Duragrader Update

Wayne_Freeman · May 26, 2006

As a follow up to an older post I had ordered and prepaid for a five foot duragrader from this website: http://sealfabrication.tripod.com/. That was august of last year and I received my implement yesterday with some help from local law enforcement and David Mizell, aka, sandman2234. The lesson I learned is to make sure to prepay only if you are sure about the vendor.

This particular grader is a five footer with dual angled blades designed to work a crown into the road. It seems logical that the blades closest to the tractor would work the side of the road and the blades furthest from the tractor would be the crown side. After several passes on my road I just don't see much difference? Does anybody have a similar implement with some seat time hints?

Wayne_Freeman · May 26, 2006

As a follow up to an older post I had ordered and prepaid for a five foot duragrader from this website: http://sealfabrication.tripod.com/. That was august of last year and I received my implement yesterday with some help from local law enforcement and David Mizell, aka, sandman2234. The lesson I learned is to make sure to prepay only if you are sure about the vendor.

This particular grader is a five footer with dual angled blades designed to work a crown into the road. It seems logical that the blades closest to the tractor would work the side of the road and the blades furthest from the tractor would be the crown side. After several passes on my road I just don't see much difference? Does anybody have a similar implement with some seat time hints?

beenthere · May 26, 2006

Did adjustment directions come with the machine?

I suspect it will be successful with a combination of the gravel conditions, depth of setting of the front relative to the rear, and with the angle of the blades fore and aft. I doubt it will be as simple as attaching it and running down the road. Fine tuning will likely be what is necessary to get satisfactory results. A hyd top-link would be a big help I suspect to make it easier to adjust on the fly, and see the results. On my gravel drive (pre-asphalt) I used just a back blade, and a key to success was going deep enough to really work up the gravel, not just move the 'marbles' and loose stones around on the surface. Gotta dig deep, and pack it real tight right afterwards before it dries out at all.

I hope this is encouraging to you, not discouraging. Sorry to hear about your purchasing problems. Did they get hit or caught up in the hurricane Katrina aftermath?

beenthere · May 26, 2006

Did adjustment directions come with the machine?

I suspect it will be successful with a combination of the gravel conditions, depth of setting of the front relative to the rear, and with the angle of the blades fore and aft. I doubt it will be as simple as attaching it and running down the road. Fine tuning will likely be what is necessary to get satisfactory results. A hyd top-link would be a big help I suspect to make it easier to adjust on the fly, and see the results. On my gravel drive (pre-asphalt) I used just a back blade, and a key to success was going deep enough to really work up the gravel, not just move the 'marbles' and loose stones around on the surface. Gotta dig deep, and pack it real tight right afterwards before it dries out at all.

I hope this is encouraging to you, not discouraging. Sorry to hear about your purchasing problems. Did they get hit or caught up in the hurricane Katrina aftermath?

Wayne_Freeman · May 26, 2006

Yes, they were caught up in Katrina and I was very gracious to afford plenty of time and opportunity to get squared away. As time passed and things played out I realized there was no intention to either speak to me, render a refund or ship my order. I did pay $250 shipping initially and wound up with David picking up the grader but feel fortunate just to have that much. They have been up and running for some time. It looks like a good product.

Wayne_Freeman · May 26, 2006

Yes, they were caught up in Katrina and I was very gracious to afford plenty of time and opportunity to get squared away. As time passed and things played out I realized there was no intention to either speak to me, render a refund or ship my order. I did pay $250 shipping initially and wound up with David picking up the grader but feel fortunate just to have that much. They have been up and running for some time. It looks like a good product.

BamaRob · May 26, 2006

From their website:

( The DURA-GRADER builds crown and resurfaces gravel due to the angle and pitch of the cutting edges. Also, it handles grass and debris with ease and because material flows through, You grade quickly and with less horepower than other implements. The depth that the cutting edges cut is controlled by the skids. This makes grading and leveling simple and foolproof. Just drop and drag without having to constanly adjust the lift as you would with Box & Straight blades.)

They sure make it sound like you don't have to fiddle with adjustments like you do with a boxblade, don't they? /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif If I had bought it, I'd be asking the same questions. From their advertizing, you just drop it and go. It'll put a great crown and finish on your road.

Later,

BR

BamaRob · May 26, 2006

From their website:

( The DURA-GRADER builds crown and resurfaces gravel due to the angle and pitch of the cutting edges. Also, it handles grass and debris with ease and because material flows through, You grade quickly and with less horepower than other implements. The depth that the cutting edges cut is controlled by the skids. This makes grading and leveling simple and foolproof. Just drop and drag without having to constanly adjust the lift as you would with Box & Straight blades.)

They sure make it sound like you don't have to fiddle with adjustments like you do with a boxblade, don't they? /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif If I had bought it, I'd be asking the same questions. From their advertizing, you just drop it and go. It'll put a great crown and finish on your road.

Later,

BR

beenthere · May 26, 2006

Might help if we could get some pics of it working your gravel, showing how the gravel flows through the blades.
Maybe you can make a threat of a small claims court procedure, or actually go to small claims court for your $250 shipping costs.

beenthere · May 26, 2006

Might help if we could get some pics of it working your gravel, showing how the gravel flows through the blades.
Maybe you can make a threat of a small claims court procedure, or actually go to small claims court for your $250 shipping costs.

