Cut the blade down on a Galion T500

[rick nelson]

I would like to cut my blade down to maybe a 12' blade. It is too wide for our road. Would this be a mistake? The cutting and welding would be no problem, I just dont want to find out later that I missed a critical part when deciding to do this.
Thanks

 

[Nige]

If you cut the moldboard down you could potentally end up in the situation where the rear tyres of the machine are running right on top of the material spilling off the back edge.
How wide is the road.?
Can you angle the moldboard more when operaring to present a narrower profile than the width of the road.? It would also help the material to flow off the moldboard.

 

[rick nelson]

In some places it's 10' wide. I was thinking that I could use the power shift to move the blade to the position I need. ALSO I probably only have about 2 hours of time ever operating a grader. LOL I told my wife I wanted a grader. She told me win the lottery and I could get one. I found one for 4k just to show her. LOL I have 3 switch backs on our road. Do I just need more practice?

 

[Nige]

In some places it's 10' wide.

Is that at the narrowest or the widest part.?

Maybe you need to scour Youtube for some grader operation training videos. Part 1 of a two part video.

 

[sled dog]

Angle the blade. I have cut miles of 3 foot flat bottom ditches with a 14 foot blade.

 

[Welder Dave]

I'm finding a grader takes a lot more time to get even the least bit used to compared to other machines. I take quite a bit of time setting the blade where I want it trying to get it just right. An experienced operator came out and could set the blade and go in 2 seconds. He said it takes a long time to get proficient with a grader. Anytime you adjust one side of the moldboard it changes the other side. When you angle the blade watch the back and front tires really close so the blade doesn't hit them.

 

[JaredV]

If the standard blade for a T500 is 12 feet, I don't see a problem. A shorter blade will cut better if you really want to dig. I have an Allis Chalmers model D that has the optional 12 foot blade but the standard is 10 foot. It's really too much for such a small machine so I'm gonna shorten it one of these days. I plan to cut a one foot section out just in from the end so I still have the end bits, bolt the new shorter cutting edge on, bolt the end pieces to it to line everything up and weld it together.

 

[Welder Dave]

If you cut it shorter would have to do some very careful measuring so the the bolt holes would match new blades. Probably best to take the same amount off each side so the side shift is equal. My grader has a 2ft. extension that's good for some jobs but too wide for other jobs. The problem is a previous owner welded the crap out of it so it's not easy to take off. An air arc torch would be the best but I'd need to rent one as well as a big enough compressor. I'd want to keep the offset at the end for bolting the end bits back on. I think I'll just live with it.

 

[JaredV]

If you cut it shorter would have to do some very careful measuring so the the bolt holes would match new blades.

Not if you use the cutting edge as a template. Bolt the end pieces to it and you're all lined up.

 

[IceHole]

I When you angle the blade watch the back and front tires really close so the blade doesn't hit them.

I learned than while articulating trying to scrape ice along a curb with a 160m3 when I worked for the DOT at the airport

Was watching for traffic and people and whoops, ran the blade into the tire. Thankfully just burped the bead.

 

[Welder Dave]

Not if you use the cutting edge as a template. Bolt the end pieces to it and you're all lined up.

That would be the best way but would still have to make pretty precise cuts if cutting a section out of the middle. If the molboard wasn't cut perfectly square on both sides could make the cutting edge difficult to bolt on because there would be stress on the bolts if it wasn't perfect. I think it would be best to tack a bunch of braces on to hold everything perfect before final welding. I'm not sure if there would still be some distortion due to welding. The problem with restraining everything before welding creates a lot of built up stress because the pieces can't can't expand and contract from the heat of welding. Might be good to preheat and slow cool or throw some heat from a weed burner on it right after welding. I guess you could trim a hole(s) if required if the bolts were a struggle to put in.

 

[hseII]

In some places it's 10' wide. I was thinking that I could use the power shift to move the blade to the position I need. ALSO I probably only have about 2 hours of time ever operating a grader. LOL I told my wife I wanted a grader. She told me win the lottery and I could get one. I found one for 4k just to show her. LOL I have 3 switch backs on our road. Do I just need more practice?

Yes.

