All right all you blademen. What are you doing this summer and where are you at? I want to see some more pictures. :cool2 Me personally; I'm finishing on a 25 mile hwy rehabilitation project right in the central part of Alaska, I finished on this very same hwy project 22 years ago operating a 16G. I always said that once I go back and redo the same section of hwy then it's time to retire! Regards Randy
Always enjoy your pictures Randy. I've been working for the same township long enough that I've replaced a few galvanized road tubes for the second time. does that mean I gotta retire as well?? Got smarter over the years and now put in plastic. I started using plastic about twenty years ago and haven't had a single one rust out. I spent last week rebuilding 1/2 mile of gravel roadbed that had two steep narrow hills. Had a D6 pushing dirt with me. Now we've got a wide gentle sloped roadbed that won't drift full of snow. Used to spend 2-4 hours on that 1/2 mile removing 6-10 ft snow drifts. Now I'm hoping the wind will sweep the roadbed clean. Sorry,,,,, no pictures though.
Randy I always enjoy the threads you start and the pics you share. I've been able to use some of your methods on a few occasions which I never would have thought of without your pics. Thank-you. Here are a few of my pics. I was grading a temporary ditch along Lake Michigan by a power plant construction site to control the site erosion. There was a safety rail with a line of straw bales between the water and my ditch. The bales were wrapped in fabric and the fabric continued under the ditch area I was grading which had rip rap originally placed on it. The ditch was about 600-650 feet long and had only a foot to a foot/half of pitch. The bale side of ditch had 2 to 6 feet of back slope and the road side had 2 to 3 feet of inslope. I had a laborer checking my grade so it flowed. In the end the customer was happy and wanted me back to do it over when it silted in again. Any tips/advise how anyone else would have done it? Steve K
Lol... i've rebuilt a couple roads a couple times too.... I bet we won't be doing it a third time, either one of us. This is a tree nursery that I have spent three years of my life on and off building. They grow tree's on bed's covered with fabric.. now they are redoing the whole thing again installing buildings over every bed... the site covers sixty acres. http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab208/parkrapids/0512111004a.jpg
Grandpa looks like you are running a 14G. Cool
G'day Randy When you put this post up we had the wettest winter for many years and couldn't do much, its spring time in OZ now and l am sure we are all flat out, l am fixing and grading roads. My grader has broken down so we are hiring one, a 12 H CAT and it is the first time l have operated this model, very nice indeed. Here are some pictures of it and one small job l have been doing. Anyone else got jobs on and pictures to post?
more pics
more pics
nice looking work, Micheal
Nice to See You on an H Series! Michael Excellent pictures and thanks for sharing. This week I'm back down in Arizona doing some testing for Caterpillar at the Tucson Proving Grounds so unfortunately I can't share any pictures on that. I will say, it's too damn hot down here for an Alaskan!!! Remember with the 7 hole linkbar and even with the 5 hole funnyface on the 14 and 16 you can do that procedure while still keeping your front tires on the smooth graded road. I do alot of winging that way in the winter and reverse backslope that way in the spring and summer. Just some thoughts. Regards Randy
Nice pics there Michael, hows the 12H compared to ur regular mount ? Ive been on a 12H here at work on which they fitted a Topcon grade control system sure makes final trimming a lot easier, sonic tracker reads of the kerb, dial in the depth of cut below kerb lip plus the crossfall, set it in auto and drive, very nifty gadget saves a lot of time and a lot of grade checking. Cheers RDG.
Mitch, thanks for the compliment. Randy, that reverse back slope procedure, l have used that at different times cleaning out drains and pushing the silty rubbish and leaves up embankments, and clearing small trees from embankments, didn't give it a thought the other day, thanks. Also, is the blade and link bar on the H series mounted further forward than the older 12 G series, l operated a 12G about 8 years ago every now and again,and to me, the 12H blade seems to be more visible, might be my imagination. RDG, my regular machine is a komatsu gd 530,( a rebadged dresser l think and made in canada), power wise, very similar, the visability and versatility of the blade and saddle area on the komatsu is brilliant, haven't come across another grader that comes close. The H model has a better feel to it, more balanced, rock solid, and very stable feeling with minimal bounce while grading, very smooth gear shifting, even between 4th and 5th gears, and of course, built to last. The H has 12,000 hours on it, has been resprayed, molboard has slight movement in its slides, but not using any oil and everything else feels tight. Never used any grade control systems, sounds very convenient for that type of work, cheers all.