RonMar · May 26, 2006

I am not sure how they set up their blades in relation to the side rails on the Duragrader, but I built my own grader box that is similar to the one shown on their website. On mine, I placed the cutting edge of the front blade about 3/4" below the side rails and the rear blade is set flush with the side rails. It takes a little bit of trial and error to set the toplink up properly to control the cut. I found that by setting it up initially on my garage floor, I could get it pretty close to the sweet spot right from the start. Once you are in the "zone", a fairly small adjustment on my toplink has a pretty large impact on the way mine cuts. I let the impliment rest on the garage floor with the 3PH in "Float". Setting on the garage floor, the only points on the impliment that are touching are the cutting edge and the rear ends of the side rails/skids. I lengthen the toplink till it is tight and the cutting edge just starts to lift off the concrete floor. On a level surface, that will be the no-cut position. I only have to shorten the toplink a small ammount to increase the ammount of cut to it's maximum where the siderails will be sliding completely on the ground and the blade cutting in 3/4". I think that only takes about 3-4 full turns on the toplink on mine so it is pretty sensetive. If I shorten it too much, the grader will actually start to ride up on the side rails ahead of the blade which will cause the blade to cut less(but not so much on mine as I put the front blade pretty far foreward).

RonMar · May 26, 2006

I am not sure how they set up their blades in relation to the side rails on the Duragrader, but I built my own grader box that is similar to the one shown on their website. On mine, I placed the cutting edge of the front blade about 3/4" below the side rails and the rear blade is set flush with the side rails. It takes a little bit of trial and error to set the toplink up properly to control the cut. I found that by setting it up initially on my garage floor, I could get it pretty close to the sweet spot right from the start. Once you are in the "zone", a fairly small adjustment on my toplink has a pretty large impact on the way mine cuts. I let the impliment rest on the garage floor with the 3PH in "Float". Setting on the garage floor, the only points on the impliment that are touching are the cutting edge and the rear ends of the side rails/skids. I lengthen the toplink till it is tight and the cutting edge just starts to lift off the concrete floor. On a level surface, that will be the no-cut position. I only have to shorten the toplink a small ammount to increase the ammount of cut to it's maximum where the siderails will be sliding completely on the ground and the blade cutting in 3/4". I think that only takes about 3-4 full turns on the toplink on mine so it is pretty sensetive. If I shorten it too much, the grader will actually start to ride up on the side rails ahead of the blade which will cause the blade to cut less(but not so much on mine as I put the front blade pretty far foreward).

Glenn9643 · May 26, 2006

This thread is a review of a Duragrader a few months ago. There have been other members with posts about them. You might make a few PM's to find out about adjustments...
Glad to hear you finally got the thing!

Glenn9643 · May 26, 2006

This thread is a review of a Duragrader a few months ago. There have been other members with posts about them. You might make a few PM's to find out about adjustments...
Glad to hear you finally got the thing!

PineRidge · May 26, 2006

They sure make it sound like you don't have to fiddle with adjustments like you do with a boxblade, don't they? If I had bought it, I'd be asking the same questions. From their advertizing, you just drop it and go. It'll put a great crown and finish on your road. 

Yes, and I believe they also said quick shipping too. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

PineRidge · May 26, 2006

They sure make it sound like you don't have to fiddle with adjustments like you do with a boxblade, don't they? If I had bought it, I'd be asking the same questions. From their advertizing, you just drop it and go. It'll put a great crown and finish on your road. 

Yes, and I believe they also said quick shipping too. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

sandman2234 · May 27, 2006

Wayne,
Actually, the blade side closest to the tractor should be the side that goes to the center of the road since you will be picking up the front just a little. That means the right side will dig less than the left if the front is raised just a little. The dirt displaced should ride to the left as it builds up against the blade, but fills in the low spots as the right side will be higher due to being closer to the front.
Hope that makes sense. The duragrader is built to appear level, and that is very misleading. I dragged it all around the south before a stanger pointed out to me that it wasn't going to cut a level path with the blades angled like that unless you kept it exactly level. After figuring that out, it made perfect sense.
Good luck with it, and let me know if you have any problems with it.
Since I bought those extra blades, I will probably go ahead and build one soon.
I started building myself another computer last night.
Been years since I did that, and it isn't as easy as it used to be. Getting tired of not being able to acess the 'net. Wish me luck replacing that old dead computer.
David from jax

sandman2234 · May 27, 2006

Wayne,
Actually, the blade side closest to the tractor should be the side that goes to the center of the road since you will be picking up the front just a little. That means the right side will dig less than the left if the front is raised just a little. The dirt displaced should ride to the left as it builds up against the blade, but fills in the low spots as the right side will be higher due to being closer to the front.
Hope that makes sense. The duragrader is built to appear level, and that is very misleading. I dragged it all around the south before a stanger pointed out to me that it wasn't going to cut a level path with the blades angled like that unless you kept it exactly level. After figuring that out, it made perfect sense.
Good luck with it, and let me know if you have any problems with it.
Since I bought those extra blades, I will probably go ahead and build one soon.
I started building myself another computer last night.
Been years since I did that, and it isn't as easy as it used to be. Getting tired of not being able to acess the 'net. Wish me luck replacing that old dead computer.
David from jax

Wayne_Freeman · May 27, 2006

It is good to see you are at least back on line! I remember your instructions and have been playing with the setup. Obviously there is a sweet spot that I have not found yet. Looking at the thing it seems to defy gravity. I can tell you it works very well but I just don't have the setup/crown thing figured out yet. Thnks again for your help.

Wayne_Freeman · May 27, 2006

It is good to see you are at least back on line! I remember your instructions and have been playing with the setup. Obviously there is a sweet spot that I have not found yet. Looking at the thing it seems to defy gravity. I can tell you it works very well but I just don't have the setup/crown thing figured out yet. Thnks again for your help.