i've got about 1 hr on a blade seat time, i'm helpless on them. site prep contractor showed up today with a cat motorgrader and gps setup....i mean to tell you, that's slicker'n snot on a doorknob!!! he was literally screaming blading the base material for the asphalt. no grade checker. he was literally sweeping the dirt off the blue tops at a pace of about how fast you can walk. talked to operator, he says BIGGEST key, is the engineer having the right/proper data plugged into the GPS. way it sounds a huge expenditure, but time/labor savings....i gotta believe you'd make that back in short order
My brother works for CAT and says it is an arm and a leg, but due to a lack of guys with the grader time to bang out a finish grade quickly more and more things are being added to help out, like GPS on graders and a auto load setup on wheel loaders. Not knocking you, I got about 5 hours on a grader and am not too hot, but learning!
You're right, the key is having a well drawn out design. But, if there is a flaw in the design, and there usually is at least one, unless the operator is experienced enough to catch it and work through the problem area manually, you got a problem. I like the GPS on the dozers and bulk dirt machines myself. You can easily get within .10 rough grade, then rub it with a blade to finish.
I've spent a lot of time using a GPS system on a grader. Its definitely useful. Excellent for everything except finishing. It can be a real headache though. Big #&*( pole on the blade. If you adjust your blade tip, the pole moves. If the antenna moves, your grade does too. must leave it set. Cant lean your wheels without accuracy error. annoying. Once you train yourself to use your eye to grade AND watch the screen, you want what your seeing to be RIGHT!! ALL the time. But its not and you just have to switch gears. When I'm not going to need it, I take it off. Pole, everything. It's like being set free