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Griggs County approves seven-year lease with Butler for three motor graders (2 joystick, 1 steering wheel)
Summary
After a multi-vendor presentation and lengthy discussion of hours, warranties and operator preference, the Griggs County Commission voted to award Butler Machinery a seven-year lease for three motor graders (two joystick models and one steering-wheel model).
Wayne, Griggs County highway superintendent (role title inferred from discussion), presented vendor bids and lease options for motor graders and recommended awarding a seven-year lease that would provide 7,000 hours of use per machine over the term.
Commissioner (Steph) moved to accept Butler Machinery’s seven-year lease for three motor graders configured as two joystick-control machines and one steering-wheel machine; the motion was seconded and carried on a roll-call vote. The commission approved the Butler bid after discussing options including a five-year/5,000-hour alternative, residual buyback, annual lease payments and the ability to add warranty hours if needed.
Vendors at the meeting presented competing bids from Butler Machinery and RDO (and referenced John Deere availability). Butler’s seven-year annual lease figures were presented in the meeting record: Butler quoted an annual lease payment of about $60,058.84 per joystick machine and $61,423.45 per steering-wheel machine under the seven-year/7,000-hour option. The Butler representative also said inventory showed two joystick machines and one steering-wheel machine immediately available and that additional machines could be ordered for a September production window.
Commissioners discussed trade-offs between the five- and seven-year terms, operator familiarity with joystick versus steering-wheel controls, warranty coverage when hours are exceeded, and local service response. Vendor representatives said warranty extensions and additional hours could be quoted later and noted that going over hours would void warranty coverage unless hours/warranty were purchased (one vendor estimated an over-hours labor rate of $65/hour without warranty).
Commissioner (Steph) made the motion: "I’ll make a motion to accept the Butler bid for the 7 year contract for 2 joysticks and 1 steering wheel." The chair called for a roll-call vote; commissioners recorded their votes in favor and the motion carried.
The commission instructed staff to finalize contract details, verify delivery timing (vendors indicated availability in June–July), and obtain final warranty-hour pricing so the county can purchase extended coverage if necessary.
