Town of Smithers council unanimously approved the purchase of a new excavator recently.
The purchase recommendation from the Works and Operations department was to replace their existing unit, a 1998 John Deer 200LC model, with a more efficient model.
Council agreed in budget talks to approve an expenditure of $36,512 to purchase a 2005 Komatsu PC138 from Pacific Truck and Equipment of Houston. The Komatsu is smaller, safer to operate and easier to move as it will not require an overweight permit as the current 200LC does.
They did look at new models, which would cost roughly double of the purchase price of $72,600 (less $40,00 for trade-in value of the John Deer), however with the number of hours the machine is used, the used model would provide better value, the department stated.