Passing on what you know

I always see those comments "Could someone tell me how to drive a grader". As if one could explain the trade. Not a lot of highway work around the last few years. My 2011 Volvo barely has 3000 hours on it. Been spending the bulk of my time on my 2014 Maulden making private driveways ready for pave. To be clear, the graders belong to the company, I'm just the operator, but since I'm the primary operator, everyone calls them both my graders. I work with the same 2 guys 90% of the time. A white hat, to babysit the rakes and shovels, and a truck driver to float the grader and roller around, haul waste away, and haul gravel back in. Both of them do all the hand work as well. Today the truck driver asked me how I was able to carry the grade on a fairly tight slope toward the front of the garage floor and still be 2 and a half inches below the floor for asphalt. Said he could see working from the garage out, but he had watched me work toward the garage and get it every time. I couldn't answer him. He thought I was just keeping trade secrets to myself, but I honestly couldn't relate how I do it, but after 25 years ,I just do it. Have you ever not been able to put it into words for someone?

No substitute for quantity time. I get people who find out that I know what levers to pull and want me to run their rented machine or something. No thanks. Just rent a machine with operator (hire a dirt contractor in other words). We will just stand and watch him get it done in half the time and twice as good.

How do I know how tight to turn a bolt? How to scrape a gasket without damaging the surface? How to sniff out an electrical problem? Dozens of times messing up my Dad's stuff and my own stuff when I was a kid no doubt. That is all water under the bridge now but the skill stays with you.

A funny story about a grader driving job. A bloke I knew applied for a grader driving job, told them of his experience. The boss says "can you start tomorrow?" Yep my mate says. OK says the boss 6am start and bring a swag. 6am my mate has the old Cat 12 fired up while awaiting instructions as to where the job site is. Boss arrives and tells him the job is in Darwin NT, He's in Gladstone QLD bout 2000 miles away. So my mate asks when is the truck coming. No truck your'e driving it. That was just after Cyclone Tracy hit and flattened Darwin in '76. It was the last time my mate ever applied for any job requiring machine drivers

Tones said:

A funny story about a grader driving job. A bloke I knew applied for a grader driving job, told them of his experience. The boss says "can you start tomorrow?" Yep my mate says. OK says the boss 6am start and bring a swag. 6am my mate has the old Cat 12 fired up while awaiting instructions as to where the job site is. Boss arrives and tells him the job is in Darwin NT, He's in Gladstone QLD bout 2000 miles away. So my mate asks when is the truck coming. No truck your'e driving it. That was just after Cyclone Tracy hit and flattened Darwin in '76. It was the last time my mate ever applied for any job requiring machine drivers

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Two questions- what's a 'swag' and did he do the job?

colson04 said:

Two questions- what's a 'swag' and did he do the job?

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This sounds correct for the job.
AUSTRALIAN/NZ
travel with one's personal belongings in a bundle.
"swagging it in Queensland

Yes he did the job, took him 2 weeks to get there.

Walkerv, that definition of a swag is correct although today it's more like a bedroll and small tent all in one.

I blade for a Township. Average 450hrs a year. Started in 1989. We keep fairly new equipment. Current machine is a 2011 model with 2350hrs. Been slow the past few years because of less snow in Winter. We have traded this machine for a new JD672G that is arriving this week. I'll post a thread with lots of pics when we get it.

As the OP mentioned, if someone asks me to describe my rack I'd hafta think hard about it. Would probably get it right but not without a few changes. But when I'm operating the machine it's as natural as picking my nose. I think of the blade as my hand. Comes very natural to me. Although I'll admit, at 67 yrs old, I am starting to make small mistakes. Cut a little deeper than intended or leave a slight hump in the roadway. That disappoints me. I tell the Township Board regularly that it's their job to replace me when I no longer maintain the roads as they want. It's my job to do it to the best of my ability. I'm not going to be that old blade man that everyone wishes would die off or quit.

Every time I run the blade I learn something. A technique I might have used 4 or 5 years ago is no longer used because I figured out a better way. When a blade operator thinks they have nothing to learn, they need to quit.

I use one-hand lift controls. I like this setup a lot. For gravel road maintenance it's very effective. I'll try to post a couple pics.

I've always had a huge amount of respect for what a grader can do, hell for that matter most skilled operators. I get behind controls and just hog everything up. Looks like feral pigs came through when I'm done. That's why I stick to wrenching. That, I can do. I wish I could understand how/why you guys bend em up all sideways and lay the steers over. It's just not my calling. But you guys that do, it's quite amazing to watch from the side.

funwithfuel said:

I've always had a huge amount of respect for what a grader can do, hell for that matter most skilled operators. I get behind controls and just hog everything up. Looks like feral pigs came through when I'm done. That's why I stick to wrenching. That, I can do. I wish I could understand how/why you guys bend em up all sideways and lay the steers over. It's just not my calling. But you guys that do, it's quite amazing to watch from the side.

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Same here, I may know how a machine work, in other words what this lever does and so on but to make the machine do what you want is a whole nother thing.

Kind of like knowing how a pencil works that don't take much brain power but to take that pencil and create a work of art like at least one guy here can do is a totally different thing. You know who I'm talking about don't you! Yes, that drawing has a very prominent location in our living room!

They say in order to be a good repair tech, you have to know how the machine and its systems work. It doesn't say a dam thing about being able to cut grades with them! LOL I'm a FWF operator too.

There are mechanics, and there are part replacers

Yeah, yeah then there's me, the "Google mechanic". Still frosty over that one.

Any time I am going to tackle anything on my own vehicle, I always look it up. Chances are that someone has found an easier way

kshansen said:

Same here, I may know how a machine work, in other words what this lever does and so on but to make the machine do what you want is a whole nother thing.

Kind of like knowing how a pencil works that don't take much brain power but to take that pencil and create a work of art like at least one guy here can do is a totally different thing. You know who I'm talking about don't you! Yes, that drawing has a very prominent location in our living room!

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You have one too?

RZucker said:

You have one too?

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Yep!

funwithfuel said:

I've always had a huge amount of respect for what a grader can do, hell for that matter most skilled operators. I get behind controls and just hog everything up. Looks like feral pigs came through when I'm done. That's why I stick to wrenching. That, I can do. I wish I could understand how/why you guys bend em up all sideways and lay the steers over. It's just not my calling. But you guys that do, it's quite amazing to watch from the side.

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Kinda like this??

Yep, kinda , just like that.

Normally you lay the steers over to counter the side draft from the angled blade. Bend them to put the drives where you want or need them. Outside the windrow, straddle the windrow, on firm ground, what ever. The articulation has made that easy, twerent so easy in the old days with a ridgid frame.