Funding for tractor-mounted and trailer-mounted forestry cranes and grabs used to load timber, firewood and brash on farms and estates.
Whole-of-market — 60+ lenders searched, including
Yes. Forestry cranes are hydraulic, mechanically simple and sell across farming, forestry, arboriculture and scrap handling, which gives a funder a wide recovery market and makes approval straightforward. They are commonly bought as part of a timber trailer outfit and are best funded that way, on one invoice, rather than as a standalone attachment. Used cranes are funded regularly. The thing to check before committing is reach and lift at full extension against the timber you actually handle, because an undersized crane is the most frequent regret on this purchase and a funder will not protect you from it.
Used kit: Yes, with slew ring, ram and hose condition the points that matter
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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).
Cranes are a clean hard asset. There is no engine, the hydraulics are repairable, and buyers exist well beyond agriculture, which is exactly the profile funders like. They will look at the slew ring, the rams and hoses, and whether the crane has been overloaded, which shows in the boom and the mountings. Values sit at a level where a standalone agreement is possible but bundling with a trailer is more common and usually gets a better answer. Forestry contractors are underwritten on their work book; farms on their accounts, since the crane supports a cost saving rather than a contract income. Where firewood sales are the justification, evidence of actual sales matters more than an estimate of what the woodland could produce.
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 |
|---|---|
| Botex forestry cranes | Tractor mounted cranes for timber handling |
| Farma cranes | Trailer mounted cranes for farm forestry |
| Palms cranes and grabs | Crane and grapple packages for trailers |
| Kesla 305T | Timber crane for trailer mounting |
| Kesla 316T | Longer reach crane for forwarding trailers |
| Penz 10Z | Z-fold timber crane with high lift |
| Cranab TZ12 | Forwarder crane for professional operators |
| Hiab Loglift 96S | Lorry mounted timber crane |
| Palfinger Epsilon M80F | Truck crane for log and biomass loading |
| Hultdins SuperGrip II | Timber grapple with rotator |
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Farms and estates extracting their own timber and firewood from woodland, contractors doing thinning and clearance work, and businesses loading logs for a firewood operation. The trigger is usually a decision to process woodland in-house rather than sell standing, storm damage that has left a volume of timber to clear, or an existing loader arrangement that is too slow and too rough on the operator.
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We publish the deals we arrange, with no client named and no rate quoted. See what we have funded in agriculture.
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.
Usually yes. Cranes and timber trailers are bought as a matched outfit and dealers normally quote them together, which produces one agreement covering the whole set-up. Splitting them across two suppliers creates two small agreements and often a worse answer from funders on both.
Work out the heaviest butt you routinely lift and the distance you need to reach, then check the lift capacity at full extension rather than at the boom. Undersized cranes get overloaded, and overloading shows up as cracked mountings and tired rams, which is exactly what a funder inspects on a used machine.
Yes. Plenty of farms buy one to handle their own firewood and fencing timber, and the affordability case simply rests on the farm accounts rather than on the crane earning. If you do sell firewood, bring evidence of those sales, because it strengthens the picture considerably.
The funding is the same; the practical consideration is whether it is a permanent fit or a quick-attach. Attachments that transfer between machines are easy for a funder to identify and recover. Permanently welded installations are less attractive because they are tied to one carrier machine.
Rarely. With no engine or electronics, a forestry crane ages slowly and a well-maintained older machine works as well as a new one. Funders concentrate on structural condition and hydraulic health. Evidence of hose and seal replacement is worth more to the decision than the year of manufacture.
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Not an offer of finance. All finance is subject to status, affordability and lender approval.
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.
Machinery, livestock and land — each with its own page, because each is assessed differently.