I finally got the slope meter delivered. It looks good but just playing around with it on the counter I noticed it doesn't always come back to the same reading. If I tilt it a little one way it usually does but if I tilt it the other way it doesn't go back to the same reading. It will be off about the width of the ball. I'm thinking in a running machine the vibration would prevent it from hanging up. I think I read on here where someone else had a similar experience. Wondering if I need to worry about it or if in a machine the vibration should prevent it from getting hung up? The vial and ball is very similar to the Slope Meter brand and it's recommended and used in graders and dozers.
That is interesting! It looks to me to stopping at about 1%? Do they give details with it on accuracy? I looked them up where I got mine from and they don't state an accuracy on their website. It has been so long that I cant remember if I got any paperwork with it. If you gently and very slowly roll it from side to side does it hang up there as well (manufacturing defect)? Being only 1% (if that is what it is) you may be right with the vibrations in service overcoming it. If you tap it does it go back to zero? Will be very interesting to see what others have to say.
if you google the set up instructions for a slopemeter brand slopemeter there is a procedure to test the air bubble, i notice in the pictures the air bubble is on opposites sides in each photo . the slopemeters ive used i have never seen the bubble cheers
I assume this is the instructions you are referring to on the original SlopeMeter website? http://www.slopemeter.com/images/Instruction_Sheets.pdf
yes its a test to see if the slopemeter is ok . i always tipped the slope meter up to get the air up one end and out of sight cheers
There were no instructions with it. If I tilt it side to side it doesn't hang up. Tilting the right side up it goes back to 0. Tilting the left side up it seems like the ball gets hung up at 1% or if I do it really slowly 1.5%. I'm thinking I should send an e-mail to the supplier to see if I maybe got one with a defect. I read the Slope Meter ones are accurate within 1 degree. The air bubble is mostly hidden at one end or the other. If moves depending on which way the meter is tilted. It makes no difference which side the air bubble is on.
Do you have a smart level that you can check it with
Yes, I have the digital level I bought a couple years ago. It jumps around too much on equipment but can be set to show percent slope as well as angle and I think a couple other settings. I'm thinking of setting up a mount so I can use both in the grader. When I'm stopped they should read the same. It's very weird the indicator gets hung up on the slope meter. It's not a ball but looks to be a curved C shaped piece. Hoping the grader has enough vibration it doesn't get hung up. I haven't heard back from the supplier yet. I asked if they could see if other slope gauges got hung up. em 105.9 Digital Torpedo | Empire Level - Built On Trust The Empire® 9" Magnetic Digital Torpedo Level has an audio indicator with 6 measuring modes, up to 60 hr run time. www.empirelevel.com
You can use your smart level to check and see if your slope meter is close at all. Set the meter on your level, and move your level around to compare readings
The level is out at my property but should tell if the slope meter is accurate. I suspect it is, just odd that it hangs up. Maybe the grader will vibrate just enough to prevent it from sticking close to 0. I haven't been out to my track because it's too depressing. Just keeps getting boat loads of rain. So much for having a dry year after not much snow. I'll probably go out tomorrow. I found some good 66lb. 90 deg. welding magnets to make the gauge easy to switch between machines or just to be able to easily take it out. I'm going to mount some 1 1/2" angle iron to the gauge and have another piece on the grader. It will have the angle on the grader bolted to another piece so I can easily adjust it for calibration.
Hey I’m sorry I have been a bit snowed under and I haven’t had a chance to have a look at the one I have in my grader. I thought it should be a ball in the tube though. It sounds like yours has a problem, will be interesting to see if it behaves properly in your grader. I just used double sided tape to mount mine but I was always going to do something better, your idea sounds good. I have another one in slope ratio with the steel ball but I haven’t got around to putting it in the dozer or loader yet. I went with the style you have for the grader because the indicator was larger and I thought it would be easy to see but might not make much difference. I’ll post a pic so you can see the difference in style.
I think there might be a more grader friendly version of this type in the grader I have here on loan as well. Will check it tomorrow
I got the one I posted because it was bigger which I thought might be more accurate. It is similar to the Slope Meter brand but much less expensive. In the grader it might be a non issue. I'm waiting to hear back from the supplier. Apparently the person who can answer my questions has been sick this week.
Yes that’s why I got mine as well. I might even pull mine out to check it as well you have me worried now
I've looked at the one in my grader since 2012, and it eludes me as to how it's mounter. I'm thinking it's a flat aluminum plate with aluminum angle welded to it. They used 2 sided tape to stick it to the center bottom of the windshield, like right to the glass, then the bolts are in slotted holes so the SM can be adjusted.
