Thank you for education on making a CROWN on gravel county wide open roadway. Your video are such a great help at understanding the maintenance. Not just for a person wanting to learn grader operations.
Just wanted to thank you for taking the time to make these videos. Last week I got to take out the 140m on public roads. Boss said it looked real good. So you know i'm a happy guy. I'm in the South and we have red sandy base dirt roads so it's a different process. I have to pull up material from the sides to replenish the road. I do two passes then just run it over the middle feathering it out a bit. Our roads get destroyed by rain in a week, so it's a non-stop process. Anyway, thanks again. Hope to see more content.
Thank you for the demonstration and explanation, of how you build the crown in the centre of the road. It's a first for me seeing a road grader articulate . At first I thought I was seeing things. Then I saw how the machine was aligned and it made sense. It must be quite off putting driving in such an un-natural manner. I am a coach driver, driving straight on a nice flat road is what I like. Again thank you for sharing your work with the RU-vid community. Keep up the good work.
3rd wettest spring where I live in Canada and my second year running a grader the roads got so beat to hell it was crazy lol drying up now so they are looking better! Your videos have come in handy a few times already! keep ‘em coming grader man
That’s definitely a challenge to keep roads when you have conditions like that we had that here about 3 years ago was a nightmare trying to keep roads passable glad to hear you have found my videos helpful thanks for watching!
Great job blading that crown in.i ran a blade for 38 years,in ourneck of the woods here in deep south texas,rain is very minimal,we always worked our roads with little to no moisture,no water truck,so our approach was different,we mainly used caliche gravel which is like river rock,pit run.our blades were old school so we used eye sight and hand feel for our crowns if that make,s any sense toyou,finally made to fine finish operator,big difference,great video for the young buck,s starting out,pay attention and ask the old guys for advice.
When I was a kid, I used to watch and ride with the grader man and anytime he did our road, he would always clean the ditches first. He would say if the ditches are not clean, the water runs on the road and washes the road out.
Hi grader man . I started running blades with a 12 E than a 12F then the 12G hydraulic articulating blade came out . Sure made it easier to cut cul-de-sacs . Moved to the 140 blades came out and cut miles of curb grade , sub grade and finish base grade for paving here in Southern California for hundreds of subdivisions . I have a trick for keeping the edge right on instead of the steering wheel . Just use your wheel lean in and out and you don’t have to barely ever touch the wheel. 😎. I learned that cutting right up next to freshly poured concrete curb and gutter. 😊
A slope meter is very important. Any spot on a road that’s flat will be pounded out and full of potholes when it rains. Some good advice in this video. I’ve encountered people who think that square blading the material down the centre is the right way🥴. If you want to keep your crown in the road NEVER blade down the centre!
I would love to see you on a subdivision job to see how you go about doing boxes, curb and channel and cul-de-sacs. This was a great explanation to by the way.. Hope to catch up again soon mate.
Nice work man. I've been riding in the Czech Republic with HBM BG 120TA-6 for only 2 years and I like to see work and inspiration for improvement. It's not easy work, but beautiful. Good luck with the next race
That cat motor grader drives pretty smooth when you’re pushing gravel in the road sounds awesome with the powerful cat diesel power engine 😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎
Another awesome vid mate!! I have so many questions lol. Just wish I could have you in the cab with me. Would you use the same process of building a crown if you were building a new road from sub grade? Keep the vids coming dude. You truly are a legend. 👍👍👍👍
Glad to hear you like the videos and as far as using same process as this while building a new road yes I’d go about it the same way thanks for watching.
I would like to say that I appreciate you taking the time to make such good videos that only blade operators can really value. I have a question about leaving a maintenance windrow; doesn't leaving a maintenance windrow create a secondary ditch and thereby hold water on the road surface? Please elaborate....
Not often you see when operators give details.I dont drive graders but have to work on various machines. It is nice to find someone to explain all the details.If a dirt road has a pothole do you cut to the botom or grade over ?
Your welcome I enjoy sharing my knowledge with others and as far as the pothole goes you have to cut it completely out if you just blade over it will come right back thanks for the question and thanks for watching!
I just started working on a highway department down here in Massachusetts. Eventually, I’ll be training on the grader that we have since I’m the only young guy in the department, everyone’s retiring… the dirt roads up there are better than half of our paved roads down here.😂
Hey mate grader operator in Oz, out of the different layouts in the deers and Caterpillar graders antler rack vs joysticks vs deer controls for eg what do you actually prefer to operate? Cheers mate love the videos 👍🏼!! CAT 12M!!
