Hi, Vern Kyle here, I hope this channel will help people learn how to operate a grader. It will be a step-by-step tutorial, from the province of Alberta, Canada The topics covered will include, street building, highway building, Job site safety, and more. A “Thank you” to Standard General Inc. the Edmonton based construction company, that Facilitates the creation of this RU-vid channel.
Hi Winnie, it's a good question, it increases the percentage of grade near the curb and decreases the percentage of grade near the crown. They refer to it as a parabolic crown and it is only used in "street spec" but not in "highway spec" It makes the grading process more complex, so you may be right, about the "Weird" part.
@@winnie-zg7ur The funny thing is, before I started doing this channel, I didn't know that there are places in the world that didn't use parabolic crowns. I thought it was the norm.
Congratulations, Vern🎉🎉🎉🎉. You earned it, brother. If I may, is there a reason why you stayed with the H series over an M? If so, why? I'd love to hear your take on the difference between the two. What you liked and didn't like.
@onlyamillionmistakesvernky7937 I just got on an M for the first time a couple of weeks back. I do not like the steering on them. The joysticks had a lot of slop in them. Eh, for all the hoopla about them, I was unimpressed. Maybe I just need more seat time, but initial thoughts were underwhelming. Thank you for responding, Vern. I watch your videos all the time multiple times over. Gradesetting is where my heart is, but I'll hop in a seat and help out where I can from time to time.
I’ve been a heavy equipment operator for building freeways for 10 years now….. i can actually tell you this is good knowledge to know it’s always good to tell people the danger of heavy equipment , not just let them know but to actually show them too. I just ran into your channel and I love it.
Congratulations Vern, you have no idea how much I have learned from you. You are truly a master of your craft, and you will be sorely missed. If it is the same there as it is in the Southern US, there are no younger people learning the trades. I am worried what will happen in the future if no one moves in to fill the very large boots such as yours. Enjoy your retirement, I hate to see you go but you deserve it. Please don't take your videos down as I still watch them to better myself. GOD BLESS you and your family.
Well that clears things, I was beginning to think maybe you were levelling the streets of gold up in heaven. Best Wishes for your retirement Vern. Don't be a stranger, come to Australia for a holiday and stay a while. Cheers Adrian.
You deserve it mate. Enjoy it and I'm sure you'll get use to it. Thanks for sharing all your knowledge it's certainly helped me. Even all the way down here in New Zealand. You're the best. Take care.
Congrats from Michigan You deserve it so enjoy it Still continue to go back to your videos to try and get better in my early stages of operating a grader Thank you for taking the time to make the videos
Thanks my friend. This means allot to me where I work on a base grade crew. From.knowing where my crew is to knowing what I and everyone else maybe dealing with outside of work. It all plays a part in how the shift of 8-12 hrs goes. Your wisdom and understanding of this trade is most valuable and I can't thank you enough for your reminder! God bless and keep this wonderful content coming. 👍
Hi Stephen, to answer your question is "No" I think the M series are nice machines, but at this point in my life I stayed with the old H. As an "owner operator" it was not only the price of the M, but the difficulty in maintenance and repair. It's a good question, and one that I personally struggled with.
I never considered the owner operators. There were 3 top hands here in Reno, Nevada. But they all hung it up in the early 2000's. I'm sitting on an H with 19,000 hours today, but my main blade is a 14 M with under 4000 hours. They just spent $40,000 US to get it set up for mastless GPS. It also has a telescopic mast for total station prism. We use that stuff a lot down here. Thanks for the reply Vernon. Good luck to you guys up north!
Those L shaped rods, are called "string line pins" At the 90-degree bend, there is a "set screw" A special crew is deployed to the site to set up the string line. The "set screw" allows the string line crew to adjust the "Y and X" axis very precisely. Note: If there is a surveying error at a certain station, or hub, the string line crew will notice the error, and correct it in the final adjustments.
This is one of the few times I've seen something. I don't like. Why would you put the dirt on the new road It makes no sense. You could wheell walk that windrow without putting that dirt on the brand new road
The main reason it is so important to backfill the lanes, is because the "home builders" literally use them for their "hall road" These lanes will see Loaded concrete truck, trucks hauling lumber, topsoil, and gravel. When the home builders are done, there is so much mud on them it's hard to see where the "edge of asphalt" is. Thank you for the input, "Jeff" it is good question.
