OXFORD — Selectmen on Thursday voted to accept a bid of $24,800 through the auction website Municibid to sell the town Transfer Station’s 2002 Volvo front-end loader.

The decision comes after the board spent more than a month debating whether it should be replaced with the loader previously used by the town’s Highway Department, a 2010 John Deere.

Two years ago, Transfer Station Manager Ed Knightly had been offered $30,000 trade-in for the Volvo when researching a potential replacement. Selectmen opted to pass on a new loader at the time because the John Deere used at the town garage also needed replacement.

The Volvo’s transmission has been in poor condition for years. The John Deere, although newer with fewer hours of use, has a large amount of surface rust and, practically speaking, is too big to easily navigate the interior of the Transfer Station’s recycling building.

Knightly hired heavy equipment mechanic Stephen Tucci to assess the mechanical and hydraulics condition of both units and was advised that the John Deere is sounder for the town’s value.

The Oxford Select Board accepted a bid of $24,800 to sell the town Transfer Station’s 2002 Volvo front-end loader. The John Deere being used has a large amount of surface rust and, practically speaking, is too big to easily navigate the interior of the Transfer Station’s recycling building. Nicole Carter/Advertiser Democrat

With their questions answered, selectmen approved to sell the Volvo for the $24,800 bid and to continue using the newer loader for the time being.

They also directed Town Manager Adam Garland to collect lease-purchase options to eventually replace the John Deere, as well.

The Select Board then approved a bid to purchase a new baler for recycling operations from Atlantic Recycling for $149,475, based on Knightly’s recommendation. He reported that the bid from Atlantic Recycling met all the specifications on his request for proposal and came in well below the $170,000 Oxford voters had approved during the annual town meeting last June.

In other business, RA Tibbetts Trucking was selected to provide Oxford’s winter sand for the coming winter, at $15.10 per yard. The deal is contingent upon testing the material to make sure there is no other organic matter or soils that may cause sanding equipment to clog.

The other contractor bidding for the job was ECI at a price of $15.25 per yard. Last year, Oxford ECI won the bid at the same price.

Jonathan Tibbetts was appointed to the Appeals Board and Gayle Smedberg was appointed to the Historic Preservation Committee.