Can you help me write the list?
Patience. You can't properly accomplish the mission in one pass. Smaller bites, more passes. Patience. Success.
Thou shall not foul the tires or steps with the moldboard
Thou shalt keep the moldboard full.
Thou shalt not stand up when running the grader.
Why not. Especially on a older machine.
First machine I ran you had to stand up, couldn't see sitting down. CAT model 12. But I agree with Tinkerer, Commandments should dictate "no standing".
In my case I still run a Cat 212. Its also quite blind when sitting. I would love to play with one of the new sit down machines with out the knuckle busters.
Thou shalt not blade too fast for conditions.
Come on down to Missouri. You can run our Deere anytime.
Well, um Galions were sit down machines back in the 70's but that's pretty new to me too.
Thou shall use the wheel lean
I have a friend that was knocked out cold when he hit a manhole lid.
I think on some of the old mechanical control knuckle busters you pretty much had to to see what you were doing.
My neighbor runs various construction equipment. Young man. Very knowledgeable. While back him and I were "bench operating" equipment. He said "do you use your wheel lean much". I said "yeah I do". He said "do you lean into the side drag or away from it"? I said "lean into". He said "try leaning away". Few days later I was cutting hard pack dirt off a bank. Front drift was bad. I leaned away. Very surprised. It absolutely worked better than leaning into the drag. Learn something every day......
A good understanding of slope is essential for every grader operator. Most grader work, except maybe plowing snow, involves shedding, collecting or diverting water.
Speaking of plowing snow. Thou shall not hit mailboxes with the wing.
Another snow-plowing one, at least here in ND. Thou shall only wing snow to the north or west if absolutely necessary.
Yair . . . ??????? Cheers.
I've been trying to figure that one out as well, Scrub. When he says he leaned "away" from the drift, does he mean opposite the direction the front was being pulled to? If so, (not trying to be a smartazz here) it absolutely would work better because that is the correct way. I know I'm stating the obvious here, but leaning towards the direction you're drifting to would be like putting skis on.
No flame felt. Rather than lean the direction you are trying to hold and causing the leading edge of the tire to hold, which is counter productive, lean the direction the drift is causing the front to drift. This puts the leading edge of the tire into the ground. Rather than creating a ramp which lifts the tire off the ground, it creates a 45 degree edge that digs in. Yeah,,,, stupid huh???? Just try it. I thought it was stupid too.
Yair . . . Dunno fellers. I'm way out of my depth here, I wouldn't have done more than a couple of hundred hours on a pony motor start Cat 12 . . . it was a while back. Nothing has changed though the dirt and rocks are the same. To me if I was casting to the left, the mouldboard is trying to pull the front of the machine to the right so the natural and intuitive thing is to lay the wheels to the left to help counteract the drift. Is that not correct? Cheers.
Interesting. I haven't put my butt on a grader for 10 years, but I would like to try this.
Thou shall not hit fixed objects such as old train rails, manholes, sign footings, and did I mention the live abandoned gas main ?.
Plowing snow much?
Silly me, I always thought wheel lean was used to snatch trim strips, and door handles off of vehicles, that insist on passing the grader, while working...:beatsme
OK whos running one ? where do the power units go after 4:30 ?
Some of these have wheel lean on them also.
To keep front wheels from sliding use your center shift to move your center of pull. Move it towards the windrow side. Lean top of wheels direction of windrow. Then if necessary articulate just a bit away from the windrow.
When grading, though shalt keep the windrow inside of the front tire........
Yair . . . . Why? Cheers.
Why? Cheers.[/QUOTE] Just to clarify, I was referring to this windrow, not the discharge one........
When I go clean up logging roads for the DNR I pick up the windrow outside the front tire. Just move the blade over and do so. Any other way and the front wheel would be in the ditch. In many township and gravel county road applications it is the same as they move the windrow from side to side each time they get graded.
I hear you...........have never done municipal work myself, just parking lots & can see your point where sometimes when grading roads you have to bring the windrow in from outside of the tire. Good point.
turn diff lock on before you spin, turn diff lock off before turning, articulate when you turn, dont throw your windrow on stakes, moldboard rolled back
Thou shall only leave windrows where one can recover said windrow without loosing material beyond the road surface. Thou shall always be aware of cutting edge wear and replace prior to frog wear. Thou shall always carry a grease gun and extra tube of grease.
Wait a minute!!!!!! I produce aggregate. Push that windrow clear off the shoulder!!!