I really enjoy operating all the machines if I had to pick my favorite I’d go with the cat M with joystick controls and I’d also pick the Deere with the finger tip controls hands down the two nicest machines I get to operate. Thanks for the question and thanks for watching!
You do a good job with your video work because your set up right. I've been operating since I was 9 years old,I'm 54. I learned you can make yourself look pretty green by trying to hold your phone & video, while trying operate. Lol. Anyway only thing I see a difference in is , that's some nice material. Don't have that "luxury" most of the time here in west Texas. We have material with rocks the size of footballs that don't bust because it's not run through a crusher. So if they're thicker than my fill they wind up on the shoulder, which I hate. You do nice work. God bless!
Informative video. More curious to how you have a new M series grader with square cab, steering wheel and old style controls. When did Cat start offering that?
Happy you found it informative this machine is a 2019 cat 140 with the conventional controls cat offers this or the joystick controls in the m series I operate 4 different graders two new cat 150s 1 Deere 772gp and this cat 140 with the conventional controls hope this answers your question thanks for watching!
There’s no way I would crown a road and leave that winrow like you did on that final pass. Please tell me you blend that in. I was curious to see what you would do with that winrow You left at the end but you’re making it look good👍 I am from northwest Arkansas where there’s rocks all in your window…ha you got it made up their those roads look way too easy to make All pretty lol!
This is the way we do it here in South Dakota everybody leaves a maintenance windrow I know some open don’t like to but I like having a maintenance windrow to work with I’m very lucky to have the nice material to work with in my area I know others are not as lucky to have good material to work with thanks for watching!
The vegetation buildup on the outsides of the shoulders can be problematic…it stops the water from shedding and is the direct result of lazy grader operators not wanting to grade the entire road top from ditch to ditch…a little bit isn’t horrible but some roads they leave 4-5 feet of vegetation on top of the road from the edge…it’s annoying!…I’ve seen some operators grade a road in such a rush they had it in 4th or 5th gear and the tractor side of the grader was just bouncing!…terrible job!..how can you grade with any precision in 4th gear??..🤦🏻♂️..anyway I watched you and you are very deliberate in your technique and you have great control over the machine and at just the right speed!…keep your cutting edges straight my friend!..👍
That sounds like a challenge I’m pretty lucky in my area we have nice built up roads and not many trees in the right of way and pretty decent gravel on them thanks for the comment and thanks for watching!
I’ve know I’ve asked you this before, but we built a private road through our property a few years ago, and I made the mistake of putting 1 and 1/2 inch clean Limestone gravel on the surface instead of the 3/4 inch down to dust like I should have. In your opinion, would I be better off trying to crush my existing gravel with a 6 ton flat compactor or add more of the Limestone 3/4 minus down to dust? Thanks, Bryan.
Since in hanjin engineering co.I'm handled 729B model completed all wheel drive,powerful and easy to carry. Volvo canada.i like it machine motor grader.
What about dealing with little to no gravel at all?? I'm brand new at this and there's a lot of sections in my township where if you cut the road at all you hit dirt...and hardly any of the roads are 22ft wide, looking for some advice on how to take care of roads like this.
As far as little to no gravel I’d maintain it the same way I do in the video it will be just dirt not ideal but if that’s what you have to work with and as far as the narrow roads if you can I’d widen them out to 22 feet if you can’t you have to work with what you got hopefully this helps if you got another question ask away thanks for watching.
How long does it take you to do one mile of road like in your video? Couple of hours? Do you compact it after you set the crown? Great video and subscribed.
It’s all of 2 hrs to get the whole process done and yeas once I’m done laying everything down I go back over the whole road with my packer sealing it up glad to hear you liked the video thanks for subscribing and thanks for watching!
No it doesn’t stop any water from getting off the road it’s a light windrow and water will run right through it even if it does hold back a little water the benefits of having a maintenance windrow are greater then the negative in my opinion.
Thanks glad to hear that and in all honesty really depends on what I’m doing if it’s just basic gravel road maintenance I like the old school levers and steering wheel and if I’m laying down gravel doing dirt work or plowing snow I prefer the joystick controls.
