Control pattern for the new M series graders and new pics

[9420pullpan]

Joysticks Simplify Grader Operation

Left Joystick:

* Side-to-side = steering
* Twist = articulation
* Right yellow button = auto articulation return to center
* Top black buttons = wheel lean
* Trigger switch = transmission direction
* Top yellow buttons = gear selection
* Fore/Aft = left blade lift
* Detent = left blade float

Right Joystick:

* Fore/aft = right blade lift
* Detent = right blade float
* Side-to-side = blade shift
* Twist = circle turn
* Hat switch fore/aft = blade tip
* Hat switch left/right = drawbar shift
* Differential Lock/Unlock
* Electronic Throttle Resume/Decrement

i think that this is definately going to be alot of fun to run. im leaving for California in the middle of July cant wait to start work i hope when these come out we rent one!! i definately like the joysticks give feed back..

 

[Grader4me]

Pullpan...I'm drooling. It definately looks like it would be a blast to operate.:yup

 

[9420pullpan]

im telling ya can it get any better look at the visibility and the feel of the blade in your hands ALL the time i feel like we'll have much better control of the machine as soon as we get use to the new joysticks. i still cant believe the visibility. and i also love the new look. i just hope that they put enough resistance in the stick so when you hit a bump it doesnt get all jerky...

 

[Ford LT-9000]

Looks expensive :yup

The only problem with joystick controls is you prolly can't stand up and run the machine like the old style graders.

Around here old Champion 740s and old Cat 14Gs are used nothing newer than early 90s most graders sit most of the time so the old iron still works good.

 

[plowking740]

mmmmmmmmmmm grader..........

looks like Im going to have to play the x box more. I just got a brand new 160 H last Tuesday, but im wishing now it was onw of these. I guess ill have to wait a few more years to get one of them. I d tell you what the 160 is like, but it hasnt stopped raining long enough for me to ware the paind off the mould board.

 

[Dozerboy]

Well is sound well planned out, shouldn't be to hard to get use to.

 

[Grader4me]

im telling ya can it get any better look at the visibility and the feel of the blade in your hands ALL the time i feel like we'll have much better control of the machine as soon as we get use to the new joysticks. i still cant believe the visibility. and i also love the new look. i just hope that they put enough resistance in the stick so when you hit a bump it doesnt get all jerky...

I like the idea of the twist on the left joystick for the articulation and the twist for the circle turn on the right. It seems to be a perfect setup. On most graders the moldboard lift is the outside lever on each side, so on the joysticks that part would be easy. I am sure that they put enough resistance in the sticks to compensate for grading rough roads etc. Could you imagine what a pain in the a** it would be if they never

 

[Tigerotor77W]

Man! People are just dying over this stuff... I think the M-series are the hottest new product introduction program I've seen on the net.

Way to go, Cat!

(Of course I had to add that in... :Cowboy )

 

[Graderfan1981]

Here you find a video about the CAT joysticks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnkSgW86VmM

 

[Bluetop Man]

The increased visibility of the M Series is a bunch of hooey, it doesn't add a thing. As a matter of fact, it detracts. All you need to see are the blade ends and the material going in and coming out. You just know what's going on in the middle. If you're an operator. Drivers, yea, they might like that big screen effect. Between that and those joysticks, it must be like playing X-Box. That ain't getting any work done.

 

[oregon96pd]

...

 

[GregD1]

The increased visibility of the M Series is a bunch of hooey, it doesn't add a thing. As a matter of fact, it detracts. All you need to see are the blade ends and the material going in and coming out. You just know what's going on in the middle. If you're an operator. Drivers, yea, they might like that big screen effect. Between that and those joysticks, it must be like playing X-Box. That ain't getting any work done.

I`m no operator by any means and never will be but I have heard more than once these joystick controls were made for the X-Box players to be the operators of tomorrow.

 

[Radrock]

The increased visibility of the M Series is a bunch of hooey, it doesn't add a thing. As a matter of fact, it detracts. All you need to see are the blade ends and the material going in and coming out. You just know what's going on in the middle. If you're an operator. Drivers, yea, they might like that big screen effect. Between that and those joysticks, it must be like playing X-Box. That ain't getting any work done.

Speaking on this. I did notice the other day that it is harder for me to see the heal of the blade on the 140M. I am tall so I scoot the seat way back but it seems the accu-grade controls and we also have some other crap on there Leica Machine Control that is in the way of the window. I was having a terrible time seeing what I needed to see because of the door frame and that stuff.

And Yeah I have heard that it was designed for the younger generation too. Hey what is an X-Box :drinkup

 

[Bluetop Man]

Interesting comment, Radrock, about the M Series graders being designed for the younger generation.

