Champion Grader

[[-Agent-]]

What information do you guys have on Champion Graders? I have never seen or heard of one until today.

 

[Motor Grader]

-Agent-, Champion is one of the oldest names in motor graders. They actually built horse drawn pull type graders back in 1886 followed bu the first hydraulically powered grader in 1936. Check out http://www.championantiquegraderclub.ca for more information about where Champion started. In 1997, Volvo Construction Equipment bought the Champion Motor Grader line which consisted of a factory in Goderich, Ontario that built the large 700 Series as shown in your pic and a factory in Charlotte, NC that built smaller compact size graders. In 2004 Volvo divested the compact grader line and my Dad bought the company and the Champion trademark. My and my Dad's roots run a little deeper than just 2004 and you can get the whole story at www.championmotorgraders.us. We still build Champion graders today that range from 13,000 lbs to 24,000 lbs.

The 700 Series Graders built in Goderich, Ontario would be rebranded Volvo in 2000 and model numbers changed to the G900 Series. The G900 Series graders are going through some major changes as far as production. They have shut down the factory in Canada and a new addition in an existing Volvo plant in Penn. is in process where the plan is to move production. In the intrim production is being covered from an existing plant in Brazil.

I've given you a very small look into the history of the Champion graders. Its a long and exciting history at least for us grader lovers anyway! If you are looking for more information on larger graders over 24,000 lbs then go to www.volvoce.com and if something smaller is what you need try www.championmotorgraders.us for a complete line up of compact and production class graders. I hope this helps!

 

[Super Roel]

-Agent-, Champion is one of the oldest names in motor graders. They actually built horse drawn pull type graders back in 1886 followed bu the first hydraulically powered grader in 1936. Check out http://www.championantiquegraderclub.ca for more information about where Champion started. In 1997, Volvo Construction Equipment bought the Champion Motor Grader line which consisted of a factory in Goderich, Ontario that built the large 700 Series as shown in your pic and a factory in Charlotte, NC that built smaller compact size graders. In 2004 Volvo divested the compact grader line and my Dad bought the company and the Champion trademark. My and my Dad's roots run a little deeper than just 2004 and you can get the whole story at www.championmotorgraders.us. We still build Champion graders today that range from 13,000 lbs to 24,000 lbs.

The 700 Series Graders built in Goderich, Ontario would be rebranded Volvo in 2000 and model numbers changed to the G900 Series. The G900 Series graders are going through some major changes as far as production. They have shut down the factory in Canada and a new addition in an existing Volvo plant in Penn. is in process where the plan is to move production. In the intrim production is being covered from an existing plant in Brazil.

I've given you a very small look into the history of the Champion graders. Its a long and exciting history at least for us grader lovers anyway! If you are looking for more information on larger graders over 24,000 lbs then go to www.volvoce.com and if something smaller is what you need try www.championmotorgraders.us for a complete line up of compact and production class graders. I hope this helps!

-Agent- .
You can reed the book (Everything for the Road Maker ) about what Champion has made .see the pictures of the book .

 

[qball]

i can say that a champion is comfy as hell and pushes snow like a locomotive.

 

[Abscraperguy]

Simple and straight forward. Not very plush but will go forever and is easy and economical to repair when needed. It's a components machine. Champion didn't build any parts themselves save for the frame and cab.

 

[tripper_174]

I've operated D600's, 562's, 710's, 740's, 760's and an old pull type behind a John Deere D. Each generation of Champ got better for the operator. The Cummins equipped graders had lots of power and torque at low revs which was important when finishing. Some had Detroits which weren't as good as they needed so many revs to generate torque and are slow getting up to speed. Still weren't bad. Early models were short on hydraulic capacity as well but that too improved over the years. Some 700 series had weak front axles that would beak for no apparent reason. However as time went on they became a decent grader. In Canada they were a very common machine, probably second only to Cat although I'm just speculating on that. As qball says, with their weight and power they could really move snow! Lately I've only been involved with Cat and JD so not familiar with the Volvo machines. Glad to see the name is kept alive by Motor Grader.

