My first experience on a grader.

[YoungOne]

:drinkup I arrivived at work this morning at 6 AM expecting to finish pouring 22 yards worth of wall today. Surprisingly the boss had more than that planned for me. ( So much for half a day on friday:D )

We stopped running five scapers on this part of the job at the end of last week. So the owner got the grade close with a D4H. ( about six tenths ) I knew he could have gotten it alot closer. Come to findout this was something he said " You can't really mess it up." and i reply with " Sir i've never ran one of these before." " The wall is poured, we're done. You've been doing better work than expected for a young man on the dozer/excavator ( Cat 345, D4H ) so for the rest of the day i am paying you to get used to this machine, get the grade close as possible without windrows. While i sit in my truck doing paperwork and watching you. "

It didnt take me long to jump in the 14M and start out on it. After watching so many great operators i picked it up kind of fast. Still really confused on the front wheel lean ( What's the technical name for that? ) And what that's for, so i just rode with my blade up with that. Since i wasn't on a road and i was in an open area, No other machines running, No one but me my car, the owners truck, And his always watching eyes. I felt as though i could run it just like i do a dozer.

I start out with my first pass which i call a "key" and try to get it looking just like i need to. Even if it takes more than one pass to do. And from there i have gotten to where i can make every pass after that look exactly like
my key.

Am i doing this right? Should i treat a grader differently than a dozer? What's the best was to eliminate windrows? And don't tell me pick them up with the backhoe front bucket:Pointhead :Pointhead I found myself just driving the grader for about thirty minutes trying to get used to it. Learning the controls etc. I asked the boss man for that. " Take what you need Mike. "

I work for a great company:D

What do you guys do? * Patiently awaits a response from an experienced graderhand like Grader4Me.

-Michael-

Thanks HOAAH!!:usa

[Dirtman2007]

Well, I learned how to run one about a couple of years ago, I was probably
18. I was gradigna baseball field. Never been one one before and I had to get the grade within a 1/2 inch over a 2 acre field:eek: Took me a while to figure out the control, but then I got the hang of it. Problem was one of the cylinders that lifed the blade would leaked down about 4 inches a minute so I had to constantly fiddle with it to keep it the same. I would start a one side, angle the blade where the firt would roll off the right or left side, then continue the same process until I work my way across the field. You can tilt the blade to control how much the blade digs into the ground. I find it helpfull to push both blade lift levers all the way down where the lock down, then the blade will float across the ground and not dig in.
hope I was helpful in some way!

[YoungOne]

Well, I learned how to run one about a couple of years ago, I was probably
18. I was gradigna baseball field. Never been one one before and I had to get the grade within a 1/2 inch over a 2 acre field:eek: Took me a while to figure out the control, but then I got the hang of it. Problem was one of the cylinders that lifed the blade would leaked down about 4 inches a minute so I had to constantly fiddle with it to keep it the same. I would start a one side, angle the blade where the firt would roll off the right or left side, then continue the same process until I work my way across the field. You can tilt the blade to control how much the blade digs into the ground. I find it helpfull to push both blade lift levers all the way down where the lock down, then the blade will float across the ground and not dig in.
hope I was helpful in some way!


Thanks. wow 1/2 inch over 2 acre field. Atleast you had a big area to learn:) I kind of figured out how to lock those two levers towards the end of my shift today. Really enjoyed the time on the grader. Really responsive for a machine i've never used.

-Michael-

[Dirtman2007]

Thanks. wow 1/2 inch over 2 acre field. Atleast you had a big area to learn:) I kind of figured out how to lock those two levers towards the end of my shift today. Really enjoyed the time on the grader. Really responsive for a machine i've never used.

-Michael-

I was running a old 70's model john deere. Kids knocked all the windows out of it and It was the dead of winter when I was using it. Once a lever was pulled there was a 5 second delay before some thing moved. Talk about being frustrating, but I got the hang of it

[tylermckee]

Thanks. wow 1/2 inch over 2 acre field. Atleast you had a big area to learn:) I kind of figured out how to lock those two levers towards the end of my shift today. Really enjoyed the time on the grader. Really responsive for a machine i've never used.

-Michael-


I thought the M series was all joystick control?
:confused:

sure you were sitting in this?

[Dirtman2007]

Only two levers? I would be lost! the one I used had about 25 control levers:D

[YoungOne]

I thought the M series was all joystick control?
:confused:

sure you were sitting in this?

Yes that's it. It's a new machine.:) i meant buttons/sticks. not controls sorry.

Any tips?

-Michael-

[Grader4me]

I really don't no where to start :confused: I will say this.. the technical name for the front wheel lean is called "front wheel lean" :D It's to aid in steering and control.

I start out with my first pass which i call a "key" and try to get it looking just like i need to. Even if it takes more than one pass to do. And from there i have gotten to where i can make every pass after that look exactly like
my key.