Michael, Yes the front frame on the smaller H Series were 6 inches longer than the G Series from the front of the cab to the moldboard lift linkage mounts. Nice improvement for visibility and moldboard positioning. Regard, Randy
Ok, thanks for sharing that info Randy with that sharp, knowable mind of yours.
G'Day Micheal What make of Free Roll are you running behind the 12H? We are looking at updating a worn out old Horward Bagshaw. Any info on Free Roll makers in Aust would be great, have not had anything to do with newer units for over 10 years. thanks heaps
Hi Fred, not sure of the make behind the 12H, but here is a photo of the roller behind my komatsu grader, it is made by horward bagshaw and has since been rebuilt, I will find out at work on monday about the info that you are after, but in the mean time, type Broons rollers into your browser, it is a south australian company and have a look at there products, they have some good gear.
Thanks mate. Yep we got a price from Broon's, you are right some very nice gear. we may go that way but the boss want's to have a bit more of a look around, how do you find your old Horward, we had a fair few bearing dramas early in the piece but she goes good now. Couldn't find any thing on the H/B web site, looks like they are Ag only now. thanks for your help
Fred, the old Horward has been good, it is on a grade control system so you can dial in the downward force that you choose, when you apply the grader's brakes the pressure is released, that way you have full weight of grader on its own tyres (for safety), we had bearing issues as well but that was adressed years ago, it compacts reasonable well with the right moisture content, but not good on large rocky material. The axle broke recently from years of wear and tear and cost $6000 to get another one manufactured by Horward Bagshaw, or at least l think it was them. Perhaps Horward Bagshaw work on a made to order system for their rollers. When l find out some info from work, l will post a couple of photos of the roller since its rebuild and the modifications that have been made, cheers.
Fred, here are some pictures of my roller after it was rebuilt by a local engineering company, and the roller on the 12H is also a Horwood Bagsaw, I am emailing you some info which will hopefully get you some results.
Randy I have been able to use some of your tricks. Got to reverse the moldboard and pull out some fat corners in a parking lot. It worked really good with the wheels pulling the blade around the corner instead of pushing straight. I was able to take out nearly a foot in 3 or 4 passes, and could only get a tiny bit going forward. I got some funny looks when I turned the blade around and went to work! Sorry I wasn't able to get some pictures. Many thanks for all the tips you have shared over the years.
Jerry Right on! I still try new techniques, some work, some don’t, but I enjoy the challenge. This summer I did a fill slope around the edge of a turnout. I turned the moldboard around, had the machine articulated so the front tires were running on the slope and tandems were right at the top edge. If I got in trouble I just articulated away from the slope and pulled the front tires back up the slope. On my last pass I made a real light cut so I could keep my tire marks nice and straight. Two other operators saw the slope after it was done and could not figure out how I got that far over the side without getting stuck. They didn’t realize it was my front tires that left the marks. The first night in camp when they asked; I replied “It’s Magic”. I told them the next day how I had done it. They just shock their heads…. Regards, Randy
Randy That is a great use. I have been thinking back to some of the jobs I could have done so much easier with that trick, as well as some of the others I have learned from you. I once spent nearly a whole day on a small piece of slope I had to pull from the top. I did it going forward, and could only drag about a weelbarrow load of dirt up with each pass. Back then I did not even know to block the fron axle to hang the tire either. Had a lot of trouble getting it right, but I eventually got it. Knowing what I do now, I could probably do the same work in a couple of hours, and be off to the next area. I love your "magic" comment. When I get out over an edge like that, I tell people I have a skyhook holding me up. Thanks again Jerry
G'day Fred, The Free-Roll is made by Horwood's but distributed and serviced by our company Grade Control. We manufacture the Automatic Control System also. Happy to talk about anything grading. Thanks Phil