Guides and market reports
Practical writing about buying and financing heavy equipment in Australia — including what we can see in the asking prices across the dealers we index.
Buying guide
The long guides. Start here if you are buying for the first time.
The Complete Buyer’s Guide to Trucks
What class of truck, what licence it needs, which body suits the work, and what to check before money moves. The decisions in the order you actually have to make them.
Read it →The $20,000 question nobody asks until settlement
Two identical excavators, both advertised at $200,000. One costs you $200,000 and the other costs $220,000. Here is how to tell which is which before you shake hands.
Read it →The Complete Buyer’s Guide to Machinery
How to size an excavator, loader, dozer, telehandler, forklift or tractor to the work, what hours conceal, and why undercarriage and transport are the two line items people forget.
Read it →Buying Your First Truck: A Complete Guide
What it actually costs to run a truck beyond the purchase price, which licence to get first, what not to buy, and how to have finance ready before you start looking.
Read it →Buying Your First Excavator: A Complete Guide
Which size class actually suits residential and landscaping work, what a tilt hitch and attachments really cost, how you will move the machine, and the inspection you can do yourself.
Read it →How to Inspect a Used Excavator Before Buying
A working inspection order, from the things that cost tens of thousands down to the things that cost a weekend — plus the four checks people skip and regret.
Read it →What to Check Before Buying a Used Prime Mover
The compliance plate before the paint, the driveline before the chrome, and the one number that decides whether the truck can legally do your job at all.
Read it →Auction or dealer: an honest comparison
Auctions look cheaper and often are. They are also where most of the expensive mistakes in this industry get made. What actually separates the two.
Read it →Best Trucks for Owner-Operators
What actually matters when the truck is your business rather than your employer's: resale, fuel, the workshop network, and the number most people work out too late.
Read it →Buying a Used Truck: What Changes at 500,000 km
Used trucks are priced by age and kilometres, but they fail by component. Here is what actually comes due and when — so a cheap truck with a known expense ahead is a decision rather than a surprise.
Read it →New vs Demo Machinery: What the Warranty Is Actually Worth
Demo machines look like new machines at a discount. Sometimes they are. The difference is in the warranty start date, the hours, and what the machine was demonstrating.
Read it →Matching a Trailer to Your Truck: Combinations That Work
Trailers are bought on price and body type and then discovered to be wrong on ratings. What has to match, what does not, and the checks to do before you commit.
Read it →Van, Ute or Light Truck? Choosing Your First Commercial Vehicle
The decision usually gets made on price and regretted on payload. What each actually carries, what licence you need, and the threshold where a truck becomes cheaper than a bigger ute.
Read it →Choosing a Forklift: Diesel, LPG or Electric
The fuel decision is really a decision about where the forklift works. Plus the capacity trap that catches most first-time buyers, and what to check on a used mast.
Read it →Skid Steer or Track Loader? (And Why Everyone Says 'Bobcat')
Wheels or tracks is the decision that determines where the machine can work and what it costs to run. Plus why the whole category is named after one manufacturer.
Read it →Buying Farm Machinery: Why Timing Beats Negotiating
Agricultural machinery prices move with the season and the season is predictable. Plus what hours mean on equipment that works six weeks a year.
Read it →What hours actually tell you on a used excavator
A 6,000-hour machine can be in better shape than a 3,000-hour one. Hours are a starting point, not a verdict — here is what to read alongside them.
Read it →Model review
What a particular machine is actually like to own and run in Australia.
Isuzu N Series Review
The light-duty truck most Australian businesses end up buying. What the redesigned Euro 6 range actually offers, what the used ones cost to keep, and the one system to check before you hand over money.
Read it →Kenworth T610 Review
The truck that gave Kenworth a 2.1 metre cab, and now a used proposition rather than a new one. What the T610 and T610SAR are, what the build sheet decides, and what the T620 means for values.
Read it →Volvo FH16 Review
Volvo’s big-power prime mover, built in Brisbane and now running a 17-litre engine. What the 600, 700 and 780hp ratings actually change, and what to check on a used one.
Read it →CAT 320 Excavator Review
The 20-tonne class Caterpillar most Australian contractors compare everything else against. What separates a 320 from a 320 GC, why the emissions build changes your running costs, and what to inspect.
Read it →Finance
How equipment finance works, in plain terms. General information, not advice.
How Truck Finance Works
Chattel mortgage, hire purchase, lease or rental — who owns the truck, who claims what, and what happens at the end of the term. Plus balloons, PPSR, low doc, and why a private sale takes longer.
Read it →Can You Finance Used Equipment?
Yes — most equipment finance written in Australia is on used assets. What changes is the term, the valuation, and how much verification the lender does before settlement.
Read it →Finance vs Paying Cash
An honest look at both sides. Cash costs no interest and no paperwork. Finance keeps the buffer intact and matches the cost to the work the asset does. The right answer depends on what else your cash could be doing.
Read it →Can Startups Get Equipment Finance?
Harder, not impossible. With no trading history a lender looks at your industry experience, the asset, the deposit, property and your credit file. What helps, what hurts, and what to expect.
Read it →How Much Can I Borrow for Equipment?
Lenders do not set a headline number and let you shop to it. They size a facility from serviceability, the asset, the deposit and your existing commitments — which means the answer is a repayment, not a limit.
Read it →Where to buy
Where the stock is, by category and by city.
Excavators for Sale in Melbourne
Live excavator stock across Victoria, where the dealers are, and what Melbourne's soil and civil workload does to a used machine.
Read it →Trucks for Sale in Sydney
Current truck stock across NSW, where Sydney dealers cluster, and what makes buying in the biggest market in the country different.
Read it →Prime Movers for Sale in Brisbane
Live prime mover stock across Queensland, where the dealers cluster, and why Queensland specification is genuinely different from southern trucks.
Read it →Market report
What we can see in asking prices across the dealers we index.
Best Selling Trucks in Australia
Isuzu has led the Australian truck market for 37 straight years. Here is what the 2025 sales data actually shows, segment by segment — and what it means when you are shopping used.
Read it →The Most Advertised Machinery in Australia
There is no public registry of Australian machinery sales the way there is for trucks. So instead of guessing at sales volumes, here is what is genuinely being advertised — counted live.
Read it →Australia's Biggest Truck Dealers, by Advertised Stock
Ranked by how much stock they actually advertise — counted live, not curated. Plus what dealer size does and does not tell you about the deal you will get.
Read it →Machinery Dealers in Sydney: Who Advertises What
NSW machinery dealers ranked by current advertised stock, plus how the Sydney market differs from buying in the regions.
Read it →Machinery Under $50,000
What fifty thousand dollars buys across excavators, skid steers, forklifts and tractors — generated from live listings, with the honest version of what to expect at each size.
Read it →Top 20 Trucks Under $80k
Live pick of trucks currently advertised under $80,000, plus what that budget realistically buys in each segment and where the money goes after purchase.
Read it →Australian Truck Brand Guide
Every major truck brand sold in Australia, what each is actually strong at, and which segment it competes in — written for someone deciding what to shortlist.
Read it →Dealer Spotlight Series
An index of the dealers we index — who they are, where they are and what they stock, ranked by advertised inventory rather than by who paid.
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