The Electric Department has a Bore Rig from 2011 that has got to the point where the repairs to keep it working are almost constant and getting more expensive. The new construction on our electric system has been mainly underground installations for the last several years and the ability to do all of our own boring has been invaluable. The 2011 Bore Rig needs to be replaced to keep the construction going.
Ditch Witch offers a model JT10 Jet Trac Horizontal Directional Drill as part of the Sourcewell Contract program. The Sourcewell program (formerly known as the NJPA) is the nationwide equivalent of the MiDeal program where the administrators at Sourcewell get competing bids on equipment types and then oversees purchase contracts based on the lowest bidders. The Sourcewell price for the new machine is $146,957.44. (Ditch Witch offered a trade-in value of $14,000 for our old machine but we know that we can get more by selling it locally).
This machine is fairly small which is a big advantage to get into back yards and tight spaces without destroying the surroundings. It is budgeted for 2020/21.