Hi Jimmy B,
Same thing happened to a friend of mine some years ago when he went to hire a Mini Digger. The hire cost was such that it was cheaper to buy,and use as required and sell it on later. In fact,he never did sell it,having done all he needed,it had more than paid for itself and was loaned out to friends from time to time.
Hire charges are not cheap,as I found when I had to hire a welder many moons ago [I now have three ! ]
A fold-up crane is a most useful thing to have about the shop,along with a chain block. Neither of them are dear.
Worth thing about !