A machinery video is a short narrated walkaround of one machine for sale, built from the photos and details already on its listing: make, model, year, hours, operating weight, serial number, the attachments included and price. Plant and farm machinery buyers decide on hours, undercarriage or tyres, hydraulics and what comes with the machine, so the video shows those first. Videngine reads each listing or a stock CSV and renders a captioned 9:16 and 16:9 cut for review.
What plant and machinery buyers decide on
A machinery buyer decides on hours, weight class, what comes with the machine and the state of the parts that wear, so a plant machinery video puts those first.
The case for one video per stock unit, and the walkaround order for cars, are in the car dealer video guide; this page covers what changes for construction plant, agricultural machinery and ex-hire stock.
| Field | Why buyers ask | What to check in review |
|---|---|---|
| Hours | Plant and farm machinery is used by the hour; buyers compare hours across the same model and year | As listed and legible in the hour-meter photo; narrated as hours, never miles |
| Operating weight | Sets the weight class, the jobs the machine suits and what it takes to move it | Figure and unit exactly as listed (kilograms or tonnes), not rounded into a different class |
| Attachments included | Buckets, forks, a breaker or a header can be a large part of the price | Each included item named and shown in its own scene; nothing shown that is not in the sale |
| Serial number and year | Identity, age, parts lookup, finance and insurance checks | Year as listed; the serial shown or read only as far as the listing publishes it; the plate photo matches |
| Undercarriage or tyres | The costliest wear parts on most machines | A close-up of each side; any percentage or condition word only as the listing states it |
| Service history | Evidence the machine was maintained, and when | Claimed only in the listing's words; no “full history” the listing does not state |
| Auxiliary hydraulics | Decides which attachments the machine can run | Circuits named as listed, such as a breaker circuit or a second auxiliary; none implied by an attachment photo |
| Cab type | Open canopy or enclosed cab, and what is fitted inside | Canopy or cab matches the photos; heating or air conditioning only if listed |
Lifting machines carry paperwork buyers ask about. In the UK, HSE's guidance on thorough examinations of lifting equipment sets 6-month intervals for equipment that lifts people and 12 months for other lifting equipment, unless an examination scheme says otherwise, and says a written copy of the record should be available on second-hand sale. Show the date of the last report only if the listing gives it. The same goes for a CESAR registration (the construction and agricultural equipment security and registration scheme): keep it on the facts card, and the plate in shot, only if the listing states it.
Scene sets and photo order for each machine family
Each machine family gets its own scene set: a facts card with the fields its buyers ask about, and a photo order that reaches the wear parts early.
In every family the hour meter follows the opening shot, wear parts come before the cab, and each attachment in the sale gets its own scene before the depot and stock number.
| Machine family | Facts card adds | Photo order |
|---|---|---|
| Excavators and diggers | Operating weight, track type (rubber or steel), quick hitch, auxiliary circuits; for backhoe loaders, the front shovel | Front three-quarter; hour meter; tracks and undercarriage close-up (rollers, idlers, sprockets); boom, dipper and pins; quick hitch; cab or canopy; each bucket or attachment |
| Telehandlers | Maximum lift height and capacity as listed, carriage type, tyre sizes, last thorough examination if listed | Three-quarter with the boom lowered; hour meter; boom and carriage; forks or bucket; tyres on each side; cab and joystick; load chart if photographed |
| Dumpers | Payload as listed, skip type (front tip, swivel or high tip), tyres or tracks | Three-quarter; hour meter; inside the skip; articulation joint and steering; tyres or tracks; roll-over frame and seat |
| Tractors | Horsepower as listed, transmission, rear spool valves, PTO speeds, front linkage, tyre sizes | Front three-quarter; hour meter; rear linkage, PTO and spools; front linkage or loader brackets; tyre tread close-ups; cab and controls; any loader as its own scene |
| Combines and balers | Combine: header width and type, engine and threshing hours. Baler: bale size and type, bale count | Combine: three-quarter with header; hour meters; header, then header trolley if sold; unloading auger; tyres or tracks; cab. Baler: three-quarter; bale counter; pickup; knotters or net wrap; tyres |
| Access platforms | Working or platform height as listed, platform capacity, power (diesel, electric or bi-energy), last thorough examination if listed | Three-quarter, stowed; hour meter; platform and controls; boom or scissor stack; outriggers, tyres or tracks; batteries and charger on electric units |
| Forklifts | Capacity and load centre as listed, lift height, mast type, fuel, side shift | Three-quarter; hour meter; mast and forks; carriage and side shift; tyres; seat and controls; gas bottle, or battery and charger |
If a key photo is missing, ask the yard to shoot it rather than borrow another unit's picture. A tracked machine without an undercarriage close-up is a rejection with the photo defect code.
