Any GradeMaster owners here?

[beppington]

How do you like to set your adjustments up ? Do you change it much or keep it the same way all the time ?

IIRC the blades were set at all 4 corners (front & rear blades & side-to-side) to be 1/4" below the skids, & I've never made any adjustments.

I'm sure you could grade more aggressively by lowering the blades further, to say 1/2", but I've never needed that - Even at 1/4" it can pile up a lot of dirt very quickly.

You can also grade more aggressively just by shortening the top link a little (but not too much) so the front blade is at a more aggressive digging angle. Of course you could shorten the TL so much that you cause the grader to ride only on the front of the skids & neither blade would even touch the ground. And like a box blade, if you want to do a more smoothing job, lengthen the TL so that the rear blade does most of the grading & is at a less aggressive digging angle.

 

[JoelT]

This thing kicks butt. Blades were flush with the skids when I got it. Wished I'd tried it out that way first just to compare. I'd heard that 1/4" down was a standard. But no, I thought, that couldn't do much, so, in my infinite wisdom (read lack of) I set the outside to 3/4" and crown side to 1/4". I was thrilled to see some of the gravel I've been sending to China fluff up, but it was way too much. I readjusted to 3/8"+ outside and 1/4" crown side and that's quite a bit better but still too aggressive although on the next pass with a touch of lift applied it worked pretty slick actually. I'm gonna set the outside to 1/4" and crown side to zero and see what happens.

 

[Gordon Gould]

JoelT - Now you know why everyone raves about them :thumbsup:
I like to run mine a 3/4". It depends alot on your surface material size, how hard packed it is, and its moisture. I set mine to match the the size of the biggest stone in my surface gravel mix. That seems to work out for me. My grader is 5' wide and weighs 575 lbs and has no rippers.

 

[beppington]

This thing kicks butt. Blades were flush with the skids when I got it. Wished I'd tried it out that way first just to compare. I'd heard that 1/4" down was a standard. But no, I thought, that couldn't do much, so, in my infinite wisdom (read lack of) I set the outside to 3/4" and crown side to 1/4". I was thrilled to see some of the gravel I've been sending to China fluff up, but it was way too much. I readjusted to 3/8"+ outside and 1/4" crown side and that's quite a bit better but still too aggressive although on the next pass with a touch of lift applied it worked pretty slick actually. I'm gonna set the outside to 1/4" and crown side to zero and see what happens.

I think you should set both sides to 1/4" & tilt the entire grader using your 3 point hitch side height adjustment - Lower the right side & you should develop a crown.

 

[MotorSeven]

I think you should set both sides to 1/4" & tilt the entire grader using your 3 point hitch side height adjustment - Lower the right side & you should develop a crown.

No, that is not what I want to have to do and I don't think the results would be as good as if the blades were fixed at an angle within the frame. Would your way work? Yes, I think so, but again it will require input from the driver which repeating the same depth on one side day after day would be impossible. With the blades fixed/adjusted to make it own crown the results are repeatable time after time. The rep said the 2" crown equals out to about a 1/4" slope. I already have my driveway sloped with the box much more aggressive than that because on a steep hill, 1/4" is not near enough to get the water off. so, I am hoping to maintain my slope and even increase it some.

Then the question for me comes up that once i have the crown where I want it, is a fixed adjustment going to mess that up by making more crown with each pass? Should I really think more about an adjustable blade so I can set it flat once the crown is where I want it? With a fixed crown adjustment I might end up doing what you said and messing with the T&T to overcome that adjustment....and that is back to where I don't want to be.

 

[beppington]

No, that is not what I want to have to do and I don't think the results would be as good as if the blades were fixed at an angle within the frame. Would your way work? Yes, I think so, but again it will require input from the driver which repeating the same depth on one side day after day would be impossible. With the blades fixed/adjusted to make it own crown the results are repeatable time after time. The rep said the 2" crown equals out to about a 1/4" slope. I already have my driveway sloped with the box much more aggressive than that because on a steep hill, 1/4" is not near enough to get the water off. so, I am hoping to maintain my slope and even increase it some.

So, if you get the blade fixed to crown, how will you ever stop that crown when you get it where you want it? In other words, after you make a pass, it'll have a little crown, & then after 20 or 30 passes won't your crown be out of control, so sloped you roll right off?

Then the question for me comes up that once i have the crown where I want it, is a fixed adjustment going to mess that up by making more crown with each pass? Should I really think more about an adjustable blade so I can set it flat once the crown is where I want it? With a fixed crown adjustment I might end up doing what you said and messing with the T&T to overcome that adjustment....and that is back to where I don't want to be.

So you'd rather make adjustments to the crown-ability of your grader using tools & loosening & tightening several bolts ... then just adjusting your 3 point hitch? :confused2:

 

[MotorSeven]

So, if you get the blade fixed to crown, how will you ever stop that crown when you get it where you want it? In other words, after you make a pass, it'll have a little crown, & then after 20 or 30 passes won't your crown be out of control, so sloped you roll right off?



So you'd rather make adjustments to the crown-ability of your grader using tools & loosening & tightening several bolts ... then just adjusting your 3 point hitch? :confused2:

Paragraph one...yes that is my question exactly and I need to find out the answer.

Paragraph two, yes, I do not want to screw around with the 3 point at all....just hook up and go. If I wanted to mess with the T&T I would just keep using the BB, but I have to say I don't care for the results...and way too much fiddling with the T&T.

 

[beppington]

Paragraph one...yes that is my question exactly and I need to find out the answer.

OK, I was trying to phrase it more pleasantly by making my statement into a question - So, instead I'll tell you now that, yes, if you get it in a fixed position to crown, you will not have the control you need. I don't see how it could not crown your road excessively. With every pass the crown will become more severe. Why wouldn't it?? :confused2: What would be there to stop the lower blade side from digging more than the higher blade side?? Especially given that you don't want to make any 3 point hitch adjustments at all, which is pretty odd.

Plus, if you ever want to use the grader to level something, it probably won't work - The side that has the blade lower will always dig more than the other side.

Paragraph two, yes, I do not want to screw around with the 3 point at all....just hook up and go. If I wanted to mess with the T&T I would just keep using the BB, but I have to say I don't care for the results...and way too much fiddling with the T&T.

For somebody who wants to make no 3 point hitch adjustments ... I don't know what to say except: I'm not sure tractor ownership is for you. You could always just sell your tractor & pay somebody to grade it for you. That way they could 'deal with' adjusting their 3 point hitch to get the desired results.

Is there any way you can go test one of these graders that has the blades fixed in a crown position? If so, make several passes on the same spot & see what happens.

 

[Gordon Gould]

You will have to find out what will happen through experience. These things don't work like a blade that accumulates material and leaves an open cut trough behind. The material flows through them fairly freely and is redeposited behind the blade. You will have more loose material on the ditch side because you are cutting deeper than on the crown side. The ditch side material will try to flow up hill along the blade. But if the blade is full all the way across (as it should be) the material will flow over the top. So you will get a migration of material towards the crown. It will be interesting to see how much crowning you really get. I would think it will work good. Please let us know. If you get to much crown just run in the other direction to knock it back down a little. Like any new impliment you will have to spend some time to learn how to use it to make it do what you want it to do.

 

[beppington]

Gordon - I can't remember: Are your blades fixed? Do you have them set to crown? If not, do you wish you did?