I am a draft control virgin, I think i understand the principle but I think I lack the over all ability to "see" "the time" or "feel" to raise blade on the back of the tractor. I have operated dozers not an expert but did not do bad job, in fact person i worked had me run a D7 for 400 plus hours one summer so i can push dirt fine. I just seem to have the terrible porpoise effect with the grader blade but i have never had a blade like this so maybe its like the wheel horse snow blade compared to the D7 :laughing:.
I have a draft control plate on the LS I looked at after you mentioned draft control and it looks like it is in the bypass position so the draft control lever is only acting like a rate control lever at this time. I will try it in the open position tomorrow and see what it does different. The dozer operating experience is why I asked if the gauge wheels would see the material weight or not since when you push dirt you can really feel when you lift the material with a dozer and start a cut. Just not sure from a physics stand point how you calculate the load on the gauge wheel, maybe I am over thinking just need to put two of the wheels on for 3K+ capacity if I decide I need the gauge wheels installed. Seems like it would be more load applied to tractor since you are pulling the material and not lifting. Thank you though for your suggestion.
Most people think of Draft Control for plowing and that is what it was originally designed for. But there is no reason not to use it for grading, especially when using an implement that is capable of putting a load on the tractor. You will eliminate all the wash boarding once you have figured out how to set and use the Draft Control.
Different tractors have the Draft control set up differently, so I am not going to try and explain in detail how to use it, because your actual adjustments may be different. I will suggest that you read the owner-operators manual several times and as of now, particularly the section on the 3pt hitch. I will say that with Draft Control used properly you can get pretty much a perfect grade.
You mentioned,
" I lack the over all ability to "see" "the time" or "feel" to raise blade on the back of the tractor." With Draft Control, you do not need to be able to sense these things, the tractor does it for you.
I have had professionals tell me that they don't want the machine raising the blade on it's own. Well, for me anyway, so that the tractor can continue on it's way with out spinning, that is normally an amount of 1/16"- 1/8". So unless someone is really trying to get to a nats a-ss for accuracy, that is plenty close for me. Typically just that small amount lessens the load so that the tractor continues on. Yes there are times when it is more, but I can't think of a single time that it was ever an amount that I felt that it was a hindrance.
Keep in mind that when using this, it is not Draft Control alone, but Position Control also plays a HUGE part in the original positioning of the levers so that everything works together as it is intended to do. That and having the top link in the pin location that works best for what you are doing with YOUR tractor, that is if your tractor has the draft sensor with the top link, which I believe it should.
Like I said, read your manual. I actually had my manual with me in hand when I was first learning how to set everything up so that it worked properly. Some experimentation and you should be able to dial it right in. For me once I learned where the adjustments needed to be for that implement, it now takes a few seconds to have it ready to go. Minor adjustments are learned to be able to easily deal with different ground hardness.
With my 75HP tractor, I have the pin setting in the most sensitive location, I know of others that have to use the middle sensitive pin location. Like I said, depends on the tractor. This is why some experimentation is most likely going to be needed. But once you get it figured out, it will perform like most simply will not or do not believe.
Your tractor has the ability to provide you with an excellent graded surface without the need for any gauge wheels. You have a very good heavy blade, and that makes everything just that much easier. When you decide that you want hydraulic actuated offset,
contact me, I can normally set you up for less money than other places.
Try things out, good luck.
