Motorin’

There’s a man the entire crew looks up to as he proudly walks the jobsite. He double checks his work, even though his grade was spot-on from the first pass.

They say that he has an inherent feel for the machine. Women love him and men want to operate like him. He’s the motor grader operator.

Motor grader operation is a task that demands respect.

The motor grader operator typically knows the job’s specifications inside and out. There’s a fair bit of artistry involved in running a grader, and in today’s cost-saving climate, the grade set with a motor grader can tremendously impact the profitability of a job. As a contractor, you want a capable operator who can get the job done right the first time.

“Individuals will tell you that it can take years to develop the skill that is required to become a proficient motor grader operator,” says Gary Atkinson, Product Manager South East Region for Volvo Road Machinery. “A lot of times, the motor grader operator becomes the lead man on the jobsite. He has to know how to read the plans for the job and he’ll be communicating with the grade crew if there is one.”

With a task filled with responsibility and a high degree of skill, how do you know which member of your crew can helm the grader? The major factor is the operator’s aptitude for job details and finishing a job to certain specs. Before trying their hand at a motor grader, most operators start on less complicated machines until they prove themselves worthy of moving up to the grader.

“Traditionally, the grader operator is the most skilled of operators and has the eye-hand coordination and attentiveness to master the grader,” says Jeff Hulse, Product Specialist for Case Construction Equipment. “Eye-hand coordination is extremely important, along with the patience and the desire to master a skill. If a foreman is going to train an operator as a new hire, the new hire should be given room and time to practice.”

A good progression for grooming an operator would be for an individual to spend time on a dozer, which is the primary tool used to shape the project’s rough grade. This way, he or she gets used to cutting grade to job specifications. If you find that the operator has the grading chops to move up to motor grader, a combination of hands-on and classroom training is typical. The best way for a new student of the grader to learn is to have him or her work as an apprentice under a master operator, says Steven Moore, Product Manager for Komatsu Graders and Articulated Trucks.

For a new operator, the control scheme of a motor grader can be daunting. The industry standard controls consist of eight to 10 control levers, with the left- and right-blade lift controls spread out on either side of the steering column. On most machines, like those from Case Construction Equipment, the control pattern can be mechanically changed to control both left- and right-blade lift on the left hand side of the steering column, which may be more familiar for some operators.

“In the most common arrangement, the outside levers on the left and right side of the steering column are used to lift the left- and right-side blades, respectively,” explains Hulse. “The second lever on the left side adjusts the front scarifier/blade or ripper. The third lever on the left side is the blade side shift lever. The fourth lever on the left side controls blade pitch. The fifth lever turns the circle.

“Working in from the right side of steering column, the outside lever controls right-side blade lift. The second lever controls front wheel lean. The third lever controls articulations, and the fourth lever controls circle side shift.”

The latest development in motor grader controls have been pioneered by Caterpillar’s M-Series loaders, which offer joystick controls. The left joystick primarily controls the machine direction and speed. To steer the machine, you lean the joystick left or right and can twist the joystick to either side for articulation. An index trigger shifts the transmission to forward, neutral or reverse and two yellow thumb buttons upshift and downshift. The left moldboard lift cylinder is controlled by the push and pull of the joystick to lower and raise the blade, respectively. This control scheme offers a more accessible control option to the new user, but some manufacturers argue that detail-oriented motor grader operators who are used to the traditional lever style prefer that system.

Perhaps the most important aspect of a motor grader’s ability isn’t learning machine nuances or controls. “The thing that most [operators] have to learn is visualizing the final product,” explains Atkinson. “He or she needs to see what the job should look like in his or her mind’s eye when it’s done. It’s one of the main senses to develop. Some people have it, some people don’t. If you don’t have it, you’re not going to be running the motor grader. You’ll find that most operators in the private sector are pretty particular in how they approach their work.”

Skills such as ensuring the roadbed is prepared properly are a key aspect of being a good motor grader prospect. Some important skills that require extra practice include crowing the surface for adequate drainage, cutting and building ditches including V-ditches and flat-bottom ditches and establishing a back slope, says Hulse. The length of time to master these skills can vary greatly depending on the actual time spent in the grader.

Today’s motor grader operators have more machine tools at their disposal than their old-time mentors had when they were learning. The most prevalent of tools across all manufacturers is the ability to utilize GPS-based grading systems and machine control. These systems, offered by OEMs like Topcon, Moba and Trimble and equipment manufacturers like Caterpillar, Komatsu and John Deere, allow a three-dimensional representation of the jobsite to be loaded onto the machine. From there, the specifications can be punched in and tied to the motor grader’s blade control functions. Theoretically, all the operator would have to do is drive the correct path, hold the machine within its operating limits and the machine control system would do the rest.

Of course, these systems aren’t perfect and corrections need to be made on the fly.

“The GPS and machine control makes a skilled operator even better and more productive with less re-work,” says Atkinson. “I don’t think you can take an unskilled individual and put him in the machine and produce quality work, regardless of machine control. Occasionally, we see resistance from the old-time guys when GPS is installed, but they get over that almost immediately — within half a day to a day. I see machine control on motor graders being the standard in the next 10 years.”

Additionally, you’ll find that most motor grader manufacturers offer transmission options on their machines to capitalize on the engine horsepower. Komatsu has a torque converter mode that eliminates the need for an inching pedal and allows greater control at lower speeds. Case has optional all-wheel drive on its 865 VHP and 865 motor graders that give the operator the choice of two modes of operation — six-wheel-drive can be used to provide maximum machine control in adverse conditions and creep mode allows the front wheels to act as a hydrostatic transmission.

Volvo offers an 1160 transmission, which allows for more gear ratio selections for the job. With this system, the operator can run it at a slower ground speed, but having more gear selections to match the engine rpm to the ground speed and keep the engine operating at a more optimum speed range.

“It’s all about productivity, fuel efficiency and keeping the machine at peak torque speed,” says Atkinson. “All engines are going to have a sweet spot where they like to run and usually that’s right around what we call the peak torque speed. The longer that you can keep the engine running at that peak torque speed, the better productivity you’re going to get out of it.”

To achieve optimum performance from your grader and its operator, you can also employ a machine telematics system.

These systems, often available as an optional factory-install with most grader brands, gather machine operational data such as travel speed, fuel usage, gear selection and many more parameters and send that info to the machine’s fleet manager electronically in real time.

After taking a look at that data, you can instruct your operator on how to get the job done more efficiently. For instance, if you have an operator running the motor grader’s throttle wide open in a low gear and another operator running in a higher gear but at lower engine speed, you could find that the second operator is saving as much as a gallon or more of fuel per hour. If you are running eight to 10 hours a day, Atkinson explains, that’s a lot of fuel savings for the job you’re working and over the life of the grader it will represent a very substantial cost savings.

Not everyone is cut out to be a motor grader operator. With razor-thin job profit margins and rising costs, it’s important that you find the right operator for the machine.

If you find an efficient perfectionist with a passion for finish work that operator is worth his or her weight in gold.

Jason Morgan is Associate Editor of Utility Contractor.