The RM of Woodlands has accepted the tender to purchase a new grader. Deputy Reeve Ila Buchanan says the grader will replace one of their older units, as part of their ongoing grader replacement program.

"What we do is rotate the graders every two years to keep our hours down and make sure we have up-to-date equipment, so they're more efficient on our road systems. Out of three graders we purchase a new one every two years, so it's a six year rotation."

She notes they accepted the tender from Brandt Tractors for the John Deere Grader. The cost of the grader with the trade in of the older unit is just under $190,000. Buchanan says they've opted to consistently replace their graders to ensure they can get a better trade in value, while also ensuring they have the best equipment.

" The majority of the breakdowns would be, from what they're telling me, is electronic and the computer. With the warranties that we purchase it's six years or 6,500 hours of use. Instead of wearing them right down to the ground and having no trade-in value left, we make sure we trade them in every six years."