What a nice old grader, you obviously did a good job fixing it up. I spent a lot of hours/ days/ months / years running Champion graders just like my father did before me. One little detail, to my knowledge the ‘A’ in Champion as in ‘740A’ stands for articulated which yours isn’t. There are straight frame 740’s like yours and then there are 740A’s and I’ve been on many of both styles. On another note I still remember the first time I got in a grader, the steering axle seemed so far up ahead and the turning radius so large but I was finally going to get to be a ‘grader man!’
My grandpa was a heavy equipment operator when he was living. This brought back some memories of when I was a kid, riding on his lap as he graded a road on a Saturday for O/T. No one else was on the job so he sneaked me in for a few hours.
With those serrated edges they don’t pick as much gravel up if you run your moldboard (blade) so that the edges are straight with the ground, when blading a county road you can tilt them forward and back once and a while to keep them sharp if there’s ice. Over in county of gp we run picks and bring the serrated out when she blows in. Cheers.
Keep up the good work!! Learning a grader is a full concentration job. You will eventually get the feel of doing grade work. Its hard to really explain but you'll learn to look out way ahead of you and see the imperfections and by feel you will know when and how to react to make it a smooth transition. But don't be discouraged if it doesn't work for you at first we all as operators knows it comes with patience and time. In future projects and videos if I can help you in operating tips I will definitely pass them on to you. But as a beginner you seem to be on your way to becoming a really good grade man! Brothers of the blade will be proud to have you become one with us.
I plowed for years with a old cat grader , we got a brand new 140 cat grader in 1996 and I loved it. Once you get used to it they will get the work done easily .
