City drector of engineering, planning, asset management, and infrastructure, James Johansen, right, discusses the city's plans for leasing a new grader to handle snow clean up. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

Snow removal needs

City agrees to five-year lease for new John Deere grader

Mar 15, 2023 | 8:53 AM

The City of North Battleford plans to lease a new grader to help with snow removal and other maintenance projects.

Council approved city administration’s recommendation to enter into a five-year lease with Brandt Tractor for a John Deere 772GP grader for an annual lease amount of $115,507 per year and an additional upfront cost of $44,611 for the five-year, 5,000-hour maintenance package.

As well, the city will purchase a high-capacity snow gate from Fer-Marc Equipment for a cost of $14,151, to be funded from the city’s fleet services repair budget.

James Johansen, City Director of Engineering said the city has a great need to get the new grader sooner rather than later.

“The age and condition of the current graders (one being 2004, the other 2012) coupled with the heavy use this winter, our old graders have been pushed hard since last October,” he said in his report. “We are experiencing a lot of downtime with them now due to their age and condition. We will not be able to maintain the snow clearing schedule with one grader.”

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The city received two proposals – a John Deere grader from Brandt Tractor in a five-year lease with an annual cost of $108,969 and a Caterpillar grader from Finning Canada in a five-year lease with an annual cost of $98,380.

While the lease price for the Caterpillar grader was slightly lower, administration said the John Deere grader had an earlier delivery availability, which was important to meet the city’s needs.

Johansen said the city currently has two large graders, 11 and 19 years old respectively, used for snow clearing and other work. He noted, the city plans to retain one of the old graders as a reserve unit and sell the other one.

Council had approved leasing a new grader for its 2023 budget, for $77,000. However, the lease amount came in over budget. Johansen said the overage reflects a price increase on graders, and also believes the city was likely not quite on the mark in estimating the amount.

He noted, for the John Deere 772GP, if ordered now is projected to be delivered in October of 2023. If the city went with the proposal for the Caterpillar grader, the projected delivery would be later, in April 2024 instead.

Johansen added that the John Deere grader better met all the city’s requirements.

“Our opinion is that the John Deere grader is more closely related to how the city does work with the graders,” he said.

Johansen added that the city can purchase its own large snow gate, needed for use following heavy snowfalls, and have its staff install it on the John Deere grader themselves.

The city decided to purchase this piece of equipment on its own, instead of opting for one that was factory-installed with the grader, because it wanted a bigger snow gate for its needs.

“We wanted a larger gate, a faster gate,” Johansen said, adding it will also have higher performance.

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Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow