I got the remote hyd. cables lubed and they seem better and don't stick like they did before. I also made some 3/4" spacers and welded them in the slotted holes for the blade pitch. They seem to be working so the blade doesn't go over center and get stuck. I think the grader will do a lot of things for me but will take some time to get it figured out.
good for you. I am moving away from a need for a grader but it has been high on my want list.
Getting the controls memorized and pushing them the right way will take some time. The previous owner never used the articulation and I'm wondering if I'd damage something if I took the pins out and tried to see if the articulation works? Some of the corners on the MX track are too tight to do one continuous turn and articulation would make them much easier.
Just remember, you can hit tires and things with your blade, so keep an eye out. Whatever you do to one side of the blade, you have to compensate on the other side. It's like a lever, if the right goes down, the left comes up. Depending on where your drawbar ball stud is positioned, some can have the stud high, and some can have it low, with a new cutting edge, your circle on the ground, will rotate fairly level. As the blades wear, as you rotate the angle of the drawbar changes and as you rotate, the front corner comes up, and the rear goes down. A good opposite example of this is when you lift the blade up as high as you can and rotate. The rear is up, and the front is down, Keep this in mind when traveling, and put the rear down to level the blade. I once caught a rail road crossing because I had everything up tight.
I noticed the blade does odd things when you lift it and it makes a difference how much it's side shifted. I was watching the tires pretty closely. I never really tried but I'm not sure if I can put the blade out beside the machine with the 2ft. extension on it. I also make sure the blade is down a bit when rotating it so it doesn't rub on the circle. The blade has been slammed up in the past as the 2" thick steel mounts for the side shift cylinder are mushroomed. Takes some getting used to and I wish 1st gear was a little slower but I'll get it somewhat figured out.