A grader is a piece of equipment that takes a lot of seat time to get the hang of-do you have a county that maintains the unpacked roads with a grader?

It would behoove you to find an old fellow that runs or ran a grader & have him come show you the ins & outs of it.

 

[rick nelson]

Thanks for the replies. I just measured the blade and it is a 14' blade. I think I would still like to cut it down to a 12' blade. We would take 12" off each end and that would involve cutting the 6" or 8" section off the end, then taking off 12" and rewelding the end piece back on. I have a lot of trees and banks and other obstacles to work around. I have watched the videos and over time have come to realize I need to slow down in everything I do with this. Then probably get off the machine and get a feel for where I am lacking by walking the road then go at it again. I would love to find an old operator but have not had any luck so far. Our neighbor behind us operated county graders for years but he passed away. Timing was not right I guess.

 

[sled dog]

Rick, tell us about your grader. Make? model?

 

[JaredV]

Driving your pickup on your grading job will tell you a lot, too.

 

[rick nelson]

It's a t-500 Galion. Yes drove the pickup and cars up and down the road. I think I need to pull the material up off the side and drag it into the center or up on the road on each side then spread it out again. I am kind of afraid of getting too low and going into our nasty CLAY LOL. We put decomposed granite on the road for years. Now we have been dumping 3/4 minus when we have the money. I also have sensors in the road for our gate. We build and install gates so I am aware of graders tearing out loops.

 

[GEORGIOS198217]

I had old graders like 12E with 12 blade . I now have one cat h series with 14 foot blade. For fine grading i find it much more useful.now even at very small road i can not go with 12 foot blade.i would no cut anything, i would try to find one more experienced man and ask himto help me. If you go some time and sit near him you would see the trick.

 

[Silveroddo]

What kind of material are you working with?
If the driveway is established, has proper drainage, and has decent material a box blade on a small tractor is tough to beat for maintaining a 10' driveway.
If you're working with native material and trying to establish drainage and are constantly improving you're road, a grader starts to have benefits.
On narrow roads I've found a 3 pass approach to be more practical, lightly cutting and leaving a minimal windrow, lightly "cutting" on the opposite side of the return pass being more concerned with maintaining the edge of your draining and bringing some material to the center of the road than trying to create a windrow on the other end of you're blade, and then lightly feathering the center to the edge you initially cut. A straight cutting edge is critical to this type of work, unless you have enough wear in it to establish the crown you're trying to achieve. In that case cut lightly from one side to the other, then cut lightly from the other side to the other and try to feather it out back to the side you cut.
The type of material you have to work with plays a big part in all of it. If you have decent gravel life gets easier, if you're working with native material there's more of a learning curve.
As you mentioned, trying to do things to fast in a blade has negative results. Also if you're material isn't great small cuts and compaction are your friend.

 

[Delmer]

You're trying to do the hardest job with the least experience and probably a somewhat worn machine, that all combines to make it tough even going extremely slow. I don't see how 12" lopped off the end of the blade is going to make anything easier. It sounds like you know exactly what you need to do, you just don't have the experience to do it in the least number of passes, or to have it come out polished when you're done. It's not a flat straight road, so it will never be perfect. A drag might be what you need for the final passes to smooth out the ugliness instead of trying to get there with the grader.

 

[cuttin edge]

Just get in it and go. You're not fine grading for asphalt. A grader is like a wood planer, the more you go over it the better it gets. Big thing I see a lot of dozer operators do when they try a grader, is moving the mold board too much, and not angling it. The machine will do most of the work for you if you let it. One function I couldn't live without, is mold board curl, it changes the cut and flow of material over the road. If you were to have the machine on a perfect spot. If the bottom of the cutting edge was the same elevation as the bottom of the tires, and start to drive, as you came to a high spot, the machine would start cutting, if your MB was full, it would leave the material in the hole. I know it's over simplified, but if you can get that basic move down, you start to learn all the other stuff after. If your draw bar is set up right, and the circle, or point of rotation is level, you can rotate the MB with little adjustment, however, on some machines, your drawbar is not level, and as you rotate, the leading edge of the MB will drop, and the trailing edge will raise, so you have to compensate as you rotate. All comes with time.