I'm an apprentice operator training on the grader and this winter I will be out on my own at the apprentice training school to practice instead of out on a job with a journeyman. What are some good tasks for me to try and do on my own? I'm used to having someone give me a task to practice or accomplish with machine and feel a little lost when I go out there on my own in terms of what exactly I should be practicing. I basically have a large open dirt field and a large pile of millings to work with. I really want to use this time to get the fundamentals down so that in the spring when I'm back on a site I can start learning more advanced tasks. Thanks!
All my education took place on the job. I spent a whole summer grading a huge road fill for a dozen wiggle wagons. As soon as I would have a smooth strip done, the trucks would hit it and leave deep cuts for me to grade again. Taught me a lot of fast hand work. That fall they put me spreading 3" minus crushed with 75 trucks. Lucky for me, they had something I have never seen again, a professional dump man. You'll never learn the craft overnight. I still figure out little tricks after all these years.
Yeah, when you think you have nothing to learn about running a grader, you need to quit and do something else. If the dirt's not frozen, build an elevated roadbed. Set standards such as designated surface width, level side to side, equal height elevation, sloped drainage areas of your choosing, etc. Hold yourself accountable and keep working on it until you meet the standards you have set to the best of your ability. Then go get your journeyman to evaluate and critique your work. If you miserably fail, knock it all down and start over. A learning tip, do what you can from the seat. When you think you've got it, get out and walk the project looking at it from a different perspective. When I'm done building a roadbed I go home and get my pickup and drive on my project to see what it "feels" like. I always notice things I didn't quite get right.