Slope work ahead of gunnite.

[zhkent]

Got around to scanning some photos of a ditch I bladed.
In the 4th photo you can see how the soils would go from very soft to very hard.
The last photo is of the center shift extension that would throw the blade out far enough
that most of the time I didn't have to put a tire on the slope.

azwestgun.jpeg

azwestblade2.jpeg

azgradecheck3.jpeg

aznorth4.jpeg

azwater5.jpeg

azfromcorner.jpeg

azsouth7.jpeg

az2south8.jpeg

azcheater.jpeg

[John Gaunt]

Great pics Kent. I've often thought graders are underrated machines, it's amazing what they can do.

[Jason_Hannaford]

Great pics Kent. I've often thought graders are underrated machines, it's amazing what they can do.

I agree They certainly are a precision intsrument, i would have thought it takes a lot of skill and experiance to do a good job with a grader.

[nick lamb]

Good pics.that's a big ditch compared to the ones in the UK.where were you working?

[Nick Drew]

Yeh Great Job there Kent

A real credit to your skill and ability

Good grader drivers are hard to find here in the UK and most that I have seen are old guys
Who knows where they are going to get them from in the future

Are they easy to find in the US Kent ??

Nick

[SRB]

Fair play to you with that work,

I am by no stretch of the imagination an operator, i can drive most things but operate, well, My first (and probably last attempt) on a grader involved trimming the haul road, which i merrily did for 6 hours, the end result was at best described as the steps of Russia, i was duly b**llocked and dissmissed back to the work shop, sad part is i actually thought i'd done a good job!

I showed a couple of lads how to get the blade out on a grader the other day as they didn't believe how far out you can get them....

SB

[John Gaunt]

Great pics as always, Stuart. I've seen old Cat films (from the 30's or 40's) with grader blades at such crazy angles.

[zhkent]

Thanks Guys,
Nicky,
That ditch is in Tuscon, Arizona.
Went to see a cousin in Phoenix Az in 1983, didn't make it back to Kansas until end of 1987.
Spent half that time in Phoenix, half in Tuscon.

Nick,
I would say it's getting harder to get quality hands.
I don't consider myself old yet, guess my kids do. When I did that ditch I was 27, one of my last
jobs there.

Stuart,
Wish I had a photo of the blade out on that 140G. With the extension you can kick the heel on out about to
the outside of the rear tire.
Thats some nice looking equipment you got there. Is that a 14M?

John,
I know some of the older cat graders could throw the blade out to the side by pulling the pin in the center
linkage and lengthening it as far as possible. The blade could then be pushed out to one side and almost
brought back under the machine using the center shift.
Switching from the right side to the left side requires changing the way the center linkage is aimed.

Make it look easy,
Kent

[SRB]

Hi Kent,

It certainly is a 14M, there's some more pics of it on this link: New 14M grader.

SB

[nick lamb]

Thanks Kent.it's allways nice to get a bit of background imfo'