The Forestry Forum

which is better?

Mary Ann or Ginger?

It depends on what you want out of it is it lease to own or just lease. The one thing nice about leasing is the payments are tax deductible if you use a loan you can usually only depreciate the equipment . Either way you usually take care of the all the repair. Sometimes the lease is easier to get than a loan or even less down payment. You need to really look at the piece of equipment . I went with a lease on my log truck because I would get better tax deductions of the time of the lease vs  just depreciation. So you need to go case by case and look at all the angles.

Given the money involved with equipment, drop a couple of hundred bucks on an accountant familiar with logging clients and get his/her advice, while you're waiting for experienced posters to pile up replies. They can tell you the operational side through their experiences, but all the money angles need someone who understands them, and hopefully, how that applies to your tax situation. At 62 years old and a hardcore do it yourselfer, I burned myself too many times being cheap when it comes to professional advice, in situations like yours. Good luck on whatever your considering!

Another aspect is what type of equipment you're looking at. Is it something that won't need replacing for many years (10+)? Will it become outdated in 5 years (i.e. computers)? As mentioned, go get professional tax advice.