Bonner County reports repeated Grizzly failures, vendor reimbursements and pending warranty deadline
November 11, 2025 | Bonner County, Idaho
This article was created by AI summarizing key points discussed. AI makes mistakes, so for full details and context, please refer to the video of the full meeting. Please report any errors so we can fix them. Report an error »
Bonner County Solid Waste Director Bob Howard told the board on Nov. 10 that the county has logged several repairs to its Grizzly waste-handling machine and that some costs were reimbursed by the vendor. "Since we've owned the Grizzly, we have paid out of pocket $4,681.96," Howard said, and added that Waste Management reimbursed $2,703 of that amount.
Why it matters: the Grizzly is used to compact and move material at the county’s transfer sites; repeated mechanical failures can force stoppages that increase hauling trips and operating costs. Howard said the primary early gearbox failure was caused by operator technique—staff were operating the grapple in a way that strained the gearbox—and that the vendor has provided retraining and replaced parts under warranty.
The county described the current status: staff reported the Grizzly was set to its lowest speed setting for operation and that retraining for Waste Management personnel and county technicians has been completed or scheduled. Howard said some orbital motors (made by a named supplier) have shown similar failures on other machines; Grizzly has warranted those motors and agreed to reimburse related repairs. The county also hired a local mobile maintenance firm to weld a crack in the main boom, and Howard said Grizzly agreed to reimburse that bill under warranty.
Board members pressed staff for next steps. Commissioners asked staff to provide a complete repair history for the machine and cost-versus-replace analysis at the next update meeting. Staff said they would ask Grizzly whether a spare orbital motor could be kept on site to reduce downtime and would obtain cost estimates.
The county also noted the machine’s structural warranty will expire in December; staff said they added extra money in this year’s repair budget to cover potential post-warranty work. The board discussed making a decision next year on whether to continue repairing the Grizzly or budget for replacement.
What’s next: staff will provide the board with the Grizzly repair history, invoices, and an ROI-style comparison of repair costs versus replacement ahead of future budget decisions.
Why it matters: the Grizzly is used to compact and move material at the county’s transfer sites; repeated mechanical failures can force stoppages that increase hauling trips and operating costs. Howard said the primary early gearbox failure was caused by operator technique—staff were operating the grapple in a way that strained the gearbox—and that the vendor has provided retraining and replaced parts under warranty.
The county described the current status: staff reported the Grizzly was set to its lowest speed setting for operation and that retraining for Waste Management personnel and county technicians has been completed or scheduled. Howard said some orbital motors (made by a named supplier) have shown similar failures on other machines; Grizzly has warranted those motors and agreed to reimburse related repairs. The county also hired a local mobile maintenance firm to weld a crack in the main boom, and Howard said Grizzly agreed to reimburse that bill under warranty.
Board members pressed staff for next steps. Commissioners asked staff to provide a complete repair history for the machine and cost-versus-replace analysis at the next update meeting. Staff said they would ask Grizzly whether a spare orbital motor could be kept on site to reduce downtime and would obtain cost estimates.
The county also noted the machine’s structural warranty will expire in December; staff said they added extra money in this year’s repair budget to cover potential post-warranty work. The board discussed making a decision next year on whether to continue repairing the Grizzly or budget for replacement.
What’s next: staff will provide the board with the Grizzly repair history, invoices, and an ROI-style comparison of repair costs versus replacement ahead of future budget decisions.
View full meeting
This article is based on a recent meeting—watch the full video and explore the complete transcript for deeper insights into the discussion.
View full meeting