I’d go with the Michelin snow plus tires for the winter and as far as a good summer tire I really like the Bridgestone tgs2 v style patter tires hope this helps thanks for the question.
I'm coming in late to this video (1 year mark) but, I have a quick question or 2... I noticed the gravel seems nice and moist; did was this moistened by weather or a truck coming through previously? And, how important is that in this situation? Did you get any rolling done to the finished road after?
This was just natural moisture from a rain we had the night before I unfortunately don’t have a water truck so I use what moisture I have as far as that goes it is nice to have moisture if you can have it in this video I don’t have a packer but I do on my other townships machine and having the packer makes a big difference sealing it up
What is the width of the travel way? And width of shoulder please. Thanks for your attention to detail. Very nice work. Wish I had crushed rock to work with. Nothing but sand here.
My road width is 22ft and I have around 2ft of grass shoulder and your welcome and I’m very fortunate to have good gravel to work with in my area i know others aren’t so lucky thanks for watching!
You would think that would be a lot when asphalt roads have a 2% crown on them but 4-5% is perfect for a gravel road that is constantly changing with traffic I figure 1/2 inch of crown per foot of road width hope this explains why we put 4-5% on our gravel roads here.
@@graderman140m I graded a lot of road in Alberta and some of the back roads we put some pretty aggressive slope on them to combat ice buildup in the winter…but then some of the new road renewals we did we only put 1.5% on them…and they were gravel roads!..I thought that was way too flat but that’s why the engineers wanted so that’s what they got!..🤷🏻♂️…I found that 3% was a good all round slope for crown…cheers my friend!!
How come with todays high tech graders my state can’t get rid of washboards. In the 70 s and early 80s there was never a washboard road today it’s on every gravel road.
It the higher hp vehicles and diesels with light back ends and the fact that everyone is in a rush nowadays. You don’t see people just cruising at 60 km per hr. They are going 110 on gravel and hammering the brakes at corners just the give her shit again after they turn.
You would just have to lay a little more down on each of the final passes I like leaving a small maintenance windrow on the edge that way you always have a little material to work with plus it easier to maintain your crown hope this answers your question thanks for watching!
I have my diff lock on all the time while blading that way both tandems are pulling the same and it definitely helps your machine from hoping I don’t like the auto diff because it kicks out while hogging material and machine slides out so I just use the manual button hope this helps thanks for the question.
Happy to hear that and I spend majority of my time in 4th gear if I’m just normal maintenance blading if I’m doing intersections I will do them in 2nd or 3rd thanks for watching!
@@graderman140m long time subscriber here, love your vids.... Just really curious how you blade in 4th with no bounce? i normally run 3rd as a happy medium in the M series and same in the Deere's but most of the time the Deere only wants to bounce like mad in 4th no matter what i do with articulation or tyre pressures plus keeping a full blade. I normally run 45 psi in me tandems and 50 up front, whats your preference?
@@steveweller7181 happy to year you have been a long time subscriber I appreciate it so here is the thing I can blade in 4th gear in the cat and go dang near 6mph no issues I really struggle going 5mph in the Deere have tried all kinds of tire pressures with no luck in my cat I run 45 in the tandems and 40 in my front on my Deere I run 40 In the rear tandems and 35 in the fronts that’s what I do hope this helps you out feel free to ask any other questions and thanks for watching!
@@graderman140m thanks for your knowledgeable Insite, I'll be trying the different tyre pressures today and fingers crossed we have a winner. What brand tyre do you normally run? Im Michelin personally but not sure if there is much else to go with?
Just curious..for a simple grading job how come you’re only cutting one side at time? Its not like you’re pulling a ditch or a high shoulder. Wouldn’t it be simpler and fewer passes to cut both sides to the center and then go down the middle and spread your material out down the center of the road and then make two passes..one on each side to put you material back out and you’re done.
The way I do it works best for me I’ve seen guys do it the way you described not saying it wrong but that more passes then what I do plus I like lining up with my center line helps you keep your road straight plus you get a good mix of material if I cut the whole road into one big windrow so that’s just what works for me thanks for the comment and hopefully that gives ya an explanation
I’m confused about when you say when you pull in on your left side use your left hand 90% of the time. Does that mean you use your heel side for adjustment or the toe side? I have a bad habit of adjusting both heel and toe while grading. I’m adjusting my heel based off what I feel in seat but then I notice the toe side a little to high or low the so I lower the toe side to fix. I’m adjusting way to much and end up not getting a level surface.