That's how I had always did it too. My friend says, lean the top of the front tires to the right, into the drift. This puts the weight on the sharp right corner of the tire. Yep, less drift. Go figure. I believe leaning the tires to the left moves the contact patch forward on the bottom of the tire. This requires less steering wheel turn to get the tire to move leftward. This is translated to improved control of drift by the operator. As someone else mentioned, I control drift by positioning the table and/or articulation. I rarely lean my front tires. Mostly do so to keep the contact patch flat on the ground if on a bank.
Before we got a newer grader with a thicker cutting edge I carried a breaker bar, rachet, socket, extension. I have rotated my cutting edges alongside the road during lunch break.
Thou shall clean out ditches where possible. Thou shall not fill ditches in. Thou shall cut out pot holes not skim and fill them.
I am about 3 weeks into learning to run a grader, and one of the journeyman teaching me has a good one: "as go your wheels, so goes your blade".
Thou shalt not leave large windrows of snow in rate payer's driveways or around parked vehicles. Thou shalt not V-Plow parked vehicles barried in snow drifts. And lastly- Thou shall not go high speed down a road after livestock or manure haulers have gone forth woodstocking. Now with these 17.5 and 20.5 radials, I just leave them straight up and down. I've ran them both ways, but it had more to do with reach when I ran them the "wrong way" or trying to get them in a certain place in a ditch bottom.
Anybody else use the wheel lean or moldboard tilt to raise or lower the entire blade instead of manipulating the blade levers?
I use the moldboard tilt, especially if i need to feather out material at the end of a cut. Its probably not the right way but it does work.
I constantly use tilt. I bet it is shinier than the main lift controller. I don't use the lean for that because it will thrust the board left or right. Thou shalt never underestimate the value of a good roller man. Just because it's not asphalt, you can't just put anyone on it.
Amen......
Trying to learn everyday. Any help is greatly appreciated Depends on County roads if your 3x or 4x or more. I always make my first cut with my toe floating out past my front tire making my windrow land just outside of my roadside tires and on my center cut I try to land my windrow where I have at least a tire width to straddle the windrow on my 3rd cut back to the center.
correct me if im wrong I don't understand why there is a window against the ditch, I'm assuming you're talking about reaching past your front tire on your first pass. Only time I leave a very small windrow on the side of the road is after I've grassed to reclaim a road. I'll leave for a week or so to die out then come back and start on the opposite side and roll my material to the dead grass so when I roll it back it has more material to scatter the dried grass out but even then I'm straddling my main windrow and just don't float my toe as much to pull it under and mix
Where's Randy Kreig? I always looked out for his posts, always interesting reading.
We don't have any forrest or township gravel roads that can not be covered in 2 passes even with my little 212. You have to squeeze over dang close to the ditch and often look for a wide spot to meet another truck. They get graded twice a year at the most and there is always a lot of new vegetation on the sides that gets collected. They give the specs on how they want it graded. The small windrow is normally left on one side and then the other side the next time. Got my butt chewed the one time I feathered it.
Yes sir understand that I maintain little over 100 miles in my County and get chewed out for not feathering it but I always try to keep my roads 2 blade widths and have 12ft mold board on this 120m2
What County are you in Matt?? Our County is township governed. I maintain 50 miles in my Township. I run a 14ft moldboard. I only have a debris row this time of year when I'm trying to clean up the shoulders for Winter. I run my roads an average of 10 times a year.
Pemiscot, MO.. usually takes about 3 to 4 weeks to do my full route
Matt, you are about as far from me as possible and still be in Missouri. I'm in Harrison County. Are you the only County Operator?? My County is very large and has many hundreds of miles of roads. We have 20 Townships, averaging 40 miles of roads per Township.
We have 7 operators, that maintain 646 miles of county road. I'm just started operating in July only have about 1000 hours in the seat. The gentleman that retired showed me my territory and trained me about 3 hours then I ran with 2 other operators for a week and they turn me loose. Trying to learn as much as I can (usually by mistakes) Always trying to find something to read or watch after work but their isn't much out there that I've found
Matt#20 you have come to the right place. I have run grader for 10 years now doing road maintenance both asphalt and gravel and learn something new from these guys just about every time I check in here. Grader is the hardest machine to learn but the most interesting and rewarding I have found.
It is my philosophy that when you think as an operator you have nothing new to learn you need to resign. I learn all the time. There are so many variables in regards to conditions here in the Midwest that each time out is a new adventure. Even individual roads have their own personality and require adjustments of style. Keeps me entertained, never bored.