Attachments: show and name only what is in the sale
Name and show an attachment only if it is included in the sale, and give each one its own scene, so the buyer can count what arrives with the machine.
- One scene per attachment. Each gets its own photo, name and size as listed, such as a 600 mm digging bucket. A three-bucket set is three scenes, not one sentence over a pile.
- Yard photos show extras. Machines are often photographed beside a breaker that belongs to another unit. Drop or reshoot that photo; reviewers reject it with the specification or photo code.
- Optional extras stay out. Attachments offered at extra cost get no scene; one closing line pointing to the listing is enough.
- No compatibility claims. Name the quick hitch and auxiliary circuits as listed, and do not say the machine will run attachments it is not sold with.
- Keep attachments as data. In a CSV, give each attachment its name, size and an included flag. Each included row becomes a scene.
An illustrative 45-second excavator video
Illustrative only: a fictional 8-tonne midi excavator sold with two buckets and a breaker, not a tested template or a performance claim.
| Time | Picture | Narration covers |
|---|---|---|
| 0–4 seconds | Front three-quarter, make and model on screen | Make, model and year |
| 4–9 seconds | Hour meter close-up, then facts card | Hours, operating weight, price policy |
| 9–16 seconds | Tracks and undercarriage, both sides | Track type; undercarriage as the listing describes it |
| 16–22 seconds | Boom, dipper, pins and quick hitch | Quick hitch type and auxiliary circuits as listed |
| 22–27 seconds | Cab interior | Cab type; air conditioning only if listed |
| 27–37 seconds | Digging bucket, ditching bucket, breaker: one scene each | Each attachment by name and size |
| 37–45 seconds | Dealer logo, depot, stock number | Where the machine is and how to enquire |
Manufacturer and model pronunciation
Add each manufacturer, model family and depot town to the brand's pronunciation lexicon once, and every machine video says them the same way.
Machinery names come from Japan, Germany, Korea, France and the UK, and a voice reading them as English spelling gets several wrong. Where two forms are in use, enter the one your sales team says.
| Name | Say it | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| JCB | “J C B” | Letters, never read as a word |
| Kubota | koo-BOH-tah | Stress on the middle syllable |
| Liebherr | LEEB-hair | Not LIE-ber |
| Doosan | DOO-san | Two even syllables |
| Claas | KLAHS | One syllable, not CLAY-ass |
| Fendt | FENT | One syllable |
| Manitou | MAN-ih-too or man-ee-TOO | Both forms are heard; pick one |
| Takeuchi | tah-keh-OO-chee | Four syllables, not TAKE-you-chee |
| Deutz-Fahr | DOYTS-far | German “eu”, as in “boy” |
Model codes and units need rules too: JCB 3CX as “three C X”, a Fendt 724 as “seven two four” or “seven twenty-four” (set your team's form), “t” as tonnes, “hrs” as hours and PTO as “P T O”. Listen to the first draft in each family before running the batch; a wrong reading is a pronunciation defect, fixed once in the lexicon.
Ex-hire fleets and dealer inventory
Ex-hire disposals and dealer stock arrive in batches of similar machines, so run them as batches keyed by stock number, re-render when the price or hours change, and retire each video when the unit sells.
- One scene set, one batch. An illustrative defleet of twenty identical mini excavators differs only in hours, serial, condition, attachments and price: one scene set and one CSV give twenty videos. Batch runs from CSV or JSON start on Growth.
- Fleet number and stock number. Keep the hire fleet number beside the sales stock number in your sheet, and name files by stock number, for example PL2047_16x9_v1.mp4, so every copy can be traced.
