Asphalt paver: buy, hire or book the laying of asphalt
Machine or a ready-made service
First work out what you really need. If you need asphalt on a yard or a stretch of road, it is often better value to book the laying together with the machine and a crew. Hiring a paver without a crew makes sense when you already have experienced workers, tipper trucks and a roller.
Buying a machine is worth it for road contractors and municipal teams that lay asphalt regularly.
Width, volume and type of machine
The paving width is set by an extendable screed and depends on the site. For footpaths and yards a narrow machine is enough; for roads, strips of roughly 3–6 m wide are laid. Wheeled pavers are more mobile, tracked ones are steadier on a weak base.
The area in square metres and the thickness of the layer show how many truckloads of mix you need. If too little mix arrives, the paver stops, and cold asphalt gives joints and uneven patches. That is why the plant and a roller are planned together with the machine, for example a roller from the construction machinery section.
What to put in your request
- Buy or hire — with or without a crew.
- Paving width — for example up to 6 m.
- Scope of work — area in m² or length, and layer thickness.
- Location — city, and whether tipper trucks can get in.
- Time — for a day, a week, or specific dates.
- Model and year — if buying: Vögele, Dynapac, Ammann; not older than 2010.
- Engine hours and condition — up to 8,000 hours, running.
- Budget — a sum, or a rate per hour or shift.
Example: “I need an asphalt paver on hire for a week in Kowloon: 2,000 m² of asphalt, paving width up to 6 m, preferably with an operator from the provider. Please state the rate per shift and the cost of bringing the machine separately.”
How it works through BlaBlaPrice
Through BlaBlaPrice you send a request once, and equipment owners and sellers reply in the chat. The system shows the best offer first, judged on the content: what exactly is offered, the price, the terms, delivery. Sellers see their place among the others, so they compete on terms as well as on price. Your phone number stays hidden. How it all works is explained on the “How it works” page.
What to compare and what to watch out for
For hire, ask who brings the paver on a trailer, who pays for fuel, whether an operator is included and what the minimum time is. For a purchase, ask for a video of the machine working with a heated screed, photos of the augers and the conveyor, and the engine hours from the dashboard.
The most common mistake is to plan only for the paver and forget the roller and the mix. The second is not to check the condition of the augers and the screed: worn ones leave streaks on the surface.
Other machines for road and earth work are in the “Heavy equipment” section.
The quality of asphalt depends largely on the base. Before laying you need a profiled base, a layer of crushed stone and compaction, otherwise the surface will sink. So it is useful to write in your request whether the base is already ready. Also plan for the weather: asphalt is not laid on a wet base or in the rain, so it is worth having a spare date in the agreement. A good provider will suggest options and warn you about risks.