I am totally lost with this one...maybe it's because I live a sheltered life?




Am i doing this right? Should i treat a grader differently than a dozer? What's the best was to eliminate windrows? And don't tell me pick them up with the backhoe front bucket

Pick it up with a backhoe....kidding. I'm not sure if you're doing it right because I don't understand what you are trying to do. Depends on what task you are doing when it comes to eliminating windrows

I find it helpfull to push both blade lift levers all the way down where the lock down, then the blade will float across the ground and not dig in

:eek:

Young one I will help you out all that I can, but you have to be more specific on exactly what task you are doing, and what you are trying to accomplish.

[nedly05]

what little bit I've run a grader, I've noticed you can't run it like a dozer because you have to adjust each corner independently, where a dozer blade just tilts all in the same lever. Also, when you get your grade set where it belongs and you go to make your next pass, set your blade up off from the last pass so it is on grade when you start. When did you get a constuction job? Congrats!!! Good Luck!!!

[Ross]

Only two levers? I would be lost! the one I used had about 25 control levers
Piano lessons will help :D

Ross

[YoungOne]

I really don't no where to start :confused: I will say this.. the technical name for the front wheel lean is called "front wheel lean" :D It's to aid in steering and control.



I am totally lost with this one...maybe it's because I live a sheltered life?






Pick it up with a backhoe....kidding. I'm not sure if you're doing it right because I don't understand what you are trying to do. Depends on what task you are doing when it comes to eliminating windrows



:eek:

Young one I will help you out all that I can, but you have to be more specific on exactly what task you are doing, and what you are trying to accomplish.




imagine an open field. close to grade. You have to finish it off. Same grade all the way across. No windrows. All finish grade. How do i decide where to put my windrows/ how do i eliminate them. I am sure you have spent most of your days on the road. So i hope you can give me tips on ditching:D Any advice on that will do. I dont have a scenario yet.

-Michael-

Sorry if i'm not precise.=/

[YoungOne]

what little bit I've run a grader, I've noticed you can't run it like a dozer because you have to adjust each corner independently, where a dozer blade just tilts all in the same lever. Also, when you get your grade set where it belongs and you go to make your next pass, set your blade up off from the last pass so it is on grade when you start. When did you get a constuction job? Congrats!!! Good Luck!!!

Thanks for the tips nedly. I started back with the same contractor i was with before i went for army training a little less than a month ago.

Since then i have spent 85% of my time in a machine. Yet i find myself always volunteering to do the shovel work for the more experienced older man. Makes me feel weird when i am digging a trench to lay pipe and a man twice my age or more is beneath me. And not in my seat. I always offer. Seems like they have no desire to run equipment though.

They get paid good for what they do though. Know any guys like that?

I've had time in a Articulated truck, Grader ( little bit ) Bulldozer alot of backfilling/ One finish grade with laser. Excavator laying pipe. I dug a footing for a wall we're going to set trash containers on. And swung the massive concrete bucket over the hole to pour concrete since we can't get a truck in. Swung massive concrete mats into place.

Feels when the boss says what he did to me the other day with the concrete bucket " Your on the excavator, Your job. Your speed. I'm not going to say anything. "

My only rules are.

Safety first.
Never swing over their head.
Always listen to them. They can see what you can't sometimes.

For just under a month back. I'm having fun/ getting experience.

Not to mention. Owner is teaching me to read plans/ let me have the 2nd set of every job we are on. So i can take them home and learn. Let's just say. I know more now than i did when i started. Back when i had to ask him what the hell a taper was.lol


-Michael-:usa :usa

[Grader4me]

imagine an open field. close to grade. You have to finish it off. Same grade all the way across. No windrows. All finish grade. How do i decide where to put my windrows/ how do i eliminate them. I am sure you have spent most of your days on the road. So i hope you can give me tips on ditching:D Any advice on that will do. I dont have a scenario yet.

-Michael-

Sorry if i'm not precise.=/


No problem, I was just trying to understand exactly what you was trying to do with the grader. Hope I didn't come off sounding like a grump.

You eliminate a windrow by "feathering out" your material. Do you mean that after they move the material across there are no windrows left?

[YoungOne]

No problem, I was just trying to understand exactly what you was trying to do with the grader. Hope I didn't come off sounding like a grump.

You eliminate a windrow by "feathering out" your material. Do you mean that after they move the material across there is no windrows left?


Not exactly. After i make my last pass. I always have a windrow left. And picking it up with the backhoe bucket has been the easiest way for me to get it so far:(:Banghead :Banghead

Lead me through feathering a windrow out. I hope these arent stupid questions.

-Michael-

[Grader4me]

Not exactly. After i make my last pass. I always have a windrow left. And picking it up with the backhoe bucket has been the easiest way for me to get it so far:(:Banghead :Banghead

Lead me through feathering a windrow out. I hope these arent stupid questions.

