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Deleted member 174758
In my experience the bought ones tend to get semi-permanently allocated to teams and stay with them for a very long time - perhaps on the basis that kit like this allocated to one or two individuals will be treated better? Pretty much every joinery contractor and main contractor I've ever worked for hires-in on an ad hoc basis (and from what I've seen most other trades are much the same) because it makes more sense than tying up loads of cash in stuff you don't need all the time. The cost of storage combined with the multiple differences in requirements (different sizes, outriggers, cantilever access, stair access, etc) makes this a logical choice. As the hire company towers get older they seem to pass down from cleaner trades to dirtier ones, such as the painters (many commercial decos use airless spraying) or plasterers, but even when components are damaged they tend to be replaced piecemeal rather than the entire tower being sold off. Damaged components, being aluminium, also have a reasonable scrap value. That's probably why you don't see that many trade rated towers secondhand.