Static concrete pump hire becomes the cheaper option when a job runs across multiple days, involves large volumes, or needs concrete moved further than a mobile boom can reach. Below roughly 40 cubic metres on a single day, a mobile pump almost always wins on cost.
The line between them is not really about pump power. It is about how many days you need it, how the site is laid out, and how much of the bill is setup rather than pumping. Easypump Concrete Ltd runs both, and this guide explains how the maths actually falls.
What the Two Pump Types Actually Are
A mobile pump is a self contained unit that arrives, works and leaves the same day. That covers trailer mounted line pumps for domestic pours and lorry mounted boom pumps for larger sites where an arm can be folded out and concrete placed from above.
A static pump, sometimes called a stationary or tower pump, is a separate pumping unit positioned on site and connected to a fixed pipeline. It is delivered, craned or towed into place, plumbed in, and left there for the duration of the project.
The practical differences that drive cost:
- Mobile pumps are charged per pour or per day, including travel and setup each time
- Static pumps are charged as a hire period, with setup paid once at the start
- Mobile pumps need road access and a firm setup area every single visit
- Static pumps need a one off installation but then no daily setup at all
When Is Static Concrete Pump Hire More Cost Effective?
The Cost Structure Behind Each Option
Most of a mobile pump bill on a small job is not pumping. It is travel, setup, priming and washout, which happen whether you place 4 cubic metres or 40. That fixed cost is spread across whatever you pour that day.
Static hire flips this. The delivery and installation cost is large and paid once, then the ongoing rate is comparatively low, so the cost per cubic metre keeps falling for as long as the pump stays on site.
The break even point moves depending on the job, but the drivers are consistent:
- Number of separate pour days across the project
- Total volume placed over the whole programme
- Distance and height concrete has to travel
- How difficult a fresh setup is each time a mobile pump returns
- Whether road access is available at all on pour days
When Static Pump Hire Wins
The clearest case is a project with many pours over weeks or months. Ten separate mobile visits means ten travel charges, ten setups and ten washouts, while a static pump absorbs all of that into one installation.
Height is the other decider. Boom pumps are limited by their arm reach, so once a build goes beyond roughly six or seven storeys a static pump feeding a riser pipeline becomes the only sensible method, not just the cheaper one.
Static hire usually makes financial sense when:
- The programme runs several weeks or months with repeat pours
- Total volume is high, typically well into the hundreds of cubic metres
- The building is tall, needing a vertical pipeline rather than a boom arm
- Access is poor or blocked, with no space for a lorry to set up repeatedly
- The pour area is far from any road, beyond practical boom or line reach
- The site is congested, where a permanently piped route beats daily hose runs
- Pour timing is unpredictable, and waiting for a mobile slot would hold up the trades
When Mobile Pumps Are Clearly Cheaper
For domestic and small commercial work, mobile is not just cheaper, it is the only proportionate choice. A house extension pouring 8 cubic metres once does not justify installing a pipeline, and the setup cost alone would dwarf the job.
Mobile also wins whenever the pour locations move. A site with slabs going in at different corners over a few weeks suits a pump that repositions each visit rather than a fixed line that would need rerouting.
Mobile pump hire is the right call for:
- Single day pours of roughly 40 cubic metres or less
- House extensions, footings, slabs, driveways and garage conversions
- Jobs where road access is available and setup space exists
- Projects with two or three pour days spread widely apart
- Pour points that change location around the site
- Anything where the total programme volume is modest
Easypump Concrete Ltd handles the overwhelming majority of domestic work in Hatfield and across London with line and boom pumps for exactly this reason.
A Simple Way to Compare the Two
Do not compare day rates, because they are not measuring the same thing. Work out the total cost of concrete placement across the whole project, then divide by total cubic metres to get a real cost per cubic metre.
For the mobile option, multiply your expected number of pour days by the full day cost including travel, setup and washout. For static, add installation, the hire period, pipeline and dismantling, then divide both by the same total volume.
Include these in the comparison or the numbers will mislead you:
- Travel and setup charged on every mobile visit, not just the first
- Installation and removal costs for a static pump
- Pipeline supply, and any rerouting mid project
- Waiting time risk when a mobile pump has to be booked against a delivery slot
- Labour cost of barrowing anything the pump cannot reach
- Programme delay cost if a pour slips because no pump was available that day
Volume Is Not the Only Trigger
Plenty of jobs justify static hire on access alone. If a mobile pump physically cannot reach the pour area, or there is nowhere on the street to set one up safely, the comparison stops being about price and becomes about whether the pour can happen.
The same applies to congested city sites where a lorry mounted boom would block a road every visit, need permits, and generate objections. A static pump installed once and piped through the site removes that friction for the whole build.
Signs the decision is being made by access rather than volume:
- No legal or practical place to park a pump lorry
- Overhead cables, low bridges or tree cover blocking boom deployment
- Pour points inside a structure that is already partly built
- Permits or road closures required for each individual mobile visit
The Middle Ground Most Projects Sit In
Most jobs are not at either extreme. A mid sized commercial build with six or eight pour days over two months genuinely could go either way, and that is where an honest calculation matters more than a rule of thumb.
In these cases the practical approach is to price both properly before committing. Easypump Concrete Ltd will look at your programme, pour schedule and site layout and tell you which way the numbers fall rather than defaulting to whatever is easiest to supply.
Frequently Asked Questions
What volume makes static pump hire worth it?
There is no fixed number, but static hire rarely makes sense below a few hundred cubic metres spread over multiple pour days. Single day jobs under 40 cubic metres are almost always cheaper with a mobile pump.
Is a static pump slower than a boom pump?
Output is broadly comparable, but a static pump has no arm, so placement at the discharge end is handled by hand with hose and pipe. Boom pumps place faster across an open slab.
Can a static pump be moved during a project?
The pipeline can be extended or rerouted, though it takes time and labour. This is why static suits builds where pour points are broadly fixed or move upward rather than around.
Do I need a crane to install a static pump?
Not always. Smaller static units can be towed or lifted into position with site plant, but tall builds with vertical risers usually need lifting equipment during installation.
Which is better for a house extension?
A mobile line pump, every time. Domestic pours are one day, low volume jobs where a static installation could never pay for itself.
Working Out Which One Your Job Needs
The short version is that mobile pumps are priced per visit and static pumps are priced per project. If you are pouring once, mobile is cheaper. If you are pouring repeatedly for weeks, static usually is, and the gap widens with every extra pour day.
Easypump Concrete Ltd supplies ready mix, volumetric and onsite mixed concrete alongside line, boom and static pump hire across London, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex and Northampton from its Hatfield base.
Call 01582 550287 or email admin@easypump.co.uk with your pour schedule, total volume and site access details, and we will price both options against your actual programme.
Easypump Concrete Ltd 165 Parkhouse Ct, Hatfield AL10 9RD 01582 550287 | admin@easypump.co.uk