What a blast! Last week was my last week of 8 weeks of apprenticeship training before we get shipped out to work. We have 3 blades at the grounds, a Deere 772CH, an older B series Deere, and a Cat 140G. I had the chance to run the 140G for almost 3 hours, what a riot that was. The amount of control you have the moldboard is awesome, I loved every minute of it. Watched my dozer instructor, who also teaches blade, take it for a run and was thoroughly impressed not only by his skills, but what can be done with a blade. I can safely say that if I landed a gig that had me running blade for the next 20 years, I'd probably take it. I have something to shoot for, I've just planned a new "ultimate goal" for myself.
I always wanted to learn to run a grader but with no experance no one would let you on one. That is why I bought my Austin Western. I figured I better learn how it worked before I tried to use it so I tore it apart and put it back together again to get the feel of how it was made. I have sense used it on a few small jobs to get the feel of it and was surprised at how much faster it was then grading with my 975 bobcat which I have done for the past 24 years. You are right it is a blast and I am hooked. I got a job last week to rebuild a 1/2 mile long driveway. First I went in and measured the depth of the standing water in the holes on it. Some were in the 8" to 10" range. First step was to get rid of the water, so I graded it with a slope toward the ditch on 1 side and let it set for 2 days. Then I went back and graded it flat. then ran a Bomag compactor over it. Next I brought in 30 yards of D-1, set the spreader gate for 1 1/2" spread. The drive was between 14 and 18' wide so I spread down 1 side the back up the other side with the next load. This gave me a 1 1/2" deep layer on the shoulders and a 3" depth in the center for a natural crown. After compacting the top layer the owned said He liked the job so much he wanted me to clean out the ditches. Figures now I get to mess up the drive cleaning the mud and grass out of the ditches. Then I will get tp practice with the grader again. This job pays over 3 times as much as I paid for the grader in the first place. all that and the fun of playing with big toys too. I can't find the before pictures yet but here is a few shots. First is after first grading during compaction before capping with D-1. Second is spreading the D-1. Third is compacting D-1 more then last is starting of the ditching. Now remember this is really my first job running the AW in dirt. so try to give me a little bit of a break. Dwan
Looks good Dwan. Grass is green, Austin Westerns cruising, and your Powerlines all repaired! Life is good. :thumbsup
All the best of luck to you. Operating a grader is a blast. When I first took the grader position all the crew gave me 2 weeks before I would get sick of it. After 25 years I'm off one now only because of a better position. Still play on them once in awhile though. Hey Dwan..good lookin job! It's to bad that you couldn't have extended the blade out and brought the ditch material out onto the road and got rid of it before you hauled your D-1. Probably wouldn't have had to make a heavy cut. This would have gave you a ditch on each side with a foreslope and you wouldn't have had that windrow of sod/mud on the backside of your ditch to contend with. Also you wouldn't have had to get your excavator to ditch and make your road messy. If you do it that way and it's really wet you can windrow your material to one side, give it a couple of days to dry then blade it back to center and haul it away.
Cascade Scraper I am sorry for hyjacking your thread. After I look back on this I should have started my own. Wasn't thinking again. I know your excitement now that i have also had a chance to run mine. Grader4me; the property owner decided to have me do the ditch work after I had already done about 1/2 the driveway. The information you gave me will be used next time I have a job like this one. Thanks.
Hey Cascade, I was kinda part of the hijack, Didnt mean to either. Just got sidetracked in mid stride. Its good to see some of the younger guys show a little excitement about learning new things. Good Blade hands are always needed. :thumbsup Did they know how soon you'll get sent out? Hows the work situation?
No worries guys. Looks good, Dwan. Lash, work situation isn't as good as last year. The economy hasn't hit rock bottom here like it has elsewhere in the US, just the housing guys are feeling it. There's still state work going on and since legislation passed that bill requiring a certain amount of apprenticeship hire on state funded work, that's helping keep a future in the IUOE and helps us out with the work. They're saying it'll be a busy summer, just a really slow start and the rainy weather hasn't helped at all. I'm thinking I'll be sitting out for 2-3 weeks or so, I'll be alright, I'm helping my dad right now with some odd jobs that he's been too busy to do. I hate orchard work, but it's covering some of my bills right now. I'm burning some savings covering the rest, which irritates me, but that's the way it goes. Some guys are really hurting, a lot of them got screwed with unemployment not paying because everyone had to quit their job to go to 8 weeks of training. Unemployment sees that as a quit, not really a lay off, so they're reluctant to pay out for apprentices attending required training. There is a new bill in affect as of the 12th of June that will ensure unemployment benefits for apprentices attending training in the future, it just didn't happen fast enough for our class. Oh yeah, Darr announced retirement. I was a bit surprised, figured he'd run again for BA, but that's the way it goes I suppose. Wow, now that I read this, I hijacked my own thread. Haha. Have a good one guys.
Hooked I never thought a grader would be so much fun. . . Sounds like you are hooked on the grader. Is it more fun than leveling orchards and knocking over trees with the track hoe? Sure sounds like it. LOL.
No problem at all. Need any help with anything just let me know.
I dunno, orchards are alright until about the 5th acre. After that, it's kinda mundane.