Grading 101

[xtreem3d]

hi guys, was wanting some help on getting better at "finish" grading. just had to spread 600 tons of gravel for a company and ran into some issues getting some spots smooth. here is a description of one of the tougher area's i had to do. picture a rectangular lot about 100 x 50'. it was already 1/2" - but not in good shape so i needed to spread 1/2 minus back over it. at the beginning the lot was already flat/smooth. i had my new holland and a smooth bucket to work with. i had the trucks dump the rock in the center of the lot figuring i could work out each way to the ends. at first i would grab a scoop of rock, lift the boom and roll forward slowly as i "flicked" the bucket as i uncurled it at the same time trying to lay down a fairly smooth and even swatch of rock until the bucket emptied then i would repeat. the problem was that it was hard to get the rock to fall smoothly all the time and i would at times end up dumping too much causing a small bump in the lot. as i finished spreading one half i began back dragging the rock to get it flat but by now the machine had ridden over the bumps of rock and it was like "whoopty doo's" that i just couldn't flatten out. i left that side alone and went to the other half. on this side i grabbed a scoop and dumped it right in front of the machine, then i would uncurl the bucket the full amount and lower it to about 1 inch about the surface and proceed to "plow" the rock forward with the uncurled bucket. this workee a little better but was hard to keep the bucket a consistent 1 inch off the ground due to small irregularities in the surface. after i spread that side i backdragged it and it work better than the first side. in the end i had to sort of dig/scrape the worst side and re-work it to get it better. after the job was done the lot turned out to be smoother BEFORE i touched it which was very discouraging. the remaining 100's of tons went better because they were in smaller area's. i don't grade for a living (obviously) but want to get good fast so i need some tips on what some of you might have done with just a smooth bucket which i assume should have been able to do a good job, thanks, steve Ground Effects LLC

 

[mllud]

Steve Im not in the buiness like a lot of the members here but have owned a lot of machines. If you run the whole thing in one direction and then go across in the other direction your loader might not want to repeat following those highs and lows. You could straddle those bumps cross ways. Mike

 

[Tazza]

Steve Im not in the buiness like a lot of the members here but have owned a lot of machines. If you run the whole thing in one direction and then go across in the other direction your loader might not want to repeat following those highs and lows. You could straddle those bumps cross ways. Mike

Have you used a spreader bar at all?

 

[xtreem3d]

Have you used a spreader bar at all?

mike...i forgot to mention i did try the cross hatch pattern and it helped but it was mostly too late, tazza....no i have not used a spreader bar, don't know what that is, i only used my smooth bucket but willing to purchase what will do the job right..ie; what do the "pro's" use ? steve

 

[Tazza]

mike...i forgot to mention i did try the cross hatch pattern and it helped but it was mostly too late, tazza....no i have not used a spreader bar, don't know what that is, i only used my smooth bucket but willing to purchase what will do the job right..ie; what do the "pro's" use ? steve

Over here 99.9% of the operators use a 4 in 1 bucket. They use the bucket to grab what we call a spreader bar with the jaws. Its basically a 6-8' square made of angle iron or channel. You lay it flat on the ground and push forward and back to get a nice smooth finish. The square edges cut the high points off to give a pretty even finish, much better than the small surface area of the bucket. They look just like this:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/BOBCAT-SPREA...yZ105777QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
It will only work on loose dirt or fill like what you were using.
I hope that is of some help.

 

[skidsteer.ca]

Over here 99.9% of the operators use a 4 in 1 bucket. They use the bucket to grab what we call a spreader bar with the jaws. Its basically a 6-8' square made of angle iron or channel. You lay it flat on the ground and push forward and back to get a nice smooth finish. The square edges cut the high points off to give a pretty even finish, much better than the small surface area of the bucket. They look just like this:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/BOBCAT-SPREADER-BAR-LEVELING-BAR-NEW-HEAVY-DUTY_W0QQitemZ160238609462QQihZ006QQcategoryZ105777QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
It will only work on loose dirt or fill like what you were using.
I hope that is of some help.

Now why don't we have those in North America? I've never seen one either.
The only other thing I can think of would be a 6 way blade with a grader wheel kit out in front. And the fancy version with lazer height control
http://www.skidsteer.ca/16sixwaydozerblade.pdf
or what ATI Corporation calls "Level Best"
Ken

 

[Tazza]

Now why don't we have those in North America? I've never seen one either.
The only other thing I can think of would be a 6 way blade with a grader wheel kit out in front. And the fancy version with lazer height control
http://www.skidsteer.ca/16sixwaydozerblade.pdf
or what ATI Corporation calls "Level Best"
Ken

I'm surprised you guys haven't seen them before.... Just about every operator over here has one. I built one out of some junk i had, was a little too thin and i sort of destroyed it.....

 

[Land-Tech]

I'm surprised you guys haven't seen them before.... Just about every operator over here has one. I built one out of some junk i had, was a little too thin and i sort of destroyed it.....

Another cheap and fast way is to use a drag,large piece of steel 8'-10 long. piece of cyclone fence about 6' in lengh attached the width of the large bar anbd some sort of weight on the tail end of the fencing. I used a 4x6x10' timber. a chain on each end of the drag bar so you can adjust the angle which helps to cut the high spots. I drag this contraption with a four wheeler cause its faster.They make a smaller version for baseball infields
Otherwise I'll back drag in the float position.
The drag works good for long drives cause it will bring the rocks up and drop the fines and if angled it will kick the rocks off to the side.
If trying to level to a set elevation, a grader attachment probably work the best. Scott

 

[xtreem3d]

Another cheap and fast way is to use a drag,large piece of steel 8'-10 long. piece of cyclone fence about 6' in lengh attached the width of the large bar anbd some sort of weight on the tail end of the fencing. I used a 4x6x10' timber. a chain on each end of the drag bar so you can adjust the angle which helps to cut the high spots. I drag this contraption with a four wheeler cause its faster.They make a smaller version for baseball infields
Otherwise I'll back drag in the float position.
The drag works good for long drives cause it will bring the rocks up and drop the fines and if angled it will kick the rocks off to the side.
If trying to level to a set elevation, a grader attachment probably work the best. Scott

this sounds like it might be a high dollar version of what a couple of you guys are explaining, anyone use something like this for grading? if so , how do the hydralic scarifer teeth work? here's the link but i have never been able to get it to work in my posts, a moderator may have to help out,
http://www.erskineattachments.com/attachments/planer_w_hydraulic_scarifier/index.cfm
steve

 

[skidsteer.ca]

this sounds like it might be a high dollar version of what a couple of you guys are explaining, anyone use something like this for grading? if so , how do the hydralic scarifer teeth work? here's the link but i have never been able to get it to work in my posts, a moderator may have to help out,
http://www.erskineattachments.com/attachments/planer_w_hydraulic_scarifier/index.cfm
steve

I have a home made drag I use behind a atv. I should make it angle. Straight on is fine. but rocks tend to accumulate in it and then it jumps up on top of one and drop the whole bunch. But it does help alot.
I should throw a pic in, but it just two beams cross wise, a steel tongue welded to the front and 2 tongues extend from the rear to keep it from dropping into holes. Anything with a long length will make it easier to level. Just look at a road grader.
I have never used a land plane, but they would be helpful. Though I'm not sure you would use the scarifier for the job described above. More for lossening tough virgin soil.
I think the screen area in them would be handy for breaking up lumps. I'd like to see one in use to see what can be done with them.
Ken