What sets the figure
How resaleable the asset is. A late-model truck may need nothing down; a bespoke machine with three possible buyers in the country needs a lot.
Time in business and credit. Both move the deposit more than they move the rate on this product.
Where you buy. Dealer purchases with clean invoicing generally need less than private-party or auction buys, where the funder is less certain of the valuation.
How to reduce it
Trade in an existing asset. Equity in something you already own frequently substitutes for cash.
Offer additional collateral — another unencumbered piece of equipment will often do what cash would.
Buy something more standard. The same money spent on a common model rather than a specialised one changes the deposit, sometimes dramatically.
Ask what a larger deposit buys. Sometimes a few points more reduces the rate enough to be worth it; sometimes it changes nothing and the cash is better kept.
Watch the zero-down offers
Zero down is real, but the deposit has usually been moved into the rate or the term rather than removed. Compare the total repayable, not the money you hand over today.
Financing the deposit separately, on a more expensive product, defeats the purpose entirely — you are paying working-capital pricing for the cheapest part of the deal.
Keep enough cash to run the asset. A financed machine with no working capital to operate it is a common and avoidable failure.