County highway department seeks bids on equipment

Dyer County Road Superintendent Jeff Jones is soliciting bids to sell four used motor graders and to buy four new ones.

Bids from persons interested in buying the county's used graders will be opened at 9 a.m. Sept. 24 at the highway department office, 1920 Pioneer Road.

Bids from companies wishing to sell graders to the county will be opened at 9 a.m. Sept. 29, also in the highway department office.

Jones told the Dyer County Commission's Transportation Committee on Monday that he will not sell the county's existing graders before the new graders have arrived. And, if the bids aren't deemed suitable, the county will hang on to the graders it already has.

The existing graders are about 4 years old and each has approximately 5,000 hours of use. The warranties are expected to expire when usage reaches 7,500 hours or five years. Jones said the graders have held much of their value and he'd like to sell them before their value begins to fall.

Motor graders are used to blade gravel roads and shoulders and to lay base rock for tar-and-chip roads.

Jones said he plans to select the lowest and/or best bid from each opening. He also is reserving the right to reject any and all bids.

Specifications for the new graders are tough. Jones said he wants to make sure he's getting the best and most reliable equipment for the county. He said he needs equipment he can work with instead of equipment to work on.

Jones hopes that selling the existing equipment will generate enough income to cover a majority of the costs for the new graders.