I believe the second largest grader ever built was a Champion, the 100 T.

http://www.vannattabros.com/road4.html

That machine looks like a 710 or 720. Good finishing machine.

 

[King of Obsolete]

yes the champion are good graders on the snow plowing. buddy barry has a 1983 740 champion with a 6-71 detroit and we can plow snow with that machine. the highways department has the brand new volvos which are always broken due to computer problems. so the non computer 740 has been filling in. we start plowing and when it gets close to 12 hours plowing that is when we are looking for the fuel truck. i just did 31 hours straight last week and right on the 12 hours mark since i left the shop, buddy barry was there to fuel me up at 2 am in the morning.
these are great machine and easy to fix, we deal with jade in edmonton which is 1800kms away for parts because these guys get the right parts the first time around.

thansk
KoO
Published Author

 

[[-Agent-]]

Thanks for all the info guys. I'll try to get more pics when I go up there tomorrow.

 

[Grader4me]

yes the champion are good graders on the snow plowing. buddy barry has a 1983 740 champion with a 6-71 detroit and we can plow snow with that machine. the highways department has the brand new volvos which are always broken due to computer problems. so the non computer 740 has been filling in. we start plowing and when it gets close to 12 hours plowing that is when we are looking for the fuel truck. i just did 31 hours straight last week and right on the 12 hours mark since i left the shop, buddy barry was there to fuel me up at 2 am in the morning.
these are great machine and easy to fix, we deal with jade in edmonton which is 1800kms away for parts because these guys get the right parts the first time around.

thansk
KoO
Published Author

Hi KoO..you guys should rig up a front plow for the grader. Sooo much better for plowing..

 

[buggyman]

How much better is a front blade?

Hi KoO..you guys should rig up a front plow for the grader. Sooo much better for plowing..
__________________

Hi Grader4me

So I want to know the advantages of a front blade?

I have an old state Hwy blade, it is 11' and is designed to angle only to the right but it will swing even to the left.

So I've been trying to figure out,
1) should I set it up to angle?
2) angle with hyd cylinder or pin?
3) put/make sometype of end plate to be able to make a bucket pusher out of it.
4) put skid wheels on it for when plowing gravel roads.


Any recomedations will be great.

Paul

 

[Grader4me]

Hi KoO..you guys should rig up a front plow for the grader. Sooo much better for plowing..
__________________

Hi Grader4me

So I want to know the advantages of a front blade?

With a one way plow on a grader you can push the snow alot easier, especially the big storms. Much easier to push back turning places and snow banks. I find that you can go a couple of gears faster when plowing with a front plow, compared to using the moldboard. Now the moldboard also has its advantages over the front plow...cutting hard packed snow is one example.

I have an old state Hwy blade, it is 11' and is designed to angle only to the right but it will swing even to the left.

Is this a one way plow or a reversible plow? Picture would be nice.

So I've been trying to figure out,
1) should I set it up to angle?
2) angle with hyd cylinder or pin?
3) put/make sometype of end plate to be able to make a bucket pusher out of it.
4) put skid wheels on it for when plowing gravel roads.

Depends on what type of plow that you have.


Any recomedations will be great.

Paul

If you can explain exactly what type of plow that you have, maybe I could help you out a little more.

 

[King of Obsolete]

thansk guys, a front plow would be nice but our roads up here are narrow and we usually do first pass on the way out and on the way home cut it down for the finished product. we don't get the wind that causes the snow to drift in and make it hard so plowing is easy. for the first time, buddy barry had to buy tire chains for the grader because of the first snow and rains this year. these chains will last over 10 years because they will hang on the grader untill we need them which might be in 10 years, LOL.

reason for the tire chains.

http://kingofobsolete.ca/kinoosao_rally_road_WEBPAGE.htm

thansk
KoO
Published Author

 

[Motor Grader]

Simple and straight forward. Not very plush but will go forever and is easy and economical to repair when needed. It's a components machine. Champion didn't build any parts themselves save for the frame and cab.

