking of financed sales.
Deere and Case CE round out the next tier, each holding under 14 percent of new units financed over that stretch, per Equipment World’s brand breakdown. No single brand runs away with the used market either.
Used prices held closer to $39,900 on average in early 2026, well under what most new units run. If you’re cross-shopping, that gap changes your numbers fast.
Matching the Structure to How You’ll Use the Machine
The right structure usually comes down to how the equipment fits your business, not which option looks cheaper on paper. Buy a skid steer to run one long contract and the math looks different than keeping one around for whatever job shows up next. A few things tend to settle it:
- Weekly hours matter. Run the machine daily, all season, and the math leans toward a loan.
- Some businesses keep the same machine for years. Others trade in for something newer every time the job changes.
- Resale only matters if owning the equipment outright is part of your plan. Otherwise, having a working machine on site is enough.
Which Way Most Businesses Lean
Run a skid steer daily across multiple job sites for years, and a loan usually fits. If your equipment needs to shift with the season, or you don’t want to get stuck holding an aging machine, a lease usually fits better.
Get the call wrong and it’s rarely a disaster. You end up paying for flexibility you didn’t need, or owning a machine you were ready to trade in.
Building a Payment Around the Job, Not the Sticker Price
Your skid steer earns its cost back by being on the job site, not sitting in a lot while you save up for it. The faster it’s working, the sooner the payment stops feeling like a cost and starts looking like the reason the job got done.
If your business is weighing a new or used skid steer purchase, Dimension Funding can walk through what a loan or a lease would look like for that specific machine and timeline. Reach out and talk through the numbers before you commit to either one.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I finance a used skid steer, or only new units?
Most equipment lenders finance both. The used market moves enough volume that it’s a normal way to buy, not a consolation prize. The Case CE SV280B alone accounted for 533 financed units in early 2026. Used equipment loans typically run shorter terms than new ones too, since there’s less life left on the machine to finance.
What credit score do I need for skid steer financing?
There’s no single score that guarantees approval. Lenders weigh your business history alongside personal credit rather than applying a hard cutoff. On amounts up to $500,000, Dimension Funding can often make that call from your application alone.
How long are typical skid steer loan or lease terms?
Terms commonly run up to 60 months. The actual length depends on whether your equipment is new or used, and how long you plan to keep it. Stretch the term out and your monthly payment drops, but you keep paying longer, so match it to how much life is left in the machine.
Is leasing a skid steer better than buying if I only need it seasonally?
Leasing tends to fit seasonal work better. You’re not stuck holding equipment that sits idle for months at a stretch. A loan makes more sense when the same machine sees steady use all year.
Do skid steer attachments get financed together with the machine?
Usually, yes. Lenders roll attachments you buy alongside the skid steer into the total financed amount, since the payment covers the full equipment cost, not the base machine alone. Confirm this with your lender before the purchase closes, since not every lender handles it the same way.
What happens at the end of a skid steer lease?
It depends mostly on how many hours the machine has on it by then. If it’s still got plenty left in it, buying it at the price set when your lease began often makes the most sense. If it’s worn down, or a newer model would move the job along faster, handing it back or stepping into something newer usually wins out.
How fast can skid steer financing be approved?
Approval can happen the same day when you handle the application and signatures electronically. That speed matters more with used equipment especially, since a specific used unit won’t necessarily still be sitting there next week.
