County of Wetaskiwin council approved the sale of a grader which has heavy use on it during their Public Works council meeting July 23.
Council read a report from Director of Public Works Neil Powell on the matter of two graders that were approaching a serious milestone in their service life.
“At the December 18, 2018 Council General meeting, Council reviewed and approved the 2019 Operating Budget as the Interim Budget for 2019 in accordance with “Section 242 - Budgets” of the Municipal Government Act, Statues of Alberta 2000,” stated Powell in his report.
“The Capital Plan included the purchase of two new graders to replace Motor Graders MG0214 and MG1614, and the outright disposal of MG1106 and MG0813.
“At the May 6, 2019 Council General meeting, Council approved the 2019 Municipal Capital and Operating Budget. Within the budget, provisions were made to dispose of the MG0813 John Deere 870GP motor grader for a salvage value of approximately $95,000 and to keep motor grader MG0612 Caterpillar 160M as a spare.
“Like all heavy equipment, there are generally signs of wear and tear once a machine reaches a certain service life. Once a certain threshold is reached, the unit is more likely to suffer from mechanical and performance issues.
“The Motor Grader Life chart suggests that engine and transmission components should be rebuilt at approximately 10,000 hours before a resulting engine failure. Fleet owns and operates MG0612, a Caterpillar 160M with 9,000 service hours and MG0813, a John Deere 870GP with 7,500 service hours.
“Considering the accrued hours for each of these machines, it would be a best management practice to dispose of the grader with the highest amount of service hours.
“Administration recommends disposing of Motor Grader MG0612, a Caterpillar 160M with 9,000 hours and keep Motor Grader MG0813 John Deere 870GP with 7,500 hours as a spare grader.”
Councilors decided to dispose of motor grader MG0612, a Caterpillar 160M and keep motor grader MG0813, a 870GP John Deere as a spare within the fleet and that the 10 Year Capital Plan be amended to keep motorgraders longer than the pre-determined five years.