I dare a dozer operator to show me a better floor grade

[Shimmy1]

The funny thing is, nobody has posted a picture of some finish grade they made recently.
@CM1995 posted a couple of shots of his dump site out the windscreen. Nothing to write home about.
Posting up GPS assisted grading does not count either. This is eyeball stuff.
I'll go first.
May '26
some excavator grade I made backing up and carrying, and matching to wall etc. This is where I ran out of material.
View attachment 362623

last summer storm pipe remove and replace.
Before:
View attachment 362626

During:
View attachment 362627

after:
View attachment 362628
No grade beaming or hoe packing, just scrape and track.
Shimmy I know you have some pretty tailing grade outs, those count.

Lol. I was just going to post asking you if you really wanted to go down this road lolol. Thanks for the shout-out. You look like you can make a hoe do skidder things. That's the fun part, when the guys bust your balls about making a site skidder-pretty with the 300.

 

[CM1995]

The funny thing is, nobody has posted a picture of some finish grade they made recently.
@CM1995 posted a couple of shots of his dump site out the windscreen. Nothing to write home about.

My goodness!! Are you making fun of me?

I'll try harder. This week I was 1-3 on getting on a piece of iron and it breaking down. The guys only let me run the old stuff - D5, 953, 279's so that's my excuse. They were just waiting to break.

 

[skyking1]

Lol. I was just going to post asking you if you really wanted to go down this road lolol. Thanks for the shout-out. You look like you can make a hoe do skidder things. That's the fun part, when the guys bust your balls about making a site skidder-pretty with the 300.

heck I can make a hoe do skidder things with a view even! Mt Rainier 2013


But the real kicker is making skidder stuff with a dozer Montana 'driveway' job 2012 RIP Don



Old road on left there. It was the stump holes and puddles and I chose not to fix that and took the high ground.

 

[Tinkerer]

No photos available from me.
I have been retired 21 years.
Even if I had pictures of any of the work I wouldn't post them, because I would never ever brag about what I could with a machine nor would I subject myself to the criticism I see so often On HEF.

 

[skyking1]

No photos available from me.
I have been retired 21 years.
Even if I had pictures of any of the work I wouldn't post them, because I would never ever brag about what I could with a machine nor would I subject myself to the criticism I see so often On HEF.

This was in good fun Tinkerer and I mean no harm.
For myself, I am just a hack with a bunch of hours, no real dozer talents or blade talents. I really respect the guys that do have those skills.
Thy are so natural they make it look easy and oh man, it is not easy.

 

[CM1995]

Ok I'll be serious for a minute -

A big arena expansion project we did back in '20. At peak times we have 15-20 tri-axles rolling in on a 30-45 minute turn.

It was a blast pushing off and building our dump with the 953C.

 

[Deere500a]

Beat by a handicap Cat 279 with a blade. People & money some jobs would nice to call in sick.

 

[skyking1]

I never got to play with one of those. They look fun in nice material.

 

[Deere500a]

Dirt work it's a joke but for a pad pushing base rock be fine. No down pressure like the bucket it just skims along & blade sticking out a little tilt is too much. It was brand new with the 279d sat unused til higher-ups had the idea & dropped it off instead of a dozer.

 

[Deere500a]

Finished

 

[aussiechunda]

Snapped this today, there is definitely steel.
Also a brand new pc490

 

[aussiechunda]

Ok I'll be serious for a minute -

A big arena expansion project we did back in '20. At peak times we have 15-20 tri-axles rolling in on a 30-45 minute turn.

It was a blast pushing off and building our dump with the 953C.

View attachment 362667

View attachment 362668

Is that with a blade bucket?

 

[CM1995]

Is that with a blade bucket?

Just a standard tooth bucket. Not a 4n1

 

[AMBMike]

My first employer didn't have dozers when I started. For many years we graded everything with 953 and 963 track loaders with standard tooth buckets. Anything from house basements and pads to several acre building pads, driveways, roads, ponds, waterways, finish grading, literally anything that needed graded. Our standard was +/- 1/2" or a maximum deviation of 1" anywhere on a pad.

i struggled for the first couple days on a dozer with a 6 way blade because the blade was decoupled from the seat...

 

[Shimmy1]

You guys and your love for track loaders. A guy that works for me is originally from Indiana, and spent many years in Missouri. He has quite a bit of experience on track loaders. Everytime I ask him if we are missing out on anything by not having one, he tells me if I expected him to use a track loader for anything, he would quit, lol.

 

[AMBMike]

You guys and your love for track loaders. A guy that works for me is originally from Indiana, and spent many years in Missouri. He has quite a bit of experience on track loaders. Everytime I ask him if we are missing out on anything by not having one, he tells me if I expected him to use a track loader for anything, he would quit, lol.

Track loaders are just another tool in the box. They're definitely not the entire box.

You grin at us and that's fine with me. In your shoes I'd be doing the same.
I grin at those who claim you can't grade with a track loader or wheel loader because they're not a dozer yet say a skid steer grades better with a bucket than a dozer blade.

I believe it comes down to what's available and how open the operator is to learning something new as far as whether or not you can grade with a given machine.

Profitability is another matter entirely and should be the main factor in deciding on one machine over another. A machine that makes money in one locale will be a loser in another.
When I lived in the east there was one or two track loaders on every site getting used every day. Where I live now a track loader would spend most of it's time in the yard.

 

[Oxbow]

I'll bite. Non-GPS stuff:

A little contouring of dry dirt before topsoiling - D6N

Building a landform (as the landscape architect preferred to call a berm) with a D7R receiving 740s, and then laying out topsoil.

 

[Oxbow]

Shaping the pond edge after enlarging the pond:

I don't get to do flat stuff very often.

 

[Oxbow]

Laying out material with a D6T:




Thanks to the OP. It has been fun going back through some of our projects over the years!

 

[Oxbow]

You guys and your love for track loaders. A guy that works for me is originally from Indiana, and spent many years in Missouri. He has quite a bit of experience on track loaders. Everytime I ask him if we are missing out on anything by not having one, he tells me if I expected him to use a track loader for anything, he would quit, lol.

I agree. About the only place they are used around here is at landfills, and to be honest I'm not sure how they are used there.