NEW ULM – Is it better to repair or replace the City of New Ulm’s Bomag rubber-tire roller?

That was the question facing to the New Ulm City Council during Tuesday’s meeting.

The Bombag rubber-tire roller is used by the city during seal coating and gravel road maintenance. The machine uses nine rubber wheels to compact down material. During seal coating the device with compact oil and material in the road.

Public Works Superintendent Jeff Hoffmann informed the council that the city’s 2022 Bomag rubber-tire roller broke down after a hydraulic motor malfunctioned. This malfunction caused the hydraulic system to become contaminated with metal fillings.

The hydraulic motor will be replaced by the manufacturers, but the hydraulic system needs to be cleaned. The cost to clean the metal filings from the pump is $40,000; however Hoffmann said the cleaners cannot guarantee all the mental filings will be removed. A full replacement of the pump is estimated at $63,124.98.

The roller is relatively new piece of equipment. Hoffmann said the city has only put 300 hours on the machine. Typically it only used for 100 hours each year. The roller is out of warranty, but the city had not planned to replace it until 2042.

Hoffmann said he did look into the cost for purchase a new 2026 Bombag Roller. The full replacement could would be $98,900. The trade in value of the 2022 model is $9,000.

“In my mind we might be better off getting a new machine,” Councilor David Christian said.

He believed the cost to clean and repair the 2022 machine could run close to $70,000 while a new machine would only be $20,000 more with a trade-in. The new machine would also come with another one-year warranty.

Hoffmann said he was leaning toward a full-replacement of the machine because there was no guarantee the 2022 roller could be fully cleaned and repaired. There was also no warranty on the repair.

“You hate to spend that kind of money and have same problem,” Hoffmann said.

There was also a possibility the city could find a better deal on a new roller. Councilor Eric Warmka said if a new machine could be found for around $88,000 it might be worth it to avoid throwing repair money at compromised equipment.

Councilor Larry Mack suggested bringing this issue back to the next council meeting once the city had more accurate numbers on the cost of a new roller machine.

Warmka made a motion to table the decision until the next council session with a second from Mack. It was approved by the council. The repair or replace decision will be brought back to the council during the Tuesday, Feb. 17 meeting.