I finally heard back from the supplier. They checked other ones and had similar results. Sometimes they went back to 0 without issue. On another part of the desk they would get hung up between .5% and 3%. They thought it was maybe because the desk wasn't flat. I put mine on the dash of my truck and it appeared to work properly. They said I could return it but I think I'd have to pay return shipping. I'm going to wait until I can try it in the grader though. I checked it's accuracy with my digital level and it was very close. The digital level goes by .1% increments but won't show a reading unless it's perfectly still. I mounted it in the grader but need to take it back out to paint it. Probably more elaborate than needed but is infinitely adjustable to calibrate. The magnets I got will make it easy to mount on my skid steer or tractor. I suspect it will stay in the grader 95% of the time. It's very solidly mounted and not easy to remove. I found rolling the meter forward is the easiest way to get the magnets off. Almost impossible to remove just the meter from the magnets when mounted in the grader. Here's some pics. I used 1 1/2" x 1/8" angle iron I had on hand. It's on an angle because of the sloped windshield frame. I don't think it will matter but it's not hard to modify to get the meter on a flatter plane. I raised it a bit so the stuff on the steering column wouldn't block its view with the column upright. The bottom of the windshield frame had a lip which made it easy to use a couple vise grips to hold the mount in place for drilling the holes for the self tapping screws. The magnets beside the adjustment bolts fit the edge of the angle iron on the meter perfectly. The angle iron on the meter is 1/8" past the meter on each side.
Sounds like you might have it sorted, that’s great to hear. Will be interesting to see how you find it in the machine and what you think of it in operation. You are probably well aware of this, but keep in mind what it is measuring is the angle or slope of the ground your back wheels are traveling on, not the angle the blade is currently at. I found when I first started using it I was over correcting when chasing the ball as there is a delay until your wheels meet the area you have “corrected” and it doesn’t need much correction to catch a percent or two. I think you will have a lot of fun with the precision you will be able to achieve on your track. Best of luck and looking forward to your updates! Your mount set up is very nice!!!!! I only have mine stuck to the windscreen with the double sided tape, I was always going to do something better but never got to it.
Just got a bunch more rain today so not sure when I can calibrate it and see how how it works. I'm hoping it will help me to have consistent slopes and corners 1 and 2 will be as close as possible to corners 3 and 4. I could have mounted it a lot simpler with velcro or 2 sided tape or even glued magnets to it but I didn't want to alter the meter. I was reading that you can't always trust that the cab is perfectly level with the machine. I liked the idea of magnets but wasn't sure what type so went to a couple places to look at different types. I hadn't considered welding magnets because the ones I'd seen were odd shaped and bigger but I went to KMS tools and saw the small 90 deg. welding magnets. I knew I had some 1 1/2" angle iron and they seemed a perfect fit. With the angle bolted to the meter the magnets will hold the meter and can then be stuck to another surface or to the other angle I used for calibrating the meter in the grader. The magnets are very strong and stick really good to the angle iron being they hold on the flat and vertical sides of the angle iron. I think if I used just 1 angle iron in the grader it would have been difficult to calibrate it exactly level. It's going to take a lot of practice but the slope meter could be used for just checking the slope after I've graded the track. I'm hoping to get an experienced operator to help me get the right slopes and show me how to grade the track and keep the proper slope. I think it might work best to work the top few inches of the track up and then grade it without putting much down pressure on the moldboard. Just grade the top inch or 2 of the loosened material. I watched a video of how another track did their prep. and that's what they appeared do. Worked the track maybe 6" deep and just graded the top 3". I can't do anything until this damn rain stops though.
Like I said. Make sure all tires are the same. Hopefully your foam tires all sit the same. Find an area you know is perfectly level. I use our scales. zero your meter. Then turn around and park in the same place facing the opposite way. It should read zero again. I've done it in a pinch in an unlevel area. park, take a reading, turn around, take a reading, split the difference, and adjust.. We replaced the cab rubbers on our 730, and it leveled the cab up. The meter on that machine was dead on. The one on the Volvo is always off a bit, and I think it is the cab.
Dave I have been running those units like you got in my road maintenance machines and they seem to hold up well.
Thanks for the comments. I think there's going to be enough vibration and/or movement in the grader it won't get hung up. I can use my digital level to help make it perfectly level and check it too. It's good to know the slope meter I got will hold up. The Slope Meter brand at over 3 times the price seemed a little excessive. $50-$75 or even $100 more I might have considered one but $400 more is crazy. As far as accuracy it was very close when I tested it against my digital level. It's nice and big so easy to see. I can't believe Cat puts the little plastic ones in their graders but I'd expect most new graders have some type of slope control features that take the guess work out of it.
What slope meters do you use? Could the one in the Volvo be getting hung up or is the mount not adjustable enough to calibrate it? That would be frustrating. Even more frustrating for me because just running the grader is frustrating enough until I get a little more proficient. I don't think the 16' moldboard makes it any easier. I can at least get the oval track smooth. Some of the people that came out commented that it's one of the smoothest tracks. Now I just need to make the banked corners consistent.
I've never run a motor grader but here's my question. Why not mount the slope indicator to the blade? It's a better gauge of the grade than being in the cab right?
