After five years on the job, the city is making strides to replace one of the city’s older pieces of machinery — a big, yellow Kobelco trackhoe.
Weighing in at around 16,400 pounds, a new trackhoe will cost about $65,000, Councilwoman Chris Knisely, D-at large, said. The vehicle is most often used for excavations on water lines and sewers, as well as street improvements.
City officials are unsure when exactly the vehicle will be replaced, as Engineering and Public Works Director Andy Stone said he’s still shopping around. However, the old trackhoe will be sold for parts to cut down on costs.
The cost for the trackhoe is split between the sewer and water departments in terms of funding, Councilwoman Michele Papai, D-3rd Ward, said.
The current trackhoe is a 2001 Kobelco 70SR model, Stone said, purchased used by the city in 2009 with about 8,000 hours logged on it. The machine cost around $30,000, or around half what it will cost to replace, Stone said.
A trackhoe can last up to 20 years, Stone added, but this one was heavily used when the city bought it.
“We’re looking for something a bit smaller, this trackhoe is actually a little bit big for our needs, Stone added. “We got a pretty good deal on it,”
Papai said that the trackhoe has been used on a regular basis since it’s purchase. With massive renovations approaching on South Richland Ave and West Union Street in the coming year, it’s necessary for the city to properly equip itself.
“(The city) is digging into things all the time,” Papai said. “It’s mostly used for water and sewer projects, but we’ve been looking into getting a new one since the beginning of this year.”
City officials also plan to replace the city’s pumper truck and street cleaner this year, Athens Mayor Paul Wiehl said.
The street cleaner could cost the city around $220,000 and the pumper truck could cost the city around $550,000, according to a previous
Post
article.
“When we’re looking at the budget in November, I plan for what we need and throw it in the budget so that there are no surprises later on. This isn’t a surprise,” Wiehl said. “That’s something that Andy Stone brought up and it was coming out of the streets, water and sewer funds because they all use the same trackhoe.”
Stone said the city probably won’t buy another Kobelco brand trackhoe, and will plan on something more compact for their day-to-day projects. If the city works on something larger, he said they will most likely rent a trackhoe similar to the one they own now.
“We could only do a certain amount of repairs before it had to be replaced,” Wiehl said. “It’s just like a car - you can keep taking it to a mechanic, and spending more than it’s worth, or you can get a new one.”
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