Remember in the old days blue chalk on the peg and then they came out with the what I used to call turkey beard that drove in the peg. I would hang more of those metal that was crimped end than I ever did the wood with chalk.
May I ask you. We have a blend we want to grade in gravel road but it has core stone mixed. Would the grader be able to spread and remove the core stone from the blend? I've learned a lot from you and other guys on how to operate. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.
If you have mix of different size gravel, there is not much you can do with the grader to help the problem. I would suggest using a "drum packer" after you lay the gravel out. The drum will push in the larger stones. Good luck on your project.
Really enjoy your videos. Just came across them recently (April 2024). There are other videos, out there, from American RU-viders, but nice to see a Canadian prospective. But, you can learn from many voices.
my work place has 4 out of 6 graders ,5 Cat m series and a Komatsu with levers . the m series drivers have 3d gps and think it saves a lot using pegs and string lining but near finish level the worn out blades can put out levels out so they all adjust at one part of job and allow for it .
Oh... and we have the same thing with engineers here too. Varies greatly from one job to the next and from engineer to engineer. Some of the ideas they come up with certainly leave you scratching your head but we always seem to somehow make it work. All part of the job 👍
Hi Vern and hello from New Zealand!! Love the videos mate. Awesome to see how you guys do things. A lot of similarities. Quick question, do you guys stabilize all your subgrade or just the problem areas? Keep up with the vids mate, they're awesome!!
To answer your question: Here in Edmonton Alberta, we stabilize all the subgrade. The city of Calgary to the south of us, very rarely use stabilization, because their subgrade is more like shale, due to the close proximity to the Rocky Mountains. It's possible to work in street construction all your life, and never see the process of stabilizing, depending on your location. Nice to hear from New Zealand.
Hi Vern, Great videos. Retired engineer. Started my career in building subdivisions in New Zealand. Now in Perth, Australia. Appreciate you sharing your knowledge and skill.
Why do you want to shape the road when the concrete isnt poured and you still have to core the street, road needs to be flat from the gutter out so the slope leg on the gomaco has room to move.
Yes that's true: Mose of the time when you are dumping the buggy, you don't have to "back paddle" you can just leave the paddle wheel off. Thanks for the input.
When I was working for earthmoving companies, I always found it amusing, that depending on the soil tester.. you would either get a good result or a not so good one. I remember being asked to push test cut, on what was a dry spot, which was right next to a very obvious wet spot. Enough said, hey. How many years since you've actually had to mix gravel Vern?
Hi Adrian, approximately once or twice a year, we may have to "pull the gutter" That's the term we use to dry out the outside edges of the street. After a heavy rainstorm, this is where water can accumulate. We wait for a sunny, and hopefully windy day. Then we cut down the outside edge all the way down to the stabilized clay. Next, we windrow that wet gravel to the crown, and spread it around. Then of course, Onces it's dried out, we place it back in the gutter. Note: Some gravel can tolerate a rainstorm better than others depending on the quarry the gravel was sourced from. Nice to hear from Australia.
@onlyamillionmistakesvernky7937 Yeah, I meant mixing gravel when you're building a road, instead of having premixed delivered. My Grandfather told me they used to have 2 Graders faci g one another for mixing road base/ gravel. One side was the corse and opposite the fines. Each windrowing and layering until they had one pile.
@@adriannettlefold9084 I bet your grandfather has some interesting stories. It sounds like they were blending gravel on site, and NO, I have never done that. In Alberta, the gravel must pass a "sieve analysis" to be used on site. On rare occasions, if the gravel gets very segregated, I may plow it with the grader to blend the material. I wish I could have toped your grandfather's story, but that's all I got. Thanks Adrian.
@onlyamillionmistakesvernky7937 unfortunately the stories ended in 2004, but memories are vivid. His Forman who he trained to operate machinery, is still alive and a good friend of mine. He gave me technical trade manuals that he used on the Shire Council, showing much of what you are now putting on your RU-vid channel. Thus my very keen interest. Always good to talk, take care. Cheers.
I subscribed very informative, i was wondering what is the reasoning behind having your blade backwards when you were blading along the bus pad? Ive heard of this but this is the first time ive seen someone do it. I operate a 140m3 for a municipality just mainly snow removal and oil and gravel road maintenance i would love to try what you were doing 👍
