When your boundary fence needs urgent repairs or you're planning a major fencing project, the question isn't just about cost. Should you invest in your own post rammer or keep hiring contractors? For New Zealand farmers, this decision goes far beyond comparing hourly rates against purchase prices.
The truth is, every hour you spend wrestling with fence posts is time you're not managing stock, planning feed rotations, or focusing on the strategic decisions that drive profitability. Yet owning your own equipment offers control, flexibility, and long-term savings that can transform how you approach property maintenance.
Professional fencing contractors typically charge between $150-$250 per hour with their equipment. This rate varies significantly based on different ground conditions, equipment, materials, and staff requirements. What many farmers don't factor in are the hidden costs, which could include travel time and those frustrating extras that weren't mentioned in the initial quote, quite possibly because the job was more complex than anticipated.
But the bigger issue is availability. Some contractors are booked solid for months. When your boundary fence fails and stock are getting out, waiting three months for repairs isn't an option. You need immediate action, not a spot on someone's waiting list.
Not only that, but contractors must work to a schedule. A fencing team can’t be two places at once, so just like all other tradies, they can only do so much. For farmers who prefer maintaining control over their operations, this dependency can be genuinely frustrating.
A farmer-spec Kinghitter post driver typically ranges from $11,000 to $25,000, depending on your ground conditions and required capabilities. Rocky terrain or steep country? You'll need something more robust. Working mostly in standard soil? A basic model might suffice perfectly.
Too many farmers focus solely on the sticker cost, however. The real question is value over the machine's lifetime, which can easily span 30 years with proper maintenance.
Consider this: if you currently pay contractors $200 per hour for 25 hours of fencing work annually, that's $5,000 per year. Over 10 years, you've spent $50,000 on labour alone. Meanwhile, an $18,000 post rammer purchased today will still be driving posts efficiently decades from now, saving money every time you tackle fence repairs.
Download the Kinghitter guide to explore our full range of post drivers designed specifically for New Zealand conditions.
One of the biggest misconceptions is that all post drivers are built equally. It's tempting to choose based purely on price tag, but what will that cheaper machine cost you long-term in repairs, spare parts, and downtime?
The hidden costs of a post driver include:
A reliable Kinghitter post driver might cost more upfront, but it'll save you headaches and money over its working life. Delays during busy periods because your cheap machine broke down is the most expensive cost of all.
Despite all the advantages, ownership isn't always the answer. For time-poor farmers running one-person operations, spending weeks or months on a major new fenceline isn't practical. Large-scale projects requiring specialised equipment (like rock drills for extremely challenging terrain) might justify contractor costs.
The scale of your operation matters too. If you only need fencing work sporadically and have plenty of other demands on your capital, contractors might remain your best option.
For most New Zealand farmers with regular fencing requirements, owning quality equipment like a Kinghitter post driver delivers superior long-term value. The initial investment might seem substantial, but spread across decades of reliable service, the cost per hour becomes remarkably attractive.
More importantly, ownership gives you control. No more waiting months for contractors, no more working around someone else's schedule, and no more emergency call-out fees when things go wrong at inconvenient times.