This article from Aspenspring Business Loans in Durango, Colorado answers whether landscapers can finance trucks, trailers and mowers: lawn care equipment financing and loans, landscaping financing companies, the options compared, and business loans for landscaping companies, with an invented first-year equipment package and a later loader purchase worked through.
Lawn Care Equipment Financing: The Direct Answer
A truck, a trailer and a mower are each a purchase with a price, a title or serial number and a resale value, which is what equipment funders lend against. Each can be financed on its own or bundled. A crew starting out finances the pieces it needs to work every day, pays cash for small tools, and adds larger machines once revenue supports another payment.
La Plata County, CO counted 49 landscaping service employers in 2023, 75.5% of them with fewer than five employees (County Business Patterns 2023), and 106 landscaping businesses without paid employees for 2024 (Nonemployer Statistics 2024). Administrative and support services, the Census sector that holds landscapers, counted 137 employer establishments (County Business Patterns 2023).
Lawn Care Equipment Loan: A Worked First-Year Package
Illustration only, invented figures: a two-person crew buys a $48,000 truck, an $8,800 trailer and a $15,500 zero-turn mower, $72,300 in all.
| Item | Price | Invented term and rate | Invented payment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Truck | $48,000 | 60 months at 9% | $996 |
| Trailer | $8,800 | 48 months at 9% | $219 |
| Mower | $15,500 | 48 months at 10% | $393 |
| Total | $72,300 | $1,609 |
With 34 maintenance accounts at an average of $520 a month, the crew bills $17,680 a month (our arithmetic), and the equipment takes about 9% of that. Fuel, insurance, wages and the owner's pay come out of the rest, which is the calculation a partner checks.
Landscaping Equipment Financing Companies and Where Each Fits
Manufacturer finance programs, offered through the dealer, finance that maker's equipment and can include promotional terms; read what happens after any promotional period. Independent equipment funders finance mixed purchases from several makers, used equipment and trucks. Banks finance equipment for crews with a few years of records. Specialty lenders read deposits and can fund a younger business at a different price.
The equipment financing page has a landscaping section, and the landscaping page covers payroll and route purchases.
Adding a Compact Loader in Year Three
Illustration only, invented figures: two years later the crew takes on hardscape work and adds a $41,000 compact track loader over 60 months at an invented 9.5%, about $861 a month (our arithmetic). The trailer loan has a year left, so the crew's total equipment payment rises before it falls. A partner reading the loader request reads the payment history on the first package, which is the strongest record a young crew can show.
Timing a new purchase for when an older loan is close to paid off keeps the total payment from stacking up.
Buy New, Buy Used or Rent for the Job
A crew does not have to own every machine. A trencher used for two irrigation jobs a year can be rented for those days, and the rental cost goes on the job's price. A machine used every week is worth owning. Between the two, a used machine costs less up front and can be financed, with its age, hours and condition read alongside the price; a new one carries a warranty and a longer term.
Illustration only, invented figures: renting a trencher at $260 a day for 12 days a year costs $3,120 (our arithmetic), against the payments on a machine that would sit in the yard the rest of the year. Running that comparison for each machine before financing it keeps the payment list to the equipment the crew actually uses.
Landscaping Equipment Financing Options, From Dealer Promotions to Credit Lines
- Equipment loan: the crew owns the item, with a lien until paid off.
- Lease: lower payments in some cases, with a return or buyout at the end.
- Dealer promotion: check the terms after the promotional period.
- Line of credit: wages, fuel and materials, not machines.
- Merchant cash advance: not a loan, collected from card sales; crews billing by invoice have little card volume to sell.
Wages between invoices fit a business line of credit; a one-off gap, such as a large installation job, fits a working capital loan.
Business Loans for Landscaping Companies: What a Partner Reads
- The dealer quote, with the year, hours and serial number for used equipment.
- Bank statements from a business account.
- The client list, with recurring maintenance contracts marked.
- The owner's tax return with the business schedule, or the business return.
- Existing loans and leases, with payments.
- Registration of the business with the Colorado Secretary of State, if it is an entity.
A request can start with a call to (970) 238-5207 or the online form.
By Aspenspring Business Loans · Updated
