If you see a Pony Grader for sale - Buy It!

[airbiscuit]

I live at the end of a 1/2 mile shared road. Every spring, I have to deal with the spring thaw. This winter had a lot of 12" + snowfalls - usually wet snow. For 10 days, I've been scraping the ice and slush off to the side with my rear blade. Once the gravel started to peak through, to the harsh reality of how unsteady a rear bade is in soft/wet dirt comes bask to haunt me. Every dip and pothole is greatly amplified to the rear blade, and you can end up doing more harm than good.

Mercifully, most of the road has thawed to the point where I can use my Pony Grader. Having those rear wheels set back so far really helps smooth out the whoops and wallows. The blade tilt makes creating/maintaining a crown easy. I just set the desired amount of blade tilt, and adjust how aggressive it digs in with my 3 point drawbar (althought it's pretty much "set it and forget it"). I have a rear blade, a box blade and a Pony Grader. The Pony Grader gets used 10x more often.

They are up for sale around here now and again, and typically go for $500-$750. They are worth every penny.

 

[airbiscuit]

This is mine

 

[airbiscuit]

My father got this over 50 years ago. The front carriage wheels had already been removed. Here is how it attaches to the drawbar on my 3pt hitch

 

[airbiscuit]

 

[sandman2234]

They don't show up for sale around here, but the last one was 5 times that price. I would buy one if I found it for that price!
David from jax

 

[ning]

looks like you could probably make a frankengrader out of a rear blade without too much effort?

 

[airbiscuit]

This was a pretty clever design

 

[zzvyb6]

I used to use a grader just like this one for our dirt road. Neighbors said I did a better job than the Road Commission. But then they started complaining when drivers of all ages drove as fast as they could, kicking up dirt, splashing dog walkers, scaring kids and bike riders, running horseback riders off the road, failing to round a curve, hitting mailboxes, killing the roadside apple trees, and garbage containers. All my fault. So now I've taken up a new hobby: collecting wheel & axle covers. I sell them for $40. I shine them up, of course....

 

[ovrszd]

Here's mine. My Son operating, me pulling. Not a pony though. Originally pulled by a dozer.

 

[ovrszd]

Very versatile. Able to leave the pull vehicle in the center of the road and do slope work or even dig ditches. Cat model 35 if I remember correctly.