Boom Lift Financing for Oil, Gas & Refinery Contractors

Refinery units run tall and they run hot. A fluid catalytic cracker or a fractionating column on a Gulf Coast refinery can stand 150 feet or more, and the maintenance contractor assigned to it needs to reach every elevation without a scaffolding erection that takes days to build. For that kind of access, a 135- or 150-foot telescopic boom is the tool that gets a small crew to the work point on the first day rather than the fourth.

We fund booms for oil, gas, and refinery contractors from $50,000. Most of the machines in this work class, large telescopics rated for 100 to 185 feet of working height, sit between $120,000 and $400,000 used, right in our operating range. New or used, B or C credit, short-doc to $400,000, we close in roughly two weeks. If you are picking up a machine to support a turnaround contract or a long-term site services agreement, we can match the funding timeline to the contract start.

Oilfield work is uneven by nature. Basin activity drives utilization, commodity price shifts change the maintenance cycle, and a contract that was solid this quarter may be different next quarter. We know that. We underwrite around what the business currently is, not what a bank scorecard says it should look like.

Machines That Work on Refinery and Oilfield Sites

Large telescopics are the dominant type for refinery and petrochemical maintenance. The JLG 1350SJP puts a platform at 135 feet with 80 feet of horizontal outreach, and the Genie SX-180 reaches 180 feet. These machines handle the tall unit structures at major refineries and chemical plants, and they hold their value reasonably well in the used market because demand from maintenance contractors is steady.

For work at lower elevations, pipe rack inspection, valve maintenance, and structural steel around processing units typically in the 40- to 80-foot range, a rough-terrain diesel boom is the workhorse. Refinery yards and oilfield locations are rarely flat, paved, or dry. A 4WD diesel with high ground clearance handles the gravel pads, earthen berms, and uneven surfaces around processing equipment that a slab machine cannot navigate.

Insulated boom lifts carry additional value on electrical infrastructure maintenance inside refinery switchgear and substation areas. A dielectric or insulated boom provides protection against accidental contact with energized systems, which is a real requirement on many refinery work orders, not an optional feature.

Spider lifts and crawler booms get into areas that wheeled machines cannot reach: access points inside processing units, between vessels, and through structure bays where the only entry path is narrow and the operating area is tight. For specialty access contractors working refinery interiors, a crawler boom on tracks handles soft soil around tank farms and between vessels that would ground a wheeled unit immediately.

Oilfield and Refinery Maintenance: What the Work Cycle Looks Like

Refinery turnarounds are scheduled events, typically every 3 to 5 years per unit, and they concentrate large amounts of maintenance work into compressed windows. Major Gulf Coast refineries, mid-continent facilities, and West Coast refineries each run turnarounds on rotating schedules, which creates a relatively steady flow of maintenance contractor demand across the calendar year even though individual facilities go turnaround infrequently.

Upstream oilfield work, the service contractors handling production facility maintenance on pads in the Permian Basin, the DJ Basin, the Bakken, and other active formations, runs more continuously. Production facilities need periodic inspection, safety valve testing, and structural maintenance regardless of commodity price. The volume drops in slow price environments but does not stop entirely.

Pipeline and midstream infrastructure maintenance is a third category. Compressor stations, metering facilities, and pipeline infrastructure require access equipment for inspections and repair work that does not track closely to commodity cycles. Contractors who serve pipeline operators often have steadier utilization than pure upstream service companies.

The common thread is that maintenance work in this sector requires equipment that can be mobilized quickly to a job site, often in remote or limited-access locations, and that can operate on challenging ground. Owning the right reach class is a competitive advantage when bidding maintenance contracts, and the cost of the equipment is a line item that financing can spread over the contract's earning period.

How We Structure the Deal

Short-doc financing to $400,000 is the starting point for most single-unit deals. A short credit application, a review of the machine details, and a decision. No tax returns, no audited statements, no bank committee meeting. For the $120,000 to $250,000 used large telescopics that most refinery maintenance contractors are sourcing, short-doc covers the transaction.

Above $400,000, which is where some of the new large telescopics and multi-unit fleet purchases land, we add recent bank statements. That is still a faster underwrite than a commercial bank. The bank statements show us the cash flow picture without requiring us to interpret a full set of financials.

Structure options: outright equipment purchase loan, finance or operating lease, sale-leaseback on units you own free and clear or nearly paid off, and refinancing of existing notes. For oilfield service companies that want to preserve working capital on a new contract mobilization, a sale-leaseback on an owned machine is often the fastest way to fund new equipment without taking on additional debt load.

We also work with Section 179 and bonus depreciation scenarios. Buying a machine before year-end and taking the deduction changes the effective cost of the purchase, and we can structure the deal so closing falls within the tax year you need.

What Oilfield and Refinery Contractors Ask

Get It Funded Before the Contract Starts

Tell us the machine, the reach class, and your timeline. We quote the deal in one business day and close in roughly two weeks. $50,000 floor, short-doc to $400,000, B and C credit considered. Call or fill out the form and we move fast.