Back in the saddle of my old 740 champ today felt pretty good even though she's been used and abused since I landed the 770G 3 years ago. It's been an on going battle with the higher ups to run the retriever on our gravels, but today I finally won reclaiming all that lost material, cutting those high shoulders, it works GREAT. Although I'm very confident the taxpayers will be ticked for a day or so.......They'll get over it lol
Hi 770G Never seen anything like that! It looks like a set of dics? They obviously rotate? If so..given the angle how do they rotate? Hydraulics from the grader? can you vary the angle? Need something like this where I am. Regards Bruce
That's a neat attachment! I was wondering if it would work better set up the other way, I.e leading dishes out and trailing dishes in, which would give you a windrow to spread, rather than just discing up the side of the road? Or I could be entirely wrong! Awaiting your reply! Ross
There's no high tech angle or anything, just gotta play around with it to find what works for you...pushed way out at rear the disc's don't really chop up sods (cause to get that lost material, we got get through the sod ) but at the right speed it can pitch everything clear across road LOL. I have rear push arm set at about 6.5', and slightly carry the front...this seems to work well (for me). I run the ole champ in 6th damn near wide open(7th at low RPM doesn't have enough steam). The disc's work exactly the same as ag. disc's......they rotate on there own once they are lowered into material(and moving of course ) The end result is an almost mulch like material tossed out on edge of road. Usually about 18 to 24" out from shoulder and 2 to 3" deep. Couple days of sun and traffic and we grade it into road. Then about a week later the leaves, topsoil, grass, etc are dried up and blown away, ready for a final grade. Hope this explains "the retriever"
Thanks for the explaination 770G Now for some more questions ............ How much? Who made it? Can it be adapted to fit a Cat? regards Bruce
I'm sure it will fit any grader that is harnessed for plow and wing(cable wing). The harness on my 740 is a Viking. We are going to try to get it to fit my new 770G, since my champ is slated for auction this fall(gonna miss the old girl ). My 770 is hydraulic wing (Craig harness) so we'll see.....I think it will work. I don't really have any idea on price though sorry. I'll post a pic of serial number plate below this post
I rented one of these from the next county over about 15 years ago, nothing but good things to say about it. Best way I found to use it was with things REALLY dry (which it is this spring) and as fast as you can go. I had it on a front mount wing on a champion, wound up articulating as far as I could because it threw everything under the drives, made for a rough ride. Works good in late august, kind of pulls all the weeds out and leaves them laying on top where they dry up and blow away. One note of caution though, great on roads in a sandy area. Roads with a huge clay berm just makes a terrible mess. Good tool to have in the arsenal though. This thing is patented, and If I remember right they were over 10,000 bucks at the time..... Heard rumours (probably from a salesman) that they'd sued and won people that made thier own.
A lot of the Counties, twps, and state road depts around here use these on their mower tractors in early spring. They dont have any of their mowing gear on tractor, and they set up on the 3 point. Tractor runs along and cuts the shoulder. Grader runs right behind and puts a rough grade on things. They make a few passes later on to finish up. Slick looking operation
With all that support rigging in the way, you must have to get on and off from the left hand side. Good thing, too. Ole Champ might try to buck you on the right....
Ya I'm used to left only exit, every grader I've been in are suited for rear mount wing. And although I always remove towers (unless of cousre we need them on for a retriever). It's just become habit to get out on left lol. When I got the 770G it came harnessed and I'm still tryin to get right side ladder from our fleet services lol. If we ever do get the retriever fitted on my Deere, I'm gonna rig up a canopy/apron to make sure debris is thrown into side of my new grader
I have find a video from a Retriever: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEp0dOhc0rM
Graderfan 1981: Thanks for this link, I was curious to see how it worked! This set up seems like a fairly quick changeout. I am somewhat doubtful if it would last very long around this country because of the many rocks along our roads. Disks would be in rough shape! Those weeds sure do grow fast though!
All I can say is wow. Looks to turn a 6-8 round job into two, not to mention the first will be done at 10+ mph. That is the best looking tool to reclaim shoulders I think you could ever imagine. You would have to have a competent operator, though. Too light, won't do any good. Too much pressure, all you'll do is mix up dirt. Awesome video, Graderfan.
Here is another type. The All American Disk This is the one I currently use. I really like how you can see exactly what it is doing all the time being right along side the cab. Being mounted to the moldboard you can adjust the down pressure as needed for changing conditions. Super easy to mount and dismount. http://youtu.be/BHNbhH5x-Hc
I have the same set up as smooth has mounts right on the side of the moldboard easy to see what your doing that way I use mine a lot in the spring time very handy tool to have around P.S smooth where are you located at in South Dakota I'm from Montrose.
Are some of these better than others ? We have 1 in the RM but the foreman does not like it and as a result does not get put on or used very often. We are looking at a newer hydraulic style but I am sure it wont get much use lol.
We have been using our Retriever brand disk for at least 15 years. Originally mounted on the snow wing post of an old rigid frame Cat 120, converted to 3-point mount behind a JD 2630, then JD2940, now a JD6603 FWA tractor. The 2630 was way too light to handle the weight and side draft, 2940 was much better, but lacked ROPS and cab, so early spring retrieving was sometimes miserably cold. The 6603 is big enough, with enough weight and front wheel assist to keep the cut lines nice and straight. Boss is talking about buying a para-lift front mounted unit for my 140M AWD, so we will see how that goes. The retriever is a great tool to help get roads back in shape, and with regular use, keep shoulders clean and well drained. If our county roads get a little "fat", we will make a round or two in the spring, and let the maintenance operators bring it in and beat it up a little at a time. We also use it as the first step for a shoulder pull, where we make two rounds or more, as needed. It cuts nice thin ribbons, which blade in easily along with other shoulder material, and chop up quickly with a heavy offset (Rome) disk. Wet material will sometimes plug it up, and tough old long grass will stop the disk from turning. Speed is a judgement call. If you know your roads, rocks, and traffic, you can retrieve anywhere from 5mph to 12+mph, but you better know what you are doing. I did about 60 miles last year, without breaking anything. If you aren't using one, you don't know what you are missing. smoothoperator...round blades can be useful too!