Motor-Grading Techniques

I was thinking about the material that was left over after you worked it out of the sod. I don't know if you have enough room to work the backslope, but if its dry enough you can put your grader in the ditch and swing your blade up on the backslope and haul the material into the ditch. Then you can use the material to fill in the low spots etc...working your material, shaping your ditch you will find that it will compact. Its hard for me to tell exactly what you're up against there..how much room you have etc..A person can do amazing things with a grader, so don't give up..

Hey G4,,,, the next time your working in sod,, try lifting the discharge (heel) end of your blade so that the sod your cutting is lost about halfway across the blade. The sod will break up very much faster than letting it travel clear to the end. Give it a try, it works sweeter than the Skoal you been swallowing.....bwah ha hhah.

Good info to share gramps...but there ain't nothing sweeter than Skoal...lol. I realize that you don't keep the heel tight to the ground when ravelling out sod...but I have never left it all in the center with nothing coming off the heel. I'll give it a try if I get the chance...if it works I'll never tell you tho....bwah ha ha

On edit...do you suppose this could be a good senerio for some high speed grading??

tried the speed grading with good dry material , you can spread a lot of trash that way if you have the room to straddle the ditch , again thanks for the assitance G4 and grandpa

justridinby said:

tried the speed grading with good dry material , you can spread a lot of trash that way if you have the room to straddle the ditch , again thanks for the assitance G4 and grandpa

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Well I was initially trying to help out G4, but if you got some good out of my post's thats a double bonus justridinby...

Justridinby...... another thing that works for me. It sounds like your working in fairly hilly ground if your having erosion problems. What I do sometimes is cut both side of the sod and pull it to the middle. Then turn your blade straight and start close to a low spot and drag the sod into the low spot, backing up farther each time to pick up a load of sod. (This way your not pushing more sod than you can handle). Once you get the sod in the low spots, then finish grade.
I believe this method is better than flicking it out into your drains because when your done the road grade is in better shape than it was before. Flicking it might get rid of the crap, but its lowering your road and raising your drains. Good luck... Gramps.

justridinby... a lot of great advise has been given here, and its amazing what can be done with a grader and a bit of positive thinking and experience, but maybe its time for the farmer to open the wallet and give you some decent material to work with as well.

you got that right Micheal , it would be great to work with some good roadbase material , but i have to work with what i have ! a lot of the farmers where i am ,are working off rural assistance grants after the flooding in November so the budget only goes so far . After nearly 10 years of drought where little or no maitainance was carried out these roads are in a pretty poor shape .Thanks for the advice Gramps I really appreciate any tips i can get , the property I'm working on at the moment isn't so much hilly but at the bottom of a large valley with quite a large water catchment area . Most of the erosion was caused through lack of maitianance to stock water dam overflows and the like , plus the old guy who previously owned the property tried to divert water out of natural water courses allowing it to run down road drains scouring it out pretty badly .

How about tips for getting unstuck?

Side shift the circle to the side your trying to move toward, lift front tires off ground and side shift the front of the blade over. Did this a few times today and it worked out for me. The ground was reasonably firm i just sunk the rear in some sloppy mud and couldn't get traction...


I've seen other operators do this and it worked, which is where i got the idea from...

What do ya'll think on the technique?

Also, suggestions on working slopes? Need to get them pretty close to grade, working behind a dozer and compactor, i can see the slight hills and dips, but when i get up close to them on the blade i lose em. Is this a by feel kind of thing or do you have suggestions?

I want it to look as good as it can, make me look better as an operator and right now im just not happy with it. I told the boss man i would work on it some more when i got some time in between everything else. He says its good enough, most likely they will have a finish hand come back and finish it up.
I dont have alot of seat time, but our finish operator is a good guy and has been giving me pointers, so if he says its good then ill be in the seat longer...

Side shift the circle to the side your trying to move toward, lift front tires off ground and side shift the front of the blade over. Did this a few times today and it worked out for me. The ground was reasonably firm i just sunk the rear in some sloppy mud and couldn't get traction...

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I am the master of getting stuck..and do pretty good getting out to...lol. You got it..sometimes you have to use this along with the blade slide/articulation/circle turn..all depends how bad you're stuck

Also, suggestions on working slopes? Need to get them pretty close to grade, working behind a dozer and compactor, i can see the slight hills and dips, but when i get up close to them on the blade i lose em. Is this a by feel kind of thing or do you have suggestions?

