How To Grade with a Mini Excavator Bucket 

Great advice !!! Im just used to working old stuff, but what about throttle position? On older machines, people try to do things almost at idle. That makes for very jumpy hydraulic function. Keep the videos coming.

Very good explanation of the basics of grading. Thank you!

Thank you for taking the time to make this video. It was very helpful.

One of the things that gets overlooked is the visual cues that allow an operator to kinda eyeball the grade and then come in and fine tune by hand. It can take longer with the hand tools but it gives a little better control at times. At least for the fine tuning. An inexperienced operator can spend a whole day just trying to level out a pad with the bucket when a rake can make it flow faster. And you dont have to be all that perfect....there are some areas where it will be close enough. Not that you want to be shotty but you want to be close and it's not exactly perfect. It is often hard to get exactly perfect off a long stretch. An inch in a long grade is not always a big deal unless you are doing small sections that need the perfection vs the long road or long area that needs to be close within a .3 percent of the actual grade.

Great video! Didn't realize how exact it is...

I always say its a feel thing. Once you learn the sticks, you can almost feel the rock your pulling. Hard to explain, sometimes, just being near a dirt pile or gravel pile and using the sticks to get a familiarity with the response and learn the “feel” is everything. I’m learning everyday, but like it was told to me with material you can always add more to take away if needed.

Do you use full boom and full stick to get them to pull in unison?

I still try but it's not happening, I am from India.