Not sure I follow this statement about Champion not building any parts themselves. Sorry if I misunderstood but basically the entire grader was built for decades in Goderich, Ontario with very little out sourcing. The 8400 transmission was built by Champion also. I spent a great deal of time in the factory from 1993 until they had the auction to shut it down last month.

 

[Abscraperguy]

Not sure I follow this statement about Champion not building any parts themselves. Sorry if I misunderstood but basically the entire grader was built for decades in Goderich, Ontario with very little out sourcing. The 8400 transmission was built by Champion also. I spent a great deal of time in the factory from 1993 until they had the auction to shut it down last month.

Engines were Detroit or Cummins and I'm sure others were used. They used Clark transmissions and rear ends for a time and the hydraulic system I forget the name. I will admit I'm not that familiar with newer ones so maybe by the end they were building more of their own parts. Nowadays its really only Cat Deere, Komatsu, and Volvo etc who don't use a lot of off the shelf components. How was it working for Champion? I always heard it was a good family run business atmosphere.

 

[Motor Grader]

Engines were Detroit or Cummins and I'm sure others were used. They used Clark transmissions and rear ends for a time and the hydraulic system I forget the name. I will admit I'm not that familiar with newer ones so maybe by the end they were building more of their own parts. Nowadays its really only Cat Deere, Komatsu, and Volvo etc who don't use a lot of off the shelf components. How was it working for Champion? I always heard it was a good family run business atmosphere.

I see what your saying now. True, up until around 1990'ish Champion would install any engine. Somewhere in that time era they standardized on Cummins. Now that the larger graders are owned by Volvo its a Volvo engine only. I think if you peek into the guts of a CAT, Deere, Volvo, Case, etc it may appear that the manufacturer is building more components such as hydraulic pumps and motors. Typically its still a pump/motor manufacturer doing private labeling for them. Its especially common on a part that they use alot of.

 

[King of Obsolete]

thansk motor grader. the champion grader is very popular in the great white north with about 20 machines in the area where i live but not all in working order. the detroit engine is the most popular engine that is in the machines. the champion is easy to work on and has no computers that will shut the machine down. i did 31 hours straight last week plowing snow and then check the 740 over in the shop. the machine has to be ready for when we get the call from the highways department saying the computer is acting up again on the fancy new machine.with the help of the BB, we have made numerous improvements to the machine to make it better.

also $1500.00 cnd money for 2 tire chains came to today for the 740 champion. now with these diamond pattern chains i can climb those hills now, LOL

thansk
KoO
Published Author

 

[coltur]

antique champion graders

we recently purchased a very old 600 series Champion grader (without a manual) with a 671 Detroit diesel. I beleive it is a 1960's vintage. It runs very well still however we are now encountering some steering problems. It has a Sheppard steering box Model 514 I beleive, which we are having trouble finding any info on. THe grader has trouble steering to the right - to the left is not a problem. ANy sugguestions on what might be the cause or any info on a website that we can trouble shoot the the inner workings of the Sheppard sterring box?
Thanks
Coltur

 

[coltur]

antique champion graders

we recently purchased a very old 600 series Champion grader (without a manual) with a 671 Detroit diesel. I beleive it is a 1960's vintage. It runs very well still however we are now encountering some steering problems. It has a Sheppard steering box Model 514 I beleive, which we are having trouble finding any info on. THe grader has trouble steering to the right - to the left is not a problem. ANy sugguestions on what might be the cause or any info on a website that we can trouble shoot the the inner workings of the Sheppard sterring box?
Thanks
Coltur

 

[Motor Grader]

Coltur,
You should try Jade Equipment - http://www.jadeequipment.com/pages/default.aspx

They are about the only people that have made it their business to keep these older Champion graders running.

 

[coltur]

thanks I will try Jade.
Coltur