Boom Lift Leasing

The Genie S-60 has been on rental yards for twenty years because it is the right size for most commercial work: 60 feet of platform height, 500-pound unrestricted capacity, diesel for outdoor use. A used one trades between $40,000 and $80,000 depending on hours and condition. A new one is north of $100,000. Either way, a lease keeps the payment lower than a loan and leaves your cash on the sideline for the next bid deposit or payroll cycle.

Leasing a boom lift makes sense when you want access to the machine without the full ownership commitment, or when you run your fleet on a replacement cycle and do not want to carry aging iron indefinitely. We structure leases from $50,000 on up, new or used, and most deals close in a week to two weeks. B and C credit is fine. The end-of-term options range from a dollar buyout to a fair market value purchase, and we match the structure to what you actually want at the end of the term.

Lease Structures and What They Cost

A lease is not one thing. The two most common structures for boom lifts are the dollar buyout lease and the fair market value lease. On a dollar buyout, your payment is slightly higher because the lender is amortizing most of the machine's cost, but you own it at the end for one dollar. It behaves almost identically to a loan from a cash-flow standpoint.

A fair market value lease carries a lower monthly payment because the lender is only amortizing down to an estimated residual. At term end, you can purchase the machine at its then-current fair market value, extend the lease, or return it. Rental fleets often use this structure because they cycle through equipment regularly and do not necessarily want to hold a six-year-old boom when the lease is up.

A third option worth knowing is the TRAC lease, a terminal rental adjustment clause lease used primarily for over-the-road vehicles and some heavy equipment. The residual is set upfront and the lessee takes on the risk that actual resale value differs from the stated residual. Less common for boom lifts, but available for the right situation.

Terms typically run 36 to 72 months. Longer terms lower the monthly payment but increase total interest cost. We build out the payment at multiple term lengths and let you decide where the monthly number fits your operation.

New Versus Used on a Lease

New boom lifts from Genie, JLG, and Haulotte carry manufacturer warranties that reduce maintenance exposure during the lease term. That matters on a fair market value lease where you are not building toward ownership. A dealer-maintained unit with warranty coverage means lower unplanned cost during the lease period.

Used machines on a lease work fine if the machine is not too old or too heavily hooked. Lenders have age and hour thresholds, and units that fall outside those thresholds move to a narrower pool of lenders or require a larger down payment. A 2018 Genie S-85 with 1,200 hours is easy to place. A 2008 unit with 6,000 hours requires more conversation. We tell you upfront which pool the machine falls into so you are not surprised after you have committed to a seller.

Used articulating booms and telescopic booms in the 60-to-80-foot class are the most commonly leased used units we see. They hold value well, the market is liquid, and lenders are comfortable with them as collateral through a full lease term.

Who Structures Leases Instead of Loans

Electrical contractors and mechanical contractors who work on long-duration projects often lease rather than buy because the lease payment can be tied directly to a specific project's cost accounting. The payment is an operating expense and the asset stays off the balance sheet on an operating lease, which can matter for bonding capacity.

Painting contractors running commercial maintenance work use leases to keep the fleet current. When a machine gets to 3,000 or 4,000 hours, maintenance frequency increases and the lease return option lets them hand it back and start fresh rather than paying for a top-end overhaul on a machine they do not want to hold.

Startups and newer businesses sometimes find lease approval more accessible than loan approval with the same credit profile, because some lenders treat the structure differently. If that describes your situation, we evaluate both paths and tell you which one has a better chance of closing.

If you already own a machine free and clear and need cash, a lease is not the right structure. That situation calls for a sale-leaseback instead, where we convert the equity in the machine to cash while you keep using it.

Lease Questions We Hear Regularly

Structure the Right Lease for Your Fleet

Tell us the machine you are looking at, new or used, and what you want to happen at the end of the term. We put together the payment at two or three structures and you pick the one that fits. $50,000 minimum, B and C credit welcome, most deals funded inside two weeks.