Equipment financing companies, dealers and banks can each pay for the same loader, mower or fryer line. The differences sit in who holds the agreement, what the review looks at and whether the offer is a loan or a lease. A Spring Hill, TN owner can compare them from one written quote, and a request through Silverstead Advances goes to funding partners who set any terms.
Finance companies, dealers and banks can fund the same machine. Compare the total of payments, the down payment, what happens at the end of a lease and what the lien covers, starting from one written quote.
Comparing equipment financing companies, dealers and banks
Three kinds of offer can land on the same machine. An independent equipment finance company lends against the equipment itself and can look hard at its age, hours and resale value. A dealer can arrange financing at the counter, at times through the manufacturer’s own finance arm, and some of those programs apply only to certain new models. A bank can fund equipment as one part of a wider relationship, and it may want full financial statements and a lien that reaches past the one machine.
| Source | What its review can center on | What to check in the offer |
|---|---|---|
| Equipment finance company | The machine, its value and the business’s bank deposits | Term, total of payments, end-of-lease option |
| Dealer or manufacturer program | The model being sold and the buyer’s credit | Whether a cash price is lower than the financed price |
| Bank | Financial statements, deposits and other debts | Whether the lien covers only the machine or all business assets |
The comparison matters well beyond one trade. Specialty Trade Contractors (NAICS 238) alone ran 155 employer establishments in Maury County, TN during 2023 (County Business Patterns), and each of them pricing a skid steer can put the same question to a dealer, a bank and a finance company: what is the total cost of this machine? Silverstead Advances is a fourth route, since a request placed through it is reviewed by funding partners, the businesses that make the offers. The equipment financing page covers loans and leases for machines in more detail, and contractor figures for the county are on the construction industry page.
Loaders, mowers and kitchen gear: what equipment financing can cover
Equipment financing fits a machine with a serial number and a working life of several years. The categories that come up across Spring Hill, TN trades look like this:
- Compact track loaders, skid steers, mini excavators and their buckets, forks and augers
- Zero-turn and stand-on mowers, trimmers, aerators and the trailers that carry them
- A range and fryer line, reach-in coolers, ice machines and dish machines for a kitchen
- Vans and pickups used for the work, financed with the business named on the title
- Point-of-sale terminals, servers and diagnostic tools with a model number on the invoice
- Used machines from a dealer lot or a private seller, with a bill of sale
Mowers and trailers are a common case in a small field. CBP put 43 Landscaping Services establishments (NAICS 561730) with paid employees in Maury County, TN for 2023, and 25 of those 43 had fewer than five people on payroll, so a single new mower can be a large purchase for one of them. Kitchen gear works the same way for the county’s 61 full-service restaurants with employees (CBP 2023, NAICS 722511).
Anything built into the structure is a different matter. Walls, plumbing, wiring runs and fixed building systems are property work, which this site does not arrange; the movable equipment inside the room can still be financed.
Quotes, invoices and what a lender needs on the machine
A finance company, dealer or bank reviews the machine on paper before it reviews anything else. The quote is the starting document, and a complete one saves a round of follow-up questions:
- Make, model, year and serial number (a VIN for a titled vehicle)
- New or used, and for a used machine the hour-meter reading
- Price, with attachments, delivery and setup on separate lines
- The seller’s name, and for a private sale a bill of sale
- A payoff letter if the seller still owes money on the machine
- Proof of insurance naming the finance source on the policy
- Statements for each business bank account, all pages, covering the last few months
A quote opens the review; the final invoice comes at funding, and a finance source can pay the dealer directly. When attachments and delivery are left off the quote, the financed amount can come in short of the real cost.
Illustration only, invented figures: a $71,500 compact track loader with $6,800 of attachments and $1,200 for delivery is a $79,500 package. Spread across 60 months at an annual rate of 9.6%, each monthly installment works out to $1,673.54, the 60 installments total $100,412.40 and the interest inside them is $20,912.40. Leave the attachments and delivery off and the owner pays $8,000 in cash at pickup.
Loan or lease for the next piece of equipment?
A loan puts the machine in the business’s name from day one, with the lender’s lien on it until the last payment. A lease keeps ownership with the leasing company. A fair-market-value lease ends with a choice: return the machine, keep renting it, or buy it at its value then. A $1 buyout lease works like a loan on installments, because the payments cover nearly the full price. A business term loan can also cover equipment when it is bought with other costs in one package.
Illustration only, invented figures: two zero-turn mowers cost $24,000. Financed with a 48-month loan at a 10.4% annual rate, the pair runs $613.32 a month and $29,439.36 by the final payment. A fair-market-value lease at $470 a month for 48 months comes to $22,560 if the mowers go back, which is $6,879.36 less than the loan. Buying them at the end for an invented $7,400 brings the lease to $29,960, or $520.64 more than the loan.
In this example the lease costs less only when the business plans to hand the machines back. Before choosing, an owner can start a request and compare the offers that come back on the same two numbers: total cost if the machine is kept, and total cost if it is returned. Term loans, collateral and the application steps each have their own post in the Silverstead Advances articles.
By Silverstead Advances · Updated
