Leasing or buying used?

My long time excavator sub is no longer plowing...too much dirt work and guys are shot after a night of plowing. He's not the only one, quite a few are getting out of it.

Ran some numbers for a lease machine and using some averages, we were getting off much cheaper using their loader and an operator.

Leased loader is brand new. All maintenance is included in the lease price as well as a 5 year warranty. But the number of hours on average per season, plus operator wages, fuel and insurance push the hourly rate higher than what we are charging. So if we have lower than average snow those costs go up, above average the costs go down except fuel and labor. They also figure about $13,000 in scheduled maintenance over the 5 years.

I also ran some numbers on the 244 I was leasing vs my Kubota M125X which has had some significant repairs. Even factoring the purchase price of the 'Bota, it still was cheaper. Different machines but it was the closest in price and capabilities.

Add to that, I'm old-fashioned and like to see some iron sitting in my yard that I own after paying a chunk of change.

So would you buy a used machine, with more potential for repairs and breakdowns but overall a lower hourly rate or lease one that will still sit for 7 months?