-Michael-


No such thing as a stupid question. Okay, I will explain it this way. Senerio...grading a road. We are going to cut it all the way across starting from the left side working toward the right side. We made 3 cuts across and now there is a good size windrow on the right side of the road. All the potholes etc. have been cut out. It will take 4 passes to move the windrow back across the road to the left. Each pass the windrow gets smaller as you are spreading the windrow evenly over the road. On your last pass you feather the windrow out completely, meaning that it is coming off your blade evenly or "feathered out to nothing" as I call it.

Now that was just a basic senerio.....

[Deas Plant]

Hi, Young One.
The art of operating pretty much any earthmoving machine is setting the blade or cutting edge to take the material from you want to take it to where you want to put it in the condition that it needs to be in when it gets there with the least number of passes.

You could check out this thread for some more tips and some more experiences from a newcomer to graders:

http://www.heavyequipmentforums.com/Forum/showthread.php?t=4440

As Grader4me said, the leaning front wheels are to help you steer and to help hold you on course under heavy side loads such as breaking out a heavy windrow or cutting a drain. You can also use them to help hold the front end up on a batter.

Graders are far and away the most technical machine to operate because of their many functions and because they spend so much of their time doing finishing work.

Keep asking questions.

[EZ TRBO]

Haven't had much time moving dirt with a grader(have moved a ton of snow with one though). Using the articulate and the wheel lean works great when plowing large drifted areas and wanting to get the snow off the road but keeping your drive wheels in the road. I will have to work on gettting some pics of that this winter. They are definatley an operators machine. Our local township patrol man, good guy, is not an operator at all and was having fits trying to do some shoulder work. I got on for a bit and helped him out, no where near how Don(our grader man) would have had it, but it worked for the road. My new job doesn't allow me to do many "projects", mostly just bulk earth moving, so I don't get to do much fussy work, however, there was talk of getting a grader, to keep all our haul roads, quarry drives and sand pit roads in good shape.

As Don has always told me, "The only way your going to learn is to sit your A$$ in that seat and give it a try."

Trbo

[772CH]

My first experience operating a grader was patching holes on asphalt roads with hot mix using a Cat 12E made in 1961. My supervisor showed me the basic rules for positioning the blade to move material or grade. It was tricky at first, but I got the hang of it. Everytime a lever kicked me, I felt like kicking it back. The only thing that was hydraulic was the blade shift. The secret on this application is to make a windrow, so the flow of the asphalt can be controlled. If you are making your finishing pass and to much asphalt is coming out of the heel, start reversing the circle so the heel becomes the toe and push the other side down accordingly. When the toe starts running out of material, start reversing the circle so the toe becomes a heel again. As toe is pushed down, heel has to be compensated as well....if required.

On dirt, making a small windrow is necessary. No windrow usually means that the material is exiting the blade before it gets to the end of the blade, making an uneven grade. Keep the drawbar in the center of the frame and the toe pressed on the surface of your last grade cut and make sure a little material is coming out of your heel. All of this depends on how much slope, if any that you need. The more slope you need, the more pressure you put on your heel, but none on your toe.....again, everything depends on the project. The pressure required depends on what your slope indicator reads (if you have one). To feather out the last windrow, use a straight blade, or backdrag it. Make sure you lock your differential when backdragging. If you spin out, shove the blade lift levers to float. If material is light, backdrag on float, but start raising to feather. This is how I cut holes out of parking lots and then grade them. This is also how I landscape lawns (without the backdragging of course). I always make a windrow finishing berms and the grade for paved parking lots.

If you really need to grade with the material flow stopping at the toe, you have to go slow and slip the clutch (if the situation calls for it) to give yourself time to adust the blade. The ground speed has to be slower than the hydraulic speed of your blade lift cylinders so your toe doesn't run out of material. Faster hydraulic speed is critical for curves and corners that are uneven. You want the blade to reach the low spot, before the grader moves on. No big deal, this stuff is easy to pick up, by doing it all of the time. Doing rough dirt work is a good way to experiment and practice. If you want to make a tight 90 degree turn instantly, push the heel down hard *lol* This trick works great for plowing snow on a street corner while turning and the front wheels sliding instead of turning.....also hard on tire chains, but it works.

After the blade movements are second nature, knowing how to manipulate your grader becomes second nature as well and you won't be afraid to try anything.

772CH

[digger242j]

772CH, welcome to Heavy Equipment Forums! :)

Very informative first post. :notworthy

[Diggerodell]

YoungOne,me too but I'm old and have no time at the controls. I'm working on controling the water on some logging roads on my ranch. I hope to keep the erosion to a minimum. Do you have any tricks for cutting in water bars? Seems like it would be best to cut them in going down hill but everyone seem to end up being a custom project. I wish I could watch a season hand do a few of these.

Best of the Holidays,
Diggerodell