Tow tractor finance
Where a site moves the same route hundreds of times a day, a tug and a train of trailers beats a forklift on both cost and safety.
Whole-of-market — 60+ lenders searched, including
Can you finance a tow tractor?
Yes. Tow tractors are serialised electric machines with batteries and chargers, and funders handle them like any other powered warehouse truck on hire purchase, lease or contract hire. Used tugs are fundable. The detail that trips people up is the trailers. The tractor is the asset a funder recognises, while trailers and roll cages are low-value items that often need to be bundled rather than funded in their own right, so put the whole tugger train on one schedule from the outset.
Used kit: Yes — used tow tractors are funded regularly, typically to around eight years old, with battery age and drive motor condition setting the value.
Get a quoteor call 07581 364281
What would a tow tractor cost per month?
Business asset finance is quoted on a flat rate, so that is what this shows — with the equivalent APR underneath, because the two are not the same number. A quick guide only; your actual rate depends on the asset, term, deposit and lender.
Representative example: on Hire Purchase, borrowing £25,000 over 48 months at a 6.0% flat rate (equivalent to 11.5% APR representative), you would repay around £646 a month; total amount repayable approximately £31,000, of which £6,000 is the cost of finance. This calculator is for illustration only — it is not a quote or an offer of finance, and the rate and repayments you are offered will depend on the asset, term, deposit and your circumstances. CW Asset Finance is a credit broker, not a lender, and may receive a commission from the lender that funds your agreement. All finance is subject to status, affordability and lender approval. CW Asset Finance is an Appointed Representative of Rural Finance Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 630701).
How lenders treat it
Straightforward, provided the deal is described properly. The tractor itself is a well-understood electric machine with a recognised brand list and an active used market among refurbishers, so funders are comfortable. Where deals get scruffy is the trailer fleet: twenty steel trailers have real cost but almost no individual identity or recovery value, and a funder presented with a schedule of anonymous trailers will treat that portion as soft. The clean approach is to list the tractors by serial number as the backbone of the facility and include the trailers as associated equipment on the same invoice. Battery and charger should be funded together, and multi-site fleets are best structured as one facility with a schedule per location.
Makes and models we fund
Examples of the machines we are asked to fund. This is not an exhaustive list — if what you are buying is not here, it does not mean we cannot fund it. Your supplier quote is what the agreement is written against.
| Machine | What it is |
|---|---|
| Linde P50 | Electric tow tractor for trailer trains |
| Linde P250 | Heavy duty electric tow tractor |
| Jungheinrich EZS 350 | Electric pedestrian tow tractor |
| Jungheinrich EZS 010 | Compact electric tug for light trailers |
| Still LTX 50 | Ride on electric tow tractor |
| Still CX-T | Electric tugger train tractor |
| Toyota BT Movit TSE300 | Electric tow tractor for site logistics |
| Bradshaw T1500 | British built electric tow tractor |
| Bradshaw T800 | Compact electric tug for stores work |
| Charlatte T135 | Baggage and load tow tractor |
Get a quoteor call 07581 364281
Who buys one
Automotive and aerospace plants running line-side delivery, large distribution centres moving cages between pick zones and despatch, and airport or hospital logistics operations moving supplies between buildings. The trigger is usually a lean manufacturing review that replaces dozens of forklift trips with a handful of scheduled milk runs, or a safety programme aiming to cut the number of forklifts operating in areas where people are working on foot.
Get a quoteor call 07581 364281
How it is treated for tax
Bought on hire purchase, business plant and machinery normally qualifies for capital allowances on the full cost even though you pay for it monthly, which is a large part of why hire purchase is the common structure. On a finance lease you generally set the rentals against profit instead. The rules change between budgets and your position depends on how you trade, so treat this as the direction of travel and get your accountant to confirm the detail before you commit.
Tow tractor finance questions
Can the trailers be financed as well as the tractor?
Usually yes, but as part of the same package rather than on their own. Trailers are low-value, largely unidentifiable items with poor recovery value, so a funder is really lending against the tractors and your business. Putting everything on one invoice and one schedule is the practical way to get it all funded.
Is a tugger train cheaper to fund than replacing forklifts?
The comparison depends on your routes and volumes rather than on the finance. What is true is that tow tractors generally cost less than counterbalance forklifts and can replace several forklift journeys per trip. Funders are neutral on the operational case — they are assessing the asset and the business behind it.
Do tow tractors need an annual thorough examination?
Not under LOLER if they only tow and do not lift, which distinguishes them from forklifts and stackers. They remain work equipment under PUWER and need proper maintenance and inspection. Keeping records still helps at resale, since a documented service history supports value on any used machine.
Can a tow tractor be used outdoors between buildings?
Many models can, and it is a common application on multi-building sites. Tell the funder and your insurer, and check whether any part of the route is on a public road, because that brings registration and insurance obligations that a purely internal machine does not have.
How are large multi-site fleets normally structured?
As a master facility with a schedule for each depot, listing every tractor by serial number and location. That gives you one relationship and one payment run, gives the funder a clear asset register, and makes it simple to add machines as sites expand without renegotiating the whole arrangement.
Get a quoteor call 07581 364281
Also in forklift and warehouse equipment finance
- Counterbalance forklift finance
- Electric forklift finance
- Diesel forklift finance
- Gas and LPG forklift finance
- Reach truck finance
- Manual pallet truck finance
- Powered pallet truck finance
- Stacker truck finance
- Very narrow aisle truck finance
- Order picker finance
- Industrial telehandler finance
- Container handler finance
- Side loader finance
- Pallet racking finance
- Cantilever racking finance
- Mezzanine floor finance
- Warehouse shelving finance
- Conveyor system finance
- Sortation system finance
- Automated storage and retrieval finance
- AGV and autonomous mobile robot finance
- Pallet wrapper finance
- Strapping machine finance
- Weighing equipment finance
- Dock leveller finance
- Industrial door finance
- Floor scrubber finance
See everything we fund in forklift and warehouse equipment finance →
Not an offer of finance. All finance is subject to status, affordability and lender approval.
Get your quote
Tell us what you’re looking to fund and Conor will come back to you personally — usually the same day.
Prefer to talk? Call 07581 364281 · serving Leeds, York, Harrogate, Wakefield, Selby, Tadcaster & across North & West Yorkshire.