I spent a couple hours in my new to me Champion 730A with the new foam filled radial tires. I was stripping sod with 2ft. tall grass and weeds. The ground was pretty solidly packed so I think the grader got a pretty good workout. It would get stopped in it's tracks and spin a few times. Sometimes lifting the blade a little helped and other times I had to back up and take a smaller bite. I was only going in 1st gear. The material was rolling nice but wasn't sliding off the moldboard the greatest. I had the blade angled almost as far as it could go without hitting the tires. It's a 16ft. moldboard which probably made things harder. Is 1st gear normally used for heavier work or would 2nd gear work better to get the material moving across the molboard? I'm pretty slow setting the blade up but getting a little more comfortable running the machine overall. I discovered it's easier to get some of the sod stripped and then do a 2nd pass to get it moved over instead of trying to take another full width pass. Lots of experimenting. As far as the foam filled tires go, I didn't notice anything peculiar with them. They seem to be working great. I'm very happy with them so far. The transmission didn't act up at all today so maybe blowing air in and around the controls helped. Hopefully I can get some help to try and figure out what's wrong with the articulation. There's a couple wires disconnected below the starter that I don't know what they're for. Maybe articulation or the tach.?
When stripping sod i usually only take about a 4’ strip at a time and use the leading edge of the moldboard to cut and the rest of the moldboard to just move it over. If the grass is tall, maybe only a 2’ cut because it wads and hangs up under the circle. On a large area it takes a lot of time and patience with my #12. If the area is mowed first, it helps because you don’t fight all that tall grass
It's kind of rough and there are rocks and other obstacles that could damage the mower. I did find using half the moldboard and making a sloped cut worked better. Next pass or 2 I could cut the slope down. Once I get the area cleaned up then I can work on leveling it out. I think it's better to take shallower cuts and do the final leveling in layers rather than trying to cut as deep as possible. It is kind of cool how the sod rolls up. I'm sure it would roll up easier if the grass and weeds were cut. I thought about just scooping the material up with my track loader but figured I could control the levelness and depth of cut better with the grader. It also gives me a lot of seat time in the grader and the grader is more comfortable.
If you're going to be a grader man, it's not a blade, it's a moldboard, because you are now part of an elite group of people that mold the shape of the world..... can you imagine..... Play with the pitch of your MB, blade whatever, it will be your friend. Always have it tilted ahead a bit, as tilting it back lifts it off the ground a bit. If she starts to break traction, tilting back takes some pressure off, and lifts evenly all the way across. As you grade, you will notice the material start to roll in the blade, that is the sweet spot. With sod, if you side shift your circle a bit towards the heel of your blade, it will give you a bit more angle, so lean your wheels towards your windrow. 16 feet is a big push for a 730. I had my ass full with a 14 footer on a 730. In a big area, I would shove the material into windrows, and shove it into piles with the loader.
Blade is shorter to type. I had the moldboard about 3 to 4 inches ahead of the cutting edge and it was rolling the material and sod pretty good. I don't want to roll the moldboard back too far because it will stick. I welded some stops in the curved slot to limit how far back it will roll by about an inch but it will still stick which is a bit of a pain. I've read some conflicting theories on where the moldboard should be pitched. Some say to start about 2" ahead of the cutting edge and some say to have the cutting edge at about 90 deg's. to the ground for hard material or finish work. 90 deg's. is rolled pretty far forward. I'm guessing the key is getting the right rolling action and material flow across the molboard. I had the angle about 10 inches from the drive and front tires. I also read a steeper angle works better for hard ground. I think I have the angles kind of figured out. Carrying material will take some practice but the dirt was very dry and spilling over the top of the moldboard. It is much easier to make windrows and push them into piles with the skid steer or track loader. I think the extra weight of the foam filled tires along with them being a traction type of tread helps with pushing the wider 16' moldboard. One benefit I noticed is that if you keep rolling the sod over it breaks up pretty good. You have to be slowing down when you downshift or it will be pretty abrupt. I drove a Case tractor that was the same way. I really like trans. when it's working. LoL Just wish the display was easier to read, especially if it's throwing a code(s). I guess I'll have to look at the wiring 1st to try and figure out what's wrong with the articulation. Leaning the wheels makes a big difference when turning though.