Drilling rigs

Drilling rigs in New Zealand: what they cost and how to get a quote

Updated 31 October 2026

Drilling rigs in New Zealand do not have a confirmed local price range yet. The listings we found are mostly overseas factory prices in plain dollars, not NZ$ prices, so they are not a fair guide for a rig you can buy or hire here. For a real figure, describe the job in a request on BlaBlaPrice and sellers registered here will reply with their own offer.

What the price depends on

• Type: small portable rigs for water wells and core sampling cost far less than large crawler rigs for mining and deep holes.
• Depth: depth is given in metres, from about 40 m for a mining rig to 400 m for a water-well rig.
• Power and mounting: diesel or electric power, and whether the rig is truck-mounted, towable or crawler-mounted.
• Condition and year: new and used rigs, and the year they were built, change the price a lot.

Rules and who may run a rig

New Zealand workplace safety guidance says only authorised and qualified operators should run and move drill rigs, and that the people who maintain them must be trained, so ask who will operate the rig before you hire or buy. Warranties add to your rights rather than replacing them: a consumer guide notes that manufacturer's and extended warranties give protection above what consumer law provides. Warranty terms vary; one supplier's standard warranty on the hydraulic rock drills of a used rig runs six months or 500 percussion hours.

Season and delivery

Summer runs December to February and winter June to August, so schedule outdoor drilling for spring and summer where you can. Rigs are heavy, so ask whether the price includes transport between Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Hamilton or Tauranga, which usually means a truck and trailer. Give depth in metres, hole diameter in millimetres and weight in kilograms, because local sellers quote in metric units.

What to put in your request

Say whether you want to buy or rent, and what the drilling is for, such as a water well, a site job or a mining hole. Add the depth in metres, the hole diameter, whether you accept a used rig, the chassis (truck, crawler or towable), the year, the scope of work, your city and your budget. A clear purpose and depth let sellers quote the right rig the first time.

Free for buyers, BlaBlaPrice's AI reads your request, asks for missing details and looks through sellers' websites and price lists in New Zealand, then shows the prices and businesses it finds. Sellers registered on BlaBlaPrice reply in the chat with their own offer, and your contacts stay hidden until you decide to share them. Start with a request on BlaBlaPrice, or look at heavy equipment and construction machinery.