A state highway dept. forman was telling me the other day they have a problem state-wide with the younger grader operators. Seems these whipper-snappers as a whole have never run anything but M Series graders, and the foremen, being older and stepped in the ways of yore, are having get out of their air conditioned pickups and run the new Deeres replacements which are arriving with traditional grader controls, a.k.a. steering wheel and antlers. Imagine not being able to run the traditional set-up. It is blasphemy, pure and simple.

 

[Radrock]

Interesting comment, Radrock, about the M Series graders being designed for the younger generation.

A state highway dept. forman was telling me the other day they have a problem state-wide with the younger grader operators. Seems these whipper-snappers as a whole have never run anything but M Series graders, and the foremen, being older and stepped in the ways of yore, are having get out of their air conditioned pickups and run the new Deeres replacements which are arriving with traditional grader controls, a.k.a. steering wheel and antlers. Imagine not being able to run the traditional set-up. It is blasphemy, pure and simple.

haha, very funny indeed. I used to run a 772 with both blade controls on the right side. It was pretty good machine but nothing I would want to blue top with. I think the best blade I ever ran in my life was a 14G. It was a horse. More power than you knew what to do with. I did a bunch of road building in Colorado at the time. It was a lot of fun. All by the seat of my pants. Made the farm road where ever the centerline was staked. I was in heaven for most of the summer. Hey imagine what the young generation would do if they got in one of the 12E's!!! I can imagine their faces the first time it kicked the daylights out of them. (Ok nothing against the younger generation here,, Just a fact of life).

 

[rsherril]

Now a 12E is why I went looking for a blade of my own. We had one coming out once a year to do our subdivision roads but when I noticed that he was spending most of his time backing up cause he couldn't turn that beast around, I said to my self "I can do better" and I did with a similar vintage Deere 570A. I believe that the 570 series introduced the first articulating grader in 1968. I know that the AW had rear steer before that as I ran them in the mountains where the six wheel drive made them superior snow plowing machines and the rear steer allowed for turning in a 30 foot cul-de-sac. I also prefer the Deere blade controls together on the right so I can still steer/lean wheel while adjusting the blade for grade.

Now I did spend a little time on a 12 E and it about killed me as it had a clutch that required considerable effort to disengage. The owner told me that I was just out of shape. Later he fired me after I took the top off a cement drain access lid one day. Can't say I ever missed spending more time on that machine.

 

[Radrock]

Now a 12E is why I went looking for a blade of my own. We had one coming out once a year to do our subdivision roads but when I noticed that he was spending most of his time backing up cause he couldn't turn that beast around, I said to my self "I can do better" and I did with a similar vintage Deere 570A. I believe that the 570 series introduced the first articulating grader in 1968. I know that the AW had rear steer before that as I ran them in the mountains where the six wheel drive made them superior snow plowing machines and the rear steer allowed for turning in a 30 foot cul-de-sac. I also prefer the Deere blade controls together on the right so I can still steer/lean wheel while adjusting the blade for grade.

Now I did spend a little time on a 12 E and it about killed me as it had a clutch that required considerable effort to disengage. The owner told me that I was just out of shape. Later he fired me after I took the top off a cement drain access lid one day. Can't say I ever missed spending more time on that machine.

Hi rsherril,
Yes those old 12E's did take a lot of room to turn around.
I had to comment back at you. The very first blade that I ran was an AW Super 300. It was a horse for sure. Some very slow Hydraulics though. There is a guy by the name of Duane here on the Equipment forums that has restored an old AW. Pretty neat and has done a great job. Had to about stand up in the AW though as the seat was so high. It was also in Colorado. I was born in Colorado and after I got out of the service I lived in Westcliffe. You might have heard of it. It is 9000 ft in the valley. Lots of blowing snow during the winters. I also live close to Durango at one time. I saw that you were from Far West Colorado but not for sure.

 

[rsherril]

Park County, Bailey shop for the AW's. They used Cats (12 E and 14 E) in South Park where the roads were straight and the drifts were high come winter. Temps were usually below zero when the wind wasn't blowing. The 12 E was at the Tammaron resort project north of Durango in mid 70's. Far West Colorado means close enough to Utah to have a wife and girlfriend, (with the wife's permission, of course, but I never needed to ask). This is Rimrock and Canyon country and some of my roads have switch backs. You want good brakes here, so that disqualifies AWs.

 

[Radrock]

I used to have a friend I worked with that lived in Hermosa. Pretty close to Tammaron. I used to love that trip going up there to Silverton and on over the mountain to Ouray, Beautiful there..

Yeah if I remember right the AW only had brakes on two wheels on the back tantem and the park brake was a single drum on the drive line going up over the frame to the front end. Didn't hold good at all.

 

[Bulldog777]

You can also log into the computer and change the work mode, Fine, Medium and I can't recall the other one, this is good for changing between bulking in and final trim, they are as smooth as an excavator, there are also other settings you can make like, set the top gear etc etc