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Thats where practice comes in..you are right tho as these seem to disappear when you get close. Its a good practice to mark out these places first..survey stake..rock..whatever. That way you know exactly where the small humps/dips are etc. After awhile tho your old eyeball will work better for ya.

I dont have alot of seat time, but our finish operator is a good guy and has been giving me pointers, so if he says its good then ill be in the seat longer

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If he's willing to share his knowledge then take full advantage of it. Good luck with your learning!

Took a shot at finishing up some slopes today, they came out decent and the boss was happy with them. I have seen better, but its not crucial that they are dead on. I take all the advice i can get, and that applies to any machine. I know these guys dont have to tell me anything and could leave me to figure it out on my own, so i cherish the tips they do give. I am a good loader hand, and i dont mind giving advice or tips to up and coming loader hands, or even to operators that have years of seat time. Its simply advice, they can take it or leave it, either way its free of charge...


As for getting stuck, i really dont like getting stuck and we have enough equipment around that usually i will wait so i dont tear anything up. If im a ways away from other equipment ill do what i can to get out, so far its been about a 50% success rate...




Next question, is there a trick to finishing? Or is it all skill? Like blue topping roads and such...

Oh, I didn't like getting stuck either, but I used to do alot of ditching so it kind of went with the job

Next question, is there a trick to finishing? Or is it all skill?

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I've worked with a lot of operators..some kept getting better and better..learning new skills and eventually made good finish operators. Others I worked with could only go so far and never made it to that point as a finish operator and never will. Just depends on the person.

Yea i dont think anybody really does, but with our current jobsite, a river bottom its going to happen. Its a part of the territory...

I think that really applies to any kind of operating. Some people can do it, others can not. I am not sure if i have what it takes to finish. But only time will really tell. I do know over the last couple of weeks my skill has improved, but it still needs work.

Any more tips or tricks to share? I have worked some odd areas and made it look good. Did a tricky slope area with the articulation. How about wheel lean? What kind of situations is that really needed and when is it really usefull? I most often use it on slopes...

Any more tips or tricks to share? I have worked some odd areas and made it look good. Did a tricky slope area with the articulation. How about wheel lean? What kind of situations is that really needed and when is it really usefull? I most often use it on slopes...

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If you do a search through this grader section, you'll find lots of tips from a good bunch of grader operators. If you did a tricky slope using articulation..then you're well on your way. Lean wheel is a good steering aid and can be used in different applications..slopes, grading etc.
Just take your time and think about what your next move is going to be. Learn from your mistakes. You have to remember that operating a grader, as you do so many different things with it...is a continuous learning process. You have to keep the mind set that no matter how good you are, or think you are..you can always pick up something. I've seen guys that thought they knew it all and you couldn't tell them nothing. These are the ones that never go anywhere. As said..sounds like you are taking a keen interest and progressing well..

Hey Truckin4life.... do you have a slopemeter in your present machine?

Nope, no slope meter. I have run a machine with a slope meter and i kind of miss having one.

Grader4me: I have spent several hours in these pages reading, absorbing and try to apply new things to my current work. With out this board i would not be as far as i am today!!!!

I use the wheel lean for making turns occasionally especially in loose material,

I have gotten that mind set a few times during various projects, but thankfully i have snapped out of it. I know i am not the best, and everyday my goal is to do something new or something a little better than i did it yesterday. I think that has been my greatest joy so far, is pushing my self to do better and trying to learn something new.

I think the bosses have taken notice of a few "out of the box" idea's i have had to approach certain situations. I dont know how an experience blade hand would approach them, but i know how i did and i got the job done. So thats what matters right?

Thanks for all of the input guys, i really appreciate it!


As for a slope meter, i didnt take notice how it was mounted in my last machine, but how are they mounted in side the machine? and are what kind of price tag do they carry?

tape a piece of string with a nut to the window if nothing else is available, works in a pinch.

Dwan Hall said:

tape a piece of string with a nut to the window if nothing else is available, works in a pinch.

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Thats a good idea..never thought of that.

Grader4me said:

Thats a good idea..never thought of that.

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No no snuffy,,,, you put the tape on the string, not the nut....bwah ha hha!!!

Thats why it didn't work!