my old graders doing a half mile road raise old 888 in the cut. Anyone else using old iron to make $$$$?
Yup. Use and old 562 Champion on a regular basis. Is that a WABCO? 8V92 DD?
yes its a wabco ,detroit diesel but 8v71, not a 92
How many hp? Must be a real dirt hog.
318 hp
Dual chrome stacks...nice...:thumbsup
cat no12 doing township work but got beat out this year but i can`t work for less than $56.50 an hour.
That's crazy pricing, I charge 80 bucks an hour for my old champion and I'm the cheapest guy around!
Yeah, there is a guy around hear who does like 14 townships for like $50 / hour in like a 2 year old 143 cat. I do not maint, roads because who can compete with that. If he wants to work for free, thats his business. Now we do repair or new roads, harder to get in to, but more lucrative.
A guy told me once, You gotta wear a cowboy hat to drive that thing ,lol
Better wear ear plugs too if they are straights.
That's a real beauty! I have a 666 and was recently given a 777, both run great, the 666 has the Cummins engine and the 777 has the 6-71 Detroit. I used the 666 for years to clear snow at our local airport with the snow wing. Nowadays I don't use it much but still try to give it a good workout every so often.
He won't be in business too long.
I get 80/hr for my old 512 Adams grader maintaining truck yards and farm lots.
We still use our old Champion 720 on contract work, building roads, grading fencelines and here it is levelling contour banks. We work on $150 an hour. RnR.
Nice looking machine
Thanks Bruce, it's been a good old machine, starting to get a bit loose in the joints now. I see you have just joined, welcome to the forum, if you read back through the threads in the Grader section, there is a lot of very good information on operating graders and also a lot of very experienced operators, who are only too willing to help out if you are having problems, all you have to do is ask. RnR.
that 720 (and my old 562) were built about 1 1/2 hours up the road from me . Good machines....
Hi RnR and thanks for the welcome. Before I introduced myself I read and re read the post on "Motor Grading Techniques" and am still reading it and trying to get the info to sink in, then go out and try it....(with no one watching ) I can't believe my luck in finding such a treasure trove of practical information, wealth of experience and from operators world wide!!!! Cheers Bruce
Hey bro yah better put some water on that she's looking a bit dry. :drinkup
dry ground Hey bro yah better put some water on that she's lookin a bit dry. :drinkup
I wanna whack a Detroit 8v71 into a 14g Cat. Going to have to get out the oxy & welder but hey at least she will have some push. now what I want to know from you blokes is do you think I should have twin stacks out the top of the bonnet or run it into a single pipe ? cheers and merry xmas :drinkup
All taken care of CatGrader, three days after I did that job we had a bit over 50mm (2") in about forty minutes. I haven't caught up with the land owner yet to see how much washed. Besides that though, this is South Australia, driest state in the driest continent, you know how it goes. RnR.
At least he hasn't rang you first That's not always a good sign!! Bruce
Man, some of you guys work cheap. Up here you can't get a 140 sized machine to work for less than 100.00 an hour.
My boss charges $150.00/hr for the 12H...with me included (Just looked at the Can, AUS and USA exchange $ rates. All roughly similar at present?). The old saying......pay peanuts and you'll end up with monkeys
I am new to this hole bid process, every one talks about an hourly rate. In all that I have been dealing with they all want a per foot price. I have been bidding for my dad's company, I seem to hit close but I go over on my hours in the end lowering my hourly rate. The customer seems to get the better end of the deal. In doing a 4 pass grade on gravel mountain roads I set my hourly average at about 1 mile per hour. Am I slow or what? It seems that I cant get out of 2nd gear and do a good job, Im running a Champion 720A just like the picture. I am getting ready to take the plung and buy my own grader. Looking at a 1980 740 A with only 3100 hrs. It has the 671 Detroit and a Clark 6 speed transmision. I hope this is a good machine, betting my kids coledge fund on it. Any help would be nice on the per foot cost and houly average. I have been reading a lot of post and there is a lot of knowledge here thanks for sharing!
I'd say you're about right at a mile an hour for four passes, maybe a little better with a bigger machine and good conditions. That's really low hours for a machine that old..... |I'd bet ont eh hour meter being changed out! we'd put that on in 2 or 3 years here.
Thank you for your input, no one seems to ever tell you if the meter has been changed or turned over. The machine looks as though there is very little wear on the circle and seems to be tight in areas that should show wear. They said it moved snow as county grader in California. I have also looked at 2 graders that are in the county surplus yard here and 1 of the meters reads 01549 (1981 710A) but in reading the service report it states that the first oil change was due at 2760 then all of a sudden the next service was done at 00006. This grader show a lot of wear in the circle teath. I only have one shot so I need to be real careful in making the right choice.
I started in a 1992 720A VHP (series 3). I got in it when it was a year old, it showed 971 hours and the meter was broken. Condition is more important than hours anyway.... it currently shows about 14000 hours. Not being used as much now because we amalgamated a whole county into one big one tier munucipality, and the yard it wound up in has a '96 740 and an '07 Volvo. Circle wear is easy to see (and not hard to adjust). I've seen serious front end wear and I've seen tandems get loose on the rear axle in older champions, both are a little harder to find. Those 6V71 engines will run a long time as long as they're looked after, but if you find one with a cummins it will be a littel easier on fuel, and easier on your ears too! We got rid of an '86 710 with a 5.9 cummins (same as the dodge pickup of the time) that had about 17,000 hours. Original engine. Still had a pile of hours of life left in it and easy on fuel. Wouldn't push like the bigger graders though, depends on the work you've got for it. I've got an antique (1960) 562 Champion with a 6 speed and a cummins at home. It's got so many hours on it the mouldboard was worn through for about 5 feet in the middle when I got it. It will still go out and do a day's work. Not as comfortable as the newer stuff though!