Just finished digging out sand with a long reach(240X2 Link Belt) and have hauled about 15,000 ton to where we will wash it for concrete sand. I have a mile and a half of haul road to re-build. Wasn't too bad of shape until we got all the rain over here, just bout 100 yards from the Mississippi River and river stage is just bout ready to flood the sand pit. Anyways, once it does dry up I need to get my haul road back in shape. As some of you know, I haven't had much time really doing any finish grading of this nature. I have a D6H to use and just looking for any tips for working in sandy conditions that I might not otherwise notice. Jason
About all I can think of to tell you at the moment is dont let it dry to much if its really sandy. Being a little wet will help it. In the sand we have around these parts we always welcome the rain. Its hard to get enough water into it.
well right now its about 4 inches of slop on top and the river level should go over most of it somtime this weekend. I know what you mean by too dry, like powder, but right now its just slop. Thanks for the input. Jason
Snad, slop or dust. Hi, TD15CDozerMan. The D6H is a fairly forgiving machine with which to grade roads, especially if has the extended track frames. Just don't try to rush it until you get the feel of it. And you may have to wait until the 'slop' has dried a bit, unless you can push it off to the side without making more. If you start getting the 'washboards', back up, move over a 1/2 machine width and start again. You'll pretty much be wasting your time trying to take out the washboard by cutting over the same ground. The machine will usually be better balanced if you can carry around 1/3 to 1/2 a blade of material with you. Sand is one of the harder materials to grade until you have a bit of experience as it usually doesn't have a lot of resistance to stop the blade taking a dive as you go over a bump. Another trick that often helps is to work with only half the blade in cut and the other half on already graded road. And yes, I do realise that you can't do this at the start but it's a method that I often use when cutting house pads to +/- 3/4" with a laser monitor on the machine. Hope this helps.