INVITATION TO BID Notice is hereby given that sealed bids will be received at the City Clerk's Office, City Hall, 435 Ryman Street, Missoula, MT 59802 until 2:00 p.m., Tuesday, June 25 th, 2013 and will be opened and publicly read at the Central Maintenance Facility, 1305 B Scott Street at that time. As soon thereafter as is possible, a contract will be made for the following: Purchase of Two (2) Snow Plows and Two (2) Plow Sub-frames. Bidders shall bid by City bid proposal forms, addressed to the City Clerk's Office, City of Missoula, enclosed in separate, sealed envelopes marked plainly on the outside, Bid for Snow Plows, Closing, 2:00 p.m., Tuesday, June 25 th, 2013. Pursuant to Section 18-1-102 Montana Code Annotated, the City is required to provide purchasing preferences to resident Montana vendors and/or for products made in Montana equal to the preference provided in the state of the competitor. This purchase is anticipated to be less than $25,000 and no bid bond is required. No bid will be considered which includes Federal excise tax, since the City is exempt there from and will furnish to the successful bidder certificates of exemption. The City reserves the right to determine the significance of all exceptions to bid specifications. Products or services that do not meet bid specifications must be clearly marked as an exception to the specifications. Vendors requesting inclusion or pre-approved alternatives to any of these bid specifications must receive written authorization from the Vehicle Maintenance Superintendent a minimum of five (5) working days prior to the bid closing. The City reserves the right to reject any and all bids and if all bids are rejected, to re-advertise under the same or new specifications, or to make such an award as in the judgment of its officials best meets the City's requirements. The City reserves the right to waive any technicality in the bidding which is not of substantial nature. Any objections to published specifications must be filed in written form with the City Clerk prior to bid opening at 2:00 p.m., June 25 th, 2013. Bidders may obtain further information and specifications from the City Vehicle Maintenance Division at (406) 552-6387. Bid announcements and bid results are posted on the City's website at www.ci.missoula.mt.us/bids. Jack Stucky, Vehicle Maintenance Superintendent
GENERAL BID SPECIFICATIONS Meets Does Not The purpose of these bid specifications is to purchase two snow plows. These plows will be mounted on single axle sander and deicer trucks. They will be mounted with an under frame style hitch similar or exactly like a Schmidt B400 (Wausau Equipment Company ). These plows will have a detent down via being suspended from a chain that is used to raise and lower the plow. The plows will have movement up, down, swing right, and swing left. These plows must have a minimum of one full length or multiple trip edges. The trip edges must break or release to prevent damage to the plow, truck, and plow frame when plowing uneven surfaces with obstacles such as manholes, bridges, and railroad tracks. These specifications describe the minimum requirements for two snow plows to be used by the City of Missoula Street Division staff. These plows will be used under extreme winter road conditions on hills and uneven surfaces. They must be constructed of and fabricated with a standard of quality that will enable them to provide efficient snow removal services to the City of Missoula under these harsh conditions. The edges must be attached in such a fashion as to allow them to flex when striking obstacles and return to the plow ready position without losing the blade or damaging the truck. These plows must be capable of running carbide style edges without being damaged or losing the edges while plowing. BIDDER/VENDOR S RESPONSIBILITY Bidder shall complete every space in the specification bidder s proposal column with a check mark to indicate if the item being bid is exactly as specified. If not, the NO column must be checked and a detailed description of the deviation from the specification to be supplied. It is the successful bidder's responsibility to ensure that all of the equipment supplied meets or exceeds the bid specifications at the time of and upon delivery of the equipment. It is the successful bidder's responsibility to ensure that all of the components needed for installation and proper use will be provided at delivery. Any and all missing components or components that need to be modified will be considered.
AGE AND CONDITION Meets Does Not The plows, including all necessary equipment, shall be furnished complete and ready for use. All parts not specifically mentioned which are required for a complete unit shall conform in design, strength, quality of material and workmanship to the highest standard of engineering practice. Plows shall be complete new units ready for installation and completely operational. Used parts or components are unacceptable. SAFETY Snow plows and hitches must be heavy duty and meet or exceed all industry standards. Unit shall meet or exceed all relevant Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards. TRAINING No training is needed with this purchase provided installation instructions and operational manuals are included in the sale and available upon delivery. MANUALS, WARRANTY, AND DOCUMENTS One (1) Detailed Preventive Maintenance Schedule shall be provided. One (1) Service manual will be provided. One (1) Parts manual will be provided. Unit shall be covered by warranty for no less than 12 months from the delivery date. Warranty documentation shall be included in bid packet. VENDOR QUALIFICATIONS The suppliers must support these snow plows with a parts department that has next day mail capability. Vendor or manufactures must be able to provide detailed technical assistance via the internet and a toll free number.
Meets Does Not DELIVERY Unit shall be delivered to 1305 B Scott Street, Missoula, Montana. All delivery, transportation, and shipping charges are included in the bid price. The Manufacturer s Statement of Origin must be prepared and available at delivery. COLOR Manufacturer s standard color; if there is no additional cost to paint the plows, they should be painted bright orange or yellow. All portions of the equipment shall be painted, no surface areas will be open to rust or corrosion. PLOW HITCHES AND SUBFRAME Two under frame style hitches will be provided similar to or exactly like Schmidt B400 style hitches with aprons. This plow frame must extend under the truck, suspend from the front axle and push off an apron mounted behind the truck cab. The under frame must attach to or suspend from the front axle while being mounted in such a fashion as to push the plow off an apron style mount suspended from the frame behind the truck cab. Frame, and/or push frame must be built out of heavy duty steel to prevent bending, flexing, or excess movement while plowing or transporting the plow in the raised position. All lift chains or cables must be provided and made of heavy duty material to prevent snapping during snow plow operations. The hitch, under frame, and apron plates must be made of a material strong enough to withstand the extreme weight of the plow lifting and falling on the end of the lift chain. Plow hitches will include all parts and components to mount the plows to 2013 Freightliner single axle trucks. All mounting and installation will be completed in house by the City of Missoula.
