Skid Steer Hourly Rate: How to Price Per Hour
A fair skid steer or compact track loader hourly rate covers owning cost, operating cost, overhead, and target profit. For most owner-operators, that lands between roughly $85 and $185 per hour depending on machine size, tires versus tracks, attachments, and utilization. The only number that actually protects your margin is the one calculated from your own machine, your own costs, and your own labor rate.
Run your own skid steer numbers in TRUEHOUR — 30 days of full access, no credit card required.
What Goes Into a Skid Steer Hourly Rate?
A defensible skid steer hourly rate is built from four cost layers. Skip any one of them and the rate is guessing.
1. Owning Cost
Depreciation, financing or interest, insurance, taxes, and the eventual cost of replacing the machine.
2. Operating Cost
Fuel, DEF, lubricants, tires or tracks, scheduled maintenance, repairs, and wear parts.
3. Overhead
Shop, yard, software, admin time, accounting, licensing, and the share of business costs every job has to carry.
4. Target Profit
What you actually keep after the first three are paid. Profit is a line item, not a leftover.
How does TRUEHOUR turn cost inputs into an hourly cost?
TRUEHOUR separates owning cost, operating cost, allocated business overhead, and operator wage. Convert each input to dollars per hour once before adding it to the cost total. The app’s cost view includes overhead and operator wage; equipment-only O&O means owning plus operating, without those additions or profit.
- Annual dollar inputs: Allocate annual insurance, taxes, or other annual costs over the relevant annual hours. Business overhead uses its business-level allocation; do not assign the full annual business total independently to every machine.
- Already-hourly inputs: Fuel price ($/gallon) × fuel use (gallons/operating hour) gives $/hour. Keep that hourly result as-is.
- Life- or interval-based inputs: Depreciation based on depreciable value ÷ useful-life hours, or service and wear cost ÷ applicable interval hours, also gives $/hour. Do not divide it by annual hours again.
- Hours must match the cost: Machine operating hours, annual productive hours used for allocation, and hours billed to customers are not automatically interchangeable. Non-billable running time still consumes fuel and wear parts.
Hourly cost total = owning $/hour + operating $/hour + allocated overhead $/hour + applicable operator labor $/hour.
Do not divide this hourly total by annual billable hours again. Profit is a separate pricing decision, not an owning or operating expense. The USACE EP 1110-1-8 framework is the foundation for equipment ownership and operating expense; TRUEHOUR adds business overhead and operator wage to show the broader cost picture.
See TRUEHOUR’s cost breakdownWhy Do Skid Steer Owners Underprice?
Three patterns show up over and over with skid steer work:
- Treating tires or tracks as a future problem instead of a per-hour wear cost on every job.
- Forgetting attachment depreciation — buckets, augers, brush cutters, and grapples wear too.
- Quoting based on what the local rental yard charges, which already includes their profit and overhead, not yours.
The Methodology
TRUEHOUR's owning & operating cost model follows the framework defined by the US Army Corps of Engineers EP 1110-1-8 — the same standard used across construction estimating and federal cost engineering.
See the deeper write-up in Economic Foundations or the master guide at Equipment Hourly Rate.
With Operator vs. Without Operator: How Does That Change the Rate?
Whether the rate includes a qualified operator is the single biggest line-item swing on a skid steer quote. Bare-machine rates only need to recover the machine's cost. With-operator rates also have to cover wages, payroll burden, supervision, and the risk of running someone else's job.
With Operator
Includes the machine's full owning and operating cost plus operator wages, payroll taxes, workers' comp, supervision time, and a profit margin on labor. Typical owner-operator quotes land in the higher end of the range.
Without Operator (Bare Rental)
Bare rental of the machine only — the customer supplies the operator and assumes the operating risk. The rate covers owning, operating, overhead, and profit, but no labor. Usually the lower end of the range.
A Real Example: Bobcat T770 Compact Track Loader
These are the actual numbers one owner-operator calculated in TRUEHOUR for a Bobcat T770 CTL. Your machine, loan, fuel use, track wear, overhead, and wages will be different — which is exactly why you need your own numbers.
| Cost Bucket | $/Hour |
|---|---|
| Owning (depreciation, financing, insurance) | $54.14 |
| Operating (fuel, maintenance, wear parts) | $53.77 |
| Equipment O&O cost (owning + operating) | $107.91 |
| Overhead allocation | $5.48 |
| Operator wage (labor) | $45.00 |
| Break-even rate | $158.39 |
| Target profit (example: 25%) | $39.60 |
| Billed hourly rate | $197.99 |
One real machine's figures, shown as an example. The 25% profit line is an example margin. Your true cost depends on your machine, financing, utilization, region, and wages.
Why Do Your Own Numbers Matter More Than Any Average?
Two owners with the same skid steer can have very different true costs: different purchase price, loan, fuel use, track wear, overhead, and wages. TRUEHOUR is the financial operating system for equipment-based owner-operators — it works from your numbers, not someone else's.
Calculates Your True Cost Per Hour
Your specific owning, operating, and overhead cost per hour, plus your labor rate, for each machine.
Creates & Sends Job Estimates
Build a job estimate from your real costs and send it to your customer.
Tracks Customers & Won/Lost Jobs
Keep customer info in one place and see which estimates you win and lose.
Tracks Your Expenses
Log fuel, repairs, and business expenses so your costs stay current.
Skid Steer Hourly Rate FAQ
What is the hourly rate for a skid steer?
Most owner-operators bill between roughly $85 and $185 per hour with operator, depending on machine size, tracks vs. tires, attachments, region, and utilization. Bare-rental rates (no operator) are typically lower. The defensible number is the one built from your own owning, operating, and overhead costs plus your target profit.
How do I calculate skid steer cost per hour?
Convert each cost to dollars per hour once: annual costs use the relevant annual machine-use or productive-hour allocation, while fuel price multiplied by fuel consumption per hour is already hourly. Depreciation based on useful-life hours and wear or service costs based on an hour interval are also already hourly; do not divide any hourly figure by annual billable hours again. Add hourly owning and operating costs, then allocated overhead and operator labor where applicable; profit belongs in the selling price, not in equipment O&O cost.
What does it cost to own and operate a skid steer?
Total owning and operating (O&O) cost for a typical compact skid steer usually lands between roughly $35 and $90 per hour before overhead and profit, depending on machine age, financing, fuel price, and whether it runs on tires or tracks. Tracked machines (CTLs) sit higher because of undercarriage wear. That O&O figure is the floor — your billed hourly rate has to sit above it.
What should I charge per hour for skid steer work?
Charge enough to cover four buckets: owning cost, operating cost, overhead, and target profit. If your math lands above local 'gut-feel' quotes, that usually means competitors aren't recovering all four — it's not a sign you should drop your rate. Pricing below your true cost simply moves the loss to your business.
Are tracks really that much more expensive than tires?
Yes. Rubber tracks, undercarriage components, and ground-pressure-driven wear add a significant per-hour cost on a compact track loader versus a wheeled skid steer. That difference must show up in the hourly rate, not be absorbed.
Where Your Rate Sits in the Market
TRUEHOUR aggregates anonymous, k-anonymous benchmarks from real users so you can see how your numbers compare at the state level. Benchmarks provide context — they don't replace your own cost calculation.
See BenchmarksStop guessing your skid steer hourly rate.
TRUEHOUR walks you through your owning, operating, and overhead costs and shows you what you actually need to charge to keep your margin.
TRUEHOUR does not provide tax, legal, or accounting advice. Benchmarks are based on aggregated, anonymous data and provided for informational context only. Consult qualified professionals for guidance specific to your situation.