- Machines still on hire. Hours rise until the machine comes off hire, so render after it returns or re-render when the hours are updated. The rebuild is saved as _v2 beside the original; re-rendering the same video in the same month is free.
- Review every unit. Twenty identical machines have twenty sets of tracks. Check each unit's wear photos and hour meter, and require that the approver is not the builder if the workshop signs off condition.
- Price changes. Re-render against the updated listing, or leave the price out. The car dealer guide on keeping videos honest covers price policy and VAT wording.
- Sold units. Retire the video from your website, YouTube and portal links the day the unit sells, and check the video ledger's CSV export against the stock list each week.
From 1,500 videos a month, the Custom plan adds inventory sync, a quoted backfill of existing stock, and one stable link per stock number that plays only a cut that passed review and switches when a rebuild is approved.
Where machinery videos go
Put the landscape cut on the machine's own page on your website, link it from listing portals that accept video, publish it to YouTube, and post the vertical cut on social.
- Your stock pages. The 16:9 cut belongs on the machine's own page, beside the photos; see video on the vehicle detail page. For a static HTML site built from a GitHub repository, Videngine can publish into the page with player, transcript, captions and VideoObject markup.
- Listing portals. Plant and farm machinery portals set their own rules, so check whether yours accepts an uploaded file or a link to a public YouTube video; see video on listing portals. If you run the portal, see marketplace video.
- YouTube. Publish the landscape cut as the stock video and the vertical cut as a Short, with the stock number and listing link in the description; see YouTube for business.
- Social. Post the 9:16 cut with captions burned in, so it reads without sound; see dealer social video.
- Your own systems. On Growth, the read-only API looks up the approved video for a machine by stock number.
Narration is in English only; the hours, weight and price on screen read in any language. Selling through an auction instead? Auction lot video covers lot numbers, catalogue wording and the deadline before the sale.
When Videngine is the wrong tool for machinery video
Videngine turns a machine's existing photos and facts into a narrated video; it does not film the machine working, stream live or present.
| Job | Why Videngine does not fit | Better fit |
|---|---|---|
| A working demonstration: the machine digging, lifting or running | It creates no footage; it moves across stills or footage you supply | Film the machine working in the yard, so buyers can see the hydraulics and hear the engine |
| A live-stream auction preview | It renders finished files; nothing is live and there is no auctioneer or presenter | The auction house's own live stream with the auctioneer |
| A manufacturer launch film | Scene sets are built for consistency across stock, not one-off creative | The manufacturer's production company; dealers share the official film |
| A machine with poor or missing yard photos | The pictures come from the listing | Reshoot to the family photo order, then render |
Videngine complements these: a filmed clip for the machine buyers need to see running, and a listing video for every unit in the yard.
Questions machinery dealers ask about listing video
How do I make a video for every machine in stock?
Start from the listings you already publish, or a CSV of your stock list. Videngine reads your sitemap or the file, turns each selected machine into a vertical and a landscape cut with narration and captions, and queues them for review. Batch runs from a CSV start on Growth.
What should a plant machinery video include?
Make, model, year, hours, operating weight, the attachments included, undercarriage or tyre condition, auxiliary hydraulics, cab type, price policy, depot and how to enquire. Show the hour meter early and each included attachment in its own scene.
Should a machinery video show attachments that are not in the sale?
No. Name and show only the attachments included in the price. If a photo shows a bucket or breaker that belongs to another machine, drop the photo or reshoot it.
Can Videngine show the machine digging or running?
No. It creates no footage. It moves across the listing's photos, or footage you supply, with narration and captions. For a working demonstration, film the machine in the yard.
Can I make videos for a whole ex-hire disposal?
Yes. Put the batch in one CSV with the stock number, hours, serial, attachments and price for each machine, apply one scene set per family, and review every unit's wear photos before approving.
Choose your next step
Go back to the vertical guide, or run the same workflow for other commercial stock.
Start with one machine.
Bring one tracked machine, one telehandler or tractor, and their yard photos. Agree the scene sets, the attachment rule and a pronunciation list, then run the rest of the yard as a batch.
Join the waitlist ↗Published by Videngine, a video rendering product built and run by Wall & Fifth. External links refer to the original documentation or product descriptions; examples are illustrative unless stated otherwise.