Meets Does Not Plow hitches under frame must be long enough to extend to the apron mounted behind the cab. HYDRAULICS Snow plows must raise hydraulically by a 3.5 inch minimum lift cylinder, 4 inch lift cylinder is preferred. This is a one way cylinder that is vented to prevent water and debris from entering it on the return stroke. The cylinder will push up on a support frame that suspends the plow from a heavy duty chain. Swing cylinders must be provided to enable the plow to shift or swing to the right and left. The swing cylinders must be cushioned to prevent slamming and smashing when shifting or when striking objects on the left or right side. Swing cylinders and lift cylinder must be sized and ported to promote safe and efficient use. The plow must be capable of responding in a very timely manner without jerking or damaging the plow, frame, or truck. All of the hydraulic lines and fittings must be located in such a fashion as to prevent them from being damaged, cut, worn or pinched during operation. All hydraulic components must be sized to promote efficiency, reduce friction, heat, and unnecessary restriction. SNOW PLOWS Plow must be a reversible style plow capable of movement up, detent down via a chain, and swing right and swing left. Swing must be approximately 35 degrees off of center in each direction. Vendor shall guarantee that the plow can use both standard and carbide edges and they will not come off prior to an edge change. Plow using carbide edge must not hop, skip, or bounce leaving washboard snow conditions. Vendor is encouraged to bid both a reinforced steel plow and a polyurethane or composite plow. Price will be the determining factor as to which plow the City of Missoula purchases.
Meets Does Not Plows will be approximately 120 inches wide and use a 120 inch cutting edge. Cutting edges may be up to 3 or 4 sections. Plows will be a minimum of 36 inches high from the ground up when mounted. Plow must be a trip edge style plow with a minimum of a single trip edge; two, three or four trip edges are acceptable, provided they can hold the edges on the plow under heavy snow plow conditions. Adjustable trip edges are preferred, however not mandatory. Trip edges must provide plow relief when striking objects that may or may not be visible to the snow plow operator. Trip edge must provide relief to prevent damage and/or injury to the truck, plow, frame, push frame, or the operator. Polyurethane or composite plows must be a minimum of 3/8 of an inch thick. Plows provided must be thick enough to prevent bending and flexing under normal snow plow conditions. Plow body must be thick enough to provide a minimum of 5 years of life without wearing through under normal plowing conditions. One complete set of carbide cutting edges will be provided with each plow. The plow must be designed to use a standard size cutting edge with standard mounting bolts. All cutting edge bolts must be located to promote ease of cutting edge replacement. Plow must be capable of swinging to center, left, and right while being flat on the ground. Lifted or raised corner when shifted to center or any direction is unacceptable. Plow must be appropriately curved over on the top to prevent snow from rolling or blowing over the plow and onto the plow truck. Plow blade must be shaped to enable the driver to push snow over to either side without the snow blowing back into the truck or onto the truck windshield. Snow plow shall have one flexible marker rod extending up from both the right and left top of the plow. This is to make the right and left outside corners visible to the plow operator under snow plow conditions. The marker rods must minimally be provided. The City of Missoula can install them with the plow.
BID PRICE SHEET The prices listed in this price sheet shall be totally inclusive of all freight, shipping, dealer preparation, or assembly charges. All prices listed will include delivery to Jack Stucky, Vehicle Maintenance Division, 1305 B Scott Street, Missoula, Montana 59804. Purchase of two (2) snow plows and hitches that meet or exceed the specifications included in this document. Description of plows and hitches being provided: Model Year: Name of Manufacturer: Description: Total Bid price for two (2) snow plows and hitches described above: $ Delivery date of this equipment is: Month Day Year. OTHER INFORMATION Do the vehicles meet specifications? If not, attach a separate sheet with explanations. * City of Missoula reserves the right to award purchases with or without any or all of the alternatives and to award purchases based on life cycle cost to the City, not just lowest initial purchase price. ** Bidders shall promptly notify the City of any ambiguity, inconsistency, or error in the bidding documents, and if a clarification or interpretation is desired, bidders shall request the same from the City in writing, at least five (5) calendar days prior to the bidding deadline. Any objections to published specifications must be filed in written form with the Vehicle Maintenance Superintendent prior to bid opening at 2:00 p.m., Tuesday, June 25 th, 2013. Bidders may obtain further information, bid proposal forms, and specifications from the Vehicle Maintenance Division (406) 552-6387. The City reserves the right to reject any and all bids and if all bids are rejected, to re-advertise under the same or new specifications, or to make such an award as in the judgment of its officials best meets the City's requirements. The City reserves the right to waive any technicality in bidding, which is not of a substantial nature. *** The City reserves the right to determine the significance of all exceptions to bid specifications. Products or services that do not meet bid specifications must be clearly marked as an exception to the specifications. Vendors requesting inclusion or pre-approved alternatives to any of these bid specifications must receive written authorization from the Vehicle Maintenance Superintendent a minimum of five (5) working days prior to the bid closing. No bid bond will be required, the purchase is anticipated to be less than $25,000.
Submitted by: Authorized Signature: Date: Company: Name and Title: