A week with the grader. Your roads, your operators.
Foothills Equipment sells and services motor graders for counties, municipal districts and road departments across Southern Alberta, out of our shops in Calgary and Lethbridge.
Before any of that, we drive a grader out to you at no charge. Your operators run it on your roads for about a week, our technician is on site with them, and you form your view from what your own crew tells you.
We serve Southern Alberta, which for us means everything south of Red Deer.
Your roads, your operators, about a week.
Most counties have never heard of XCMG. A spec sheet won't fix that, and neither will us telling you the machine is good. So we don't ask you to take our word for it. We bring the grader out and let the people who run graders every day tell you what they think of it.
We talk first.
A call with an advisor. What your roads are like, what you’re running now, what the machine has to do, and what time of year actually works for your crew.
We drive the machine out to you, free.
We haul the grader to your yard or your road job at no charge, and we take it back when the week is done. There’s nothing for the county to arrange and nothing to pay.
Your operators run it. Not ours.
Your gravel, your ditches, your shoulders, your conditions. The people who will sit in it all day are the people who try it.
Our technician is on site.
He walks your crew through the machine, answers what they ask, and stays reachable while it’s with you. Your foreman and your director can put questions to him directly, and to their own operators, which is a more useful week than any sales call.
It stays about a week.
Long enough for more than one operator to get seat time, and long enough for the novelty to wear off.
Then you decide.
Talk to your crew. If the answer is no, that's a straight answer and it cost you nothing but the week. Running it doesn't commit you to buying it.
Every demo is arranged with you. How long the machine stays, when it comes and what your crew needs from us are all settled in that first conversation. About a week is how these usually run, not a fixed number of days we can promise before we have talked. The haul out and back is on us either way.
There's rarely one person deciding.
A county doesn't buy a grader the way an owner-operator does. The operator has to live in it. The foreman has to keep the fleet working and the road program on schedule. Somebody signs, and then has to explain the decision. Here's what each of them usually wants to know.
For the operator.
The GR2605 has a pressurized cab, blade float, and your choice of joystick or steering wheel controls. It's ready for a snow wing or a rear ripper, so it's a machine for winter as well as gravel season. None of that means much on a page. A week in the seat means you find out where the controls sit, what the visibility is like over the blade, and whether it holds a grade the way you want it to. If it's wrong for your roads, say so. That's a useful week for everybody.
For the foreman.
Your worry isn't the purchase, it's the day it stops. Our machines come with the Uptime Guarantee™*: call us and a tech is on your site within 24 hours, and if the repair isn't complete within 72 hours you get a loaner so the work keeps going. The grader doesn't have to leave your yard for us to look at it. Our mobile repair covers Southern Alberta, our shops in Calgary and Lethbridge fix heavy equipment every day, and 83% of parts orders are filled within 24 hours out of XCMG's Edmonton warehouse.
And if you run one or two graders, you're not a small account here. One grader is a fleet to us.
For the director or administrator.
You're the one who has to defend this. The machine gets proven on your roads before any money moves, by your own employees, not by a demonstrator in a controlled yard. Your operators' opinion is on record before the decision, so the recommendation isn't one person's judgement.
The company selling it is the company that fixes it, with two Alberta shops and a repair business that ran for years before we sold a single machine. And XCMG is the world's number three equipment manufacturer, building with names your mechanics already know, like Cummins. The same work as the major brands, for up to 30% less.
We'll work to your process, not ours.
Every county runs its own process, and we'd rather ask than assume. Whether this goes to council, out to tender, or a director can sign it, tell your advisor early and we'll work to it.
We're a local dealer, not a distant one.
Shops in Calgary and Lethbridge, with people you can phone and a building you can walk into. Both addresses are at the bottom of this page.
Documentation for a tender or an RFQ.
Tell us what your package has to include and we'll put it together: written quotes, spec sheets and whatever detail your process calls for. If you need it in a particular format or by a particular date, say so up front.
Timing against your budget year.
Tell us when your budget gets set and when the money has to be committed, and we'll be straight with you about what's possible against that. If the timing doesn't work this year, we'd rather say so and talk again next year.
The demo doesn't commit you.
Running the machine for a week is not a purchase and it's not a step in your process. It's how you and your crew find out whether the machine is worth putting in front of anyone.
The machine is the easy part. Keeping it going is the job.
A tech on your site within 24 hours.
Call us and one of our techs is at your machine within 24 hours. If the repair isn't complete within 72 hours, a loaner comes so the road program keeps moving. That's the Uptime Guarantee™*, and it comes with the machines we put to work for you.
Parts from up the highway, not across an ocean.
83% of parts orders are filled within 24 hours out of XCMG's Edmonton warehouse. The common parts sit on our own shelf.
Two shops and a service truck that comes to you.
Calgary and Lethbridge, plus mobile repair across Southern Alberta. A grader on a rural road doesn't have to be trucked anywhere for us to get to it.
Mechanics first, dealer second.
Foothills started in 2017 as a heavy equipment repair business, and today it's 120+ people who still fix machines every day. Our lead equipment tech spent 12 years at a major brand dealer. We became an authorized dealer in 2025, which means the service side came first and the machines came after.
The XCMG GR2605 motor grader.
A mid-size machine built for gravel road maintenance, ditching, site prep and winter work. 260 hp Cummins L9 engine, a 14 ft or 16 ft moldboard, a pressurized cab, blade float, and joystick or steering wheel controls. It's ready for a snow wing or a rear ripper, and the unit on our lot in Lethbridge carries a rear ripper with five teeth.
Ask your advisor what's on the machine we have, and what the options are on one ordered in.
Questions we get asked
Can we try a grader before we buy?
Yes. We bring the grader out to your county and your own operators run it on your own roads. Our technician is on site with them. Most counties keep it about a week. It doesn't commit you to buying anything.
How long is the demo?
About a week is how these usually run. It isn't a fixed number of days, because a hay season, a snow event or a road program can move it. The length gets agreed with you before the machine comes out.
Who operates the grader during the demo?
Your operators. That's the point of it. The people who would run the machine every day are the ones who try it, and they're the ones your decision makers should be asking. Our technician is on site to walk them through the machine and answer questions, not to run it for them.
What happens if the machine breaks down?
Our machines come with the Uptime Guarantee™: a tech on your site within 24 hours of your call, and a loaner within 72 hours if the repair isn't complete. Terms and conditions apply, and your advisor will walk you through them before you buy. Our mobile repair covers Southern Alberta, so a grader on a rural road doesn't have to be hauled in for us to get to it.
Can you provide documentation for our tender or RFQ?
Yes. Tell us what your process needs and we'll put it together: written quotes, spec sheets and whatever else your package calls for. Every county's requirements are different, so the fastest route is to send us yours and we'll work to it.
Do you serve our county?
If you're in Southern Alberta, which for us means everything south of Red Deer, then yes. We work out of Calgary and Lethbridge, and our mobile service covers the area in between. If you're not sure, call and ask.
Start with a conversation.
Tell us what your roads are like, what you're running now, and where you are in your budget year. If a week with the machine makes sense after that, we'll work out when and how.
Come see us, or call the nearest shop.
Calgary
9919 Shepard Rd SE, Calgary, AB T2C 4M5
403-523-0488
info.calgary@foothillsequipment.caLethbridge
4310 9 Ave N, Lethbridge, AB T1H 6N1
403-327-3405
info.lethbridge@foothillsequipment.ca