New to Back Slopes

Well I decided that if I was going to have a real grader experience I should do some back slopes. Having fixed my saddle pins retraction function and tightened up circle I put the 570A to work cutting in a new driveway for a neighbor which resulted in my getting to increase the sight distance from the main road to the new driveway by clearing vegetation and earth from the back slope from the main road.

The Good


The not so bad


And the Ugly


Just a little over my head but I'm learning. Found myself a little tensed and stressed after a couple of hours of this. Suspect that I'll go back over this next spring.

Will need to make some adjustment to moldboard / shims as I had a little trouble retracting my blade slide from full right extension, maybe due to rail wear and moldboard leverage being way out there.

Questions: Is most back slope work done on the right side of the operator? Does it work the same for both right and left? I ask this because of the circle side shift ram location.

That sure is beautiful country

Answering your question ( in my opinion). I do most of my backsloping from the right side for three reasons. First reason is my grader is set up to sideshift further to the right. There is a bracket that I can unbolt and change the distance of reach either direction. Second reason I like to work right to left to accommodate to the flow of traffic (mostly habit). The third reason is I think im a right handed grader operator. Lmao. I've never heard anybody ever make reference to this, but I believe it to be true. It does work the same from both sides in basic theory. Grandpa.

I have to agree with grandpa. I also do almost all of my backsloping from the right side. Thanks for the pictures and you will learn as you go. Just from looking at your pictures I can tell that you are trying to cut from the top down. You need to reverse that. Place the heel of the blade right in front of your right tire and in the ditch. You will be cutting the very bottom of the slope. In the next pass you increase the length of the cut moving a little farther up the slope. You will end up with a lot straighter and smoother slope. Your slope should end up in a nice even cut. And don't worry about it as nobody can complete a nice looking slope in a single pass unless they are using a very large motor grader. That 570 should take at least three passes looking at that picture. Good luck and have fun!!!

I guess I like to back slope from both sides of the blade. It doesn't make a difference to me, but like radrock said cut from the bottom out and just move up the slope cutting more and more until you have a nice gradual slope.

Thanks for the tips. I've been watching a few videos and looking at my work. Makes sense to remove the bottom first and work your way up the slope in increments. Be nice to have another 5 tons or so to work with, but not complaining as my previous ride was a Kubota tractor and drag. As you can see the ground is firmly packed sediment from those sandstone cliffs. Good material to work with unless it gets too wet.

Mitch, Yes it is beautiful country, but in the course of a year we will see temperature swings of a hundred degrees or more. Like some of those Aussies, a few of us have gone underground where the temperature stays between 60 and 70 degrees F.
As moisture is usually under 8 inches a year here, it works well. Might melt in your climate though.

That is a neat looking place. Looking at that I would say it is down around Cortez or west and north of there. Been there several times as I used to live in Farmington. Worried in the oil field years ago I miss that country a lot sometimes. That sandy soil was great to work in too.

When someone make slopes, can you make pictures from the grader in position with blade etc.? I like to see those type of work, slopes are for me the interesting things what a grader can do

Well graderfan, try this link then: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voEn1uVRW1s
This guy jeepnic is good and obviously does not have to repair his own equipment when he breaks it. I considered taking a camera, but I work by myself and need to focus on what I'm doing.

Radrock: Thank you for you help and compliment. If I get a hold of a mining machine, I'll make like a badger. Too old for the jack leg any more and the explosive permit would require too much time. Times sure change in 20 years.
I'm near I-70, (about 2 miles north of me) and 12 miles from Utah. Similar to Cortez as are both in the Colorado Plateau region. I'm far enough North to have colder winters. No cliff dwellings here except the ones we make for ourselves. Lots of oil and gas activity here too, but it is now in recession due to over supply and low prices. We are used to that though.
Here is a picture of "the other side".

Is that your place? I think living in a rock it pretty neat. Gotta be economical too. I haven't been up to that side of Colorado, lots of other places. Lived in Westcliffe for several years. It was great there but pretty darn cold too. 9,000 feet in the valley.

I have find a video from a back slope, it is filmed on the cabin:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLc4dUw0lHc

Good Video,, One other tip. When you are pulling back slopes you should always try to make a good smooth bottom first or even if in a ditch try to make sure all surfaces are flat. The result of a nice backslope will be a lot better if you are not bouncing over piles of dirt with the rear tandems.