So when I say that pulling in a windrow of material you generally can make small adjustments with just your left blade lift now obviously if you need more crown you might have to adjust your heel and toe both I try to only make very small adjustments when necessary the less you adjust your moldboard the more consistent your road is going to be if that makes sense hopefully this clarifies it for you. Thanks for asking the question and thanks for watching.
i never ever had all this leveling gear just seat of my ass and when main roads checked all spot on even some corner did not mach they got me to cut corner in to match and line up with rest off the h/way all ways spot on
I generally do everything by feel all the newer graders have crown gauges in them it is nice for a reference but definitely not necessary I find it helpful for newer operators learning the machine and feel for the correct grade.
You got any narrow twisty stuff? Lol. I'm looking at an old galion t500 straight frame to take care of my road. It's always been done with tractors with rakes, I've got it better with a rear blade but it only cuts so much and it's a bitch to hold a grade. The galion has a 12' moldboard and the road is 12-16' wide between the trees or banks, with quite a few curves and some steep hills
I don’t have anything like that in my area to deal with a grader will definitely help but if you have a narrow road and lots of tight turns a straight frame machine is not the best for them conditions in my opinion.
I articulated so that I could get more angle on my moldboard allowing me to pull in the bigger windrow of material also used it to keep my front tires from running on it.
So I've been running a new a m3 but we have an older m, a few h, and even old g that I run for rough work.... I noticed that non of them like to articulate with the diff lock
@@Sugertoes420 I guess I’ve never tried articulating while my differential is locked be extremely hard on the diff I definitely wouldn’t recommend having it on while articulating or turning over 20 degrees and main reason you getting that clunk and bang is your unlocking your differential under pressure it won’t do that while not under pressure.
@@paulcunningham2932 every machine varies in my Deere I run 35 in the front 45 in the back on my cat without the packer I run 45 in all 6 on my cat with packer I run 45 in front and 55 in the back hope this helps.
I do use the AWD to heel up the dumped material to equalize it once it’s equalized and in a windrow I shut it off just use my differential lock while I lay it back down
It’s a light soft maintenance windrow water will simply wash right through it and even if it holds back a little water the pros of having it outweigh the negatives.
We would lose our contracts so fast here if we left a windrow like that on the edge of any of our county roads. In 20 yrs I've never articulated to spread gravel on top of a road. Maybe that's just the difference between Canada and the USA!!
@@redrustyhill2 obviously everyone does things differently I just show the way I maintain my roads in my area in my opinion there’s lots of benefits from a maintenance windrow you don’t think there is and that’s perfectly fine I have no complaints on my roads and leaving a maintenance windrow is the way I do it thanks for the comment and thanks for watching.
You have material available for maintenance, pot holes, low spots, etc. Otherwise you have to have gravel delivered. Gotta understand that gravel disintegrates so having it already on site has a lot of benefits for the township.
theres no way its 500 yards a mile that road is way to narrow maybe 200 yards. unless it was a brand new build even then the roads way too small how long have you ran a grader?
Believe me there’s 500 yds a mile on this road I’ve been operating a grader for 16 years now I don’t like using yds but that’s how my gravel supplier does his bid 500 yds is not much gravel on a mile that only about an inch of gravel on that 22 ft road I normally put on 2100 tons a mile that gives me 3 inches of gravel on a 24ft road top.
@@graderman140m Gravel must be pretty damn cheap where you guys live. The Max we will put on is 150 per mile on existing roads The only time we get up around the 400 yd per mile is a brand new roadtop that's a 15 m roadtop (45 feet)
@@Jason-jh9ue our gravel is fairly cheap from the 2 suppliers I have on is 10.00 a ton delivered anywhere in the township and the other is 14 so pretty reasonable in my area we also have lots of pits in our area so that keeps cost down.
@@Jason-jh9ue wow that’s crazy and it always amazes me how different things are other places it really opens your eyes knowing how lucky I am to be able too have the material I do and at the price I get it at others are not so lucky thanks for the discussion and thanks for watching.
Isnt the purpose of a crown is to allow rainwater to drain off the road? Rainwater wont drain off a gravel road, it will seep into the ground betwix the rocks. !
