The Town of Tryon is currently considering purchasing a used 2012 backhoe at a cost of $53,500 to replace a 1996 backhoe.

Tryon Town Council met March 17 and discussed the replacement. The town is considering financing the purchase with BB&T, the lowest bidder, at an interest rate of 2.64 percent.

Tryon Town Manager Joey Davis said public works director Gary Walker came to him a few weeks prior saying there were issues with the 1996 backhoe. A lot of work has been done to the equipment, including the transmission failing as well as a stress fracture and currently the backhoe is leaking oil. Walker said just in the last two months the town has spent $6,000 on the transmission and a hydraulic pump bracket was $2,100.

The town is considering trading in its 1996 backhoe for a 2012 120E Caterpillar, located in Charlotte.

Commissioner George Baker said it’s not up to him to tell Walker what kind of machine he has to deal with as it’s Walker who gets up at 2 a.m. to work in the town. Baker said he will defer judgment to Walker on what machine to purchase but he does have concern over the deal.

“It’s about $10,000 overpriced in my opinion but I haven’t seen it,” said Baker.

Baker also said the company wants to charge the town extra for a warranty and since the town will be paying premium price he doesn’t want to pay for a warranty.

“You, Mr. town manager are the one who has to make the deal,” Baker told Davis. “Hold the dealer’s feet to the fire. What I’m looking to you for is how much money are we going to spend on this backhoe.”

Davis said since the backhoe is a newer one it has many more safety features than the town’s older model.

Walker said the old backhoe has 52,000-53,000 hours on it. The newer model has 600 hours.

The newer backhoe will be shared between departments, including the water department, the sanitation department, the street department and Harmon Field. The town currently has three backhoes and with the newer model will continue to have three.

Commissioners decided to wait to adopt a resolution to approve financing until the town manager comes back with a definite price on the 2012 model.

Commissioner Roy Miller suggested the town include service agreement up front with the company to work on the backhoe.