They run the slope meter ones They have replaced the one in the volvo. Same thing. As long as you know about it, it's not bad.
Too easy to get damaged and hard to look at it when you're driving.
Expensive to be outside. Mind you the one on the asphalt spreader is outside all year round, but it's never in the mud. It would be hard to see, and your blade would have to be in the same position all the time. If it was angled, and you were grading up or down hill, it would read wrong
I think for certain finishing jobs it could be mounted on the blade. I think I could mount it on my box blade or landplane. The meter I got as well as Slope meter brand claim they are weather proof and can be mounted out of the cab. An operator from here that puts out how to video's on operating a grader has one mounted on the main beam going to the front wheels. He has a video on slope meters. Sometimes they aren't accurate or appropriate for the job. He also showed that you have to go slow when relying on a slope meter. I discovered it makes a huge difference when I put the meter on the dash of my truck. I was going around a sharper curve at about 70kmh and the slope meter was reading about 15%. The centrifugal force was acting on the slope meter. Randy Krieg posted on the forum years ago that he sometimes backs up where he has just graded to check the slope with the slope meter. I think for really fine grading there's nothing wrong with driving slow in 1st gear to get the slope just right. Saves a lot of time in the long run.
I've never used a gps on a grader, but I am told you have to go slow as well for it to work.
It makes sense and the precision will be worth it. Still faster than doing it manually.
I was trying to calibrate the slope meter. I don't have a nice flat concrete pad or paved road. I thought I had it pretty close comparing it to a digital level with percent reading. On the slopes on my oval track the readings were quite different. On part of the track that was originally put at 3% it was accurate but on the higher slopes the readings between the 2 instruments was off 2% or more. The slope meter seemed to read a higher slope. Has anyone else ever compared a slope meter with a digital level? I can't see the slope meter I bought being off that much. I watched the video by Vern Kyle (Only a million mistakes) from Standard General. I should try and get him out to the oval track. Another guy from SG rides an enduro bike and came out a couple years ago.
when calibrating you can have slightly uneven ground but the flatter the better. park grader as level as possible get out and put a mark on the ground between the rear wheels on one side read and note your level reading .turn the grader around drive on the exact same wheel marks line up the mark on the ground between the rear wheels again read your level again .split any differance and reset level it should be close to level now. before doing this square the blade and roughly equal length of blade each side this is to even out tyre squat but with foam filled it may not matter. i know from experiance slope meters can drive you nuts i have often thought that the cab can move slightly when turning or on a slope .
Thanks for the reply. The digital level may have been causing confusion too. I didn't square the blade, just had it up. I don't think the foam filled tires are a problem. They squat pretty good.
@Welder Dave How are you finding the slopemeter after using it for a while?
I haven't had a chance to do much with it yet. My property got flooded and it was too wet to do much of anything. I do notice that it moves around quite a bit but at a slower speed than a standard level. I'm trying to get the MX track dried up so it can open. After that I'll work on the oval track that has banked corners.
Ah ok sorry to hear about the flooding. Best of luck getting everything dried out so you can re-open. We are rained in again here at home as well, it’s been a very wet year here. We are lucky we don’t get flooded as such, just too wet to move anything heavy for a couple weeks again.
We tied record high temps. the last 3 days, 36.2C today. Still some soft muddy spots I almost got the tractor stuck in. I have a cab on the tractor with a roof to block a lot of the sun but no AC so have the doors flipped open. I was sweating so much it was running in my eyes making them sting. I had to stop because I didn't want to get heat stroke. Part of the track is mushy and part is baked pretty hard. It was difficult pulling the cultivator and really made the tractor work. At one point I had to stop and let it idle for about 5 minutes because it was running too hot. I went in a lower gear after that and it stayed a little cooler.
Wow I guess you are opposite seasons to me at the moment. We are mid winter here and pour raining again tonight. It’s been staying reasonably cold/cool and the ground is not really getting a chance to dry out. I haven’t added it up but I think we are already over our yearly rainfall and only 6 months in. You must have really high humidity to go with the 36.5*C too?
No, it's pretty dry heat.
It has been super hot here as well. 36 on Tuesday with humidity pushing it into the 40s. Rained all day today. We get the tail ends of the hurricanes here on the coast, mostly rain, and some winds
Its been what i would call pretty cold for us with maximums just 12/14*C. Summer here gets to mid and high 40's*C on a regular basis, we had a couple days this summer that were 48-49*C which was pretty sh#t, but usually a very dry heat as we are semi arid. Its amazing what we all get used to based on where we live.... I go somewhere where its colder and people are wondering around in shorts and T-shirts and Im rugged up like I'm going to the arctic. Keep the fluids up and listen to your body... heat stroke is very real and dangerous and happens very quickly!! I think it has a cumulative effect too, it seems to effect me more the more times I get cooked. Electrolyte drinks seem to be a great help too! Do you guys get snow in winter?