That is definitely something I've noticed since harvest season started
A good blade operator needs to watch where he is driving his tires. You can't cut grade when your tires are running up on the windrow, or out over rough ground. Also, don't push dirt over dirt. In other words, if you have a heavier cut than can be made in one pass, ease into it and pull dirt (or whatever other material) away from the rest of the dirt that needs moved, each pass taking what you can. Push your windrow out of the way before adding so much to it you can"t move it all. Run with your moldboard upright as much as possible. This keeps the edge wear uniform, and when you hit a hard place you can roll the blade forward to sharpen the contact point to cut the hard spot. When the hard spot is handled, roll it back up to sharpen it for the next time. Your blade has a higher capacity when rolled up, and because of the curve, it helps load the blade and give better traction. A blade rolled forward lifts the machine with the dirt in front of it, cutting traction and making it easier to spin out. For the best advice possible, search the forum for posts from Randy Krieg, in addition to the pros that have already added to this thread.
They are about done with beans up here. Another 2 weeks of good weather and they'll be about done with corn. I try to have patience and wait them out. I also try to have the roads in good shape just before they start. Doesn't do much good to clean a road leaving the loose material in the middle where it gets used when 80,000lb semis are traveling daily. So I wait if I can until they are done in an area before I move in. Another traffic contributor is coming up, firearms Deer season. Get a lot of light traffic then. And very stupid (city) hunters. I've actually had them stop in the road, get out and walk away from their vehicles, arms in hand, with me coming down the road grading.
I was visiting with a CAT designer month or so ago. Last name of Newbury, can't remember his first name. I mentioned Randy and of course he knew him. Said he wasn't up North anymore. Told me where he was but I can't remember that either. I used to follow Randy's posts on HEF. He lived quite an adventure when in the North Country!!!!
Doing roads I feather out windrow in regions that have a lot a native rock. To lose the bigger rocks off the road. Then I have always left windows where the rock for the road was always trucked in. The bad thing about feathering the rock out was a lot of times it's fractured rock. After blading the roads the locals get a lot of flat tires from razor-sharp rock spread about the road. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Yeah that's why I try to not blade during the peak of harvest. Hard on my rock. Hard on truck tires.
I have never agreed with the statement that a grader is the hardest machine to run. By design it should be easier than most. I can run a tractor..... But I am no dozer man. I mostly need the grader so I can pretty the job up. Tractor should be easier fewer blade functions, but I can't make it look as good as some guys. I know some who can blade with a dozer just like a grader. I can run a hoe, but I'm no excavator man. I work with a guy that can build a road with a hoe, and you would think it had been graded. First thing someone says is wow that's a lot of leavers. Well an asphalt plant, or a crusher spread has a lot of buttons. If you get the chance....go for it. Every machine has its learning curve. Some guys are more suited to one more than another. I think a lot of it is how much interest you have. I don't mind those other machines for something different now and again, but I love grading, and I've even got the t-shirts.
Thank you Jerry
Thanks everyone
ovrszd/Richard I work full time now at Caterpillar's Tucson Proving Grounds. After 38 years in the Operating Engineers Local 302 I retired and moved to Arizona. I now work in Machine Development & Testing, primarily large (16,18, 24 & ??) motor graders. I also test other machines when my motor grader work schedule isn't full. I spent the last 3-4 years working on the 18M3 Development & Testing both in Alaska and here; that machine was introduced at MINEXPO this year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpbO8YoPWa4 Here's where my latest adventure is happening! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMrUKiFDtQI Best Regards, Randy Krieg
Hey Randy!!!! Great to hear from you!!!! Shook my memory, yep Tucson. Do you recall a CAT rep, last name Newbury??? Over the years I've saved several of your pics when working up North!!!! Thank you very much for taking the time to post those pics and comments. You were my first informative contact with the CAT M series. Hope all is well with you!!!! Look forward to any future posts/threads.
Randy, I hope that you are enjoying your new surroundings! I am not grader operator, I have spent most of my working life on tracks, but your posts have been a highlight of this forum for me at least. Non egotistical and no ******** Regards, Russ
Many thanks for all your answers gentlemen, your comments are deeply appreciated. I know there are tons of information in this forum, but I thought may be we could create a compact list of the ten most important rules, every blademan - new or experienced - would have in mind, for work safety and good outcome. Many thanks to all of you for your time to answer.