WOODLANDS - A supplier of a compact track loader did not put its unit's best foot forward when Woodlands County staff tested it.
However, even if they had, administration would not have recommended they purchase the unit, even though it was the lowest tender.
On April 24, councillors awarded Rocky Mountain Equipment a $113,760 contract for a compact track loader, excluding taxes.
Two weeks earlier, at their March 27 meeting, council opted against administration staff's recommendation to purchase the unit, citing they needed more information, especially on the units' specifications and how each unit fared.
The unit will replace an existing JCB unit that the municipality has been unable to use because of its ongoing reliability issues. The county set aside $125,000 for the purchase in the 2024 capital budget.
The municipality received 14 bids from six different manufacturers, with prices ranging from $91,000 to $131,312.
Infrastructure director Andre Bachand said during the March 27 meeting that although Rocky Mountain Equipment's bid was not the lowest, the Case TV370B unit met all the municipality's specifications, and its public works staff, including mechanics and operators, rated the unit the highest of all the equipment they had tested.
"We were able to demo five of the units, starting with the three lowest-priced units along with two others, and the [Case TV3780B] was the overwhelming favourite," Bachand said.
The lowest bid was a Takeuchi TL8R2 at $91,000. It also received the lowest ranking among the Woodlands County public works staff.
At the March 27, reeve Dave Kusch said he was surprised that the Takeuchi scored so low, saying he has experience with Takeuchi, although a larger unit than was submitted for the bid, "and it was one of the better ones that I have run."
Bachand replied that his staff's overwhelming impression was that it was underpowered, "They said whenever they went into the pile to get some material, it died. It just did not have enough power to lift."
Later, he said, staff rated the machines using a one-to-ten scale on visibility (front, back, and sides), cab comfort, ease of entry and exit, break-out power with a loaded bucket, sound levels, ease of access to maintenance items, and storage space. Bachand also noted that all the units had similar horsepower.
Blue Ridge County Commissioner Bruce Prestidge agreed with Kush, adding that he also had experience with a Takeuchi.
"It outperformed everything. It was an excellent machine .... So I'm a little bit hesitant about your rating system," he said.
Whitecourt West Coun. John Burrows said he needed more information to make an informed decision, saying the request for decision (RFD) did not include any information about the county's specifications.
Fort Assiniboine/Timeu Coun. Devin Williams agreed with Burrows in that he would like to see more details on how employees scored the machines, but in the end, he said the price difference wasn't that much, and he valued the employee's opinions.
"I have used different equipment and have opinions on it, but I'm not the one that has to sit in it every day. They do," he said.
Bachand, at the April 24 meeting, in addition to bringing back the information council requested, said he did further research on the Takeuchi unit and learned that its hydraulics were set to half power, which is why it was so underpowered in terms of lifting capability.
"The supplier said that is normal practice when they send units out for demos, so the comments about the unit lacking power were understandable based on what we found out," Bachand said.
However, he said, that still did not change administration's recommendation, as the machine from Rocky Mountain Equipment still outdistanced the Takeuchi in the county's scoring system.
Burrows said now that all the information was in front of him, he supported administration's recommendation.
"I think this demonstrates a weakness in our procurement process. Whenever [a tender goes out], we need to get multiple quotes, which takes a lot of administration time, and in this case, it had to be done twice," he said, adding that it needed to be reviewed and suggesting it go to the governance and priorities committee.
