12-04-2023

Motor Graders

Construction Equipment • In the early days, dozers were most

commonly used for grading.
• Need for improved quality of surface finish

Management and speeding up the grading process -

motor graders were introduced.
• self-propelled machines with an
adjustable blade.
CMT 522 • Typical motor grader models have three
axles:
Session 4 – with the engine and cab situated above the
rear axles at one end of the vehicle
Graders & Loaders: Concepts and Illustration – third axle at the front end of the vehicle with
the blade in between.

Aritra Halder
| Aritra Halder | Assistant Professor
Assistant Professor | School of Construction

Types & Uses of Motor Graders Use of Motor Graders

• There are two types of motor graders: • They can be used for making smoother surfaces, fine grade, levelling soil
– Rigid Frame Motor Grader and shifting small amounts of dirt.
– Articulated Frame Motor Grader • The most traditional use of MG is in the construction and maintenance of
roads with its main function being preparing the topmost layer for laying
asphalt on top of it.
• Motor graders are also used for removal of snow, debris and earth-moving
purposes.
• Graders are also used to set native soil foundation pads to finish grade
prior to the construction of large buildings.
Articulated frame motor grader has a hinge in between the front and the
rear axle. That type of grader is most commonly used where small space is • The motor graders also ensure that the compactor is effectively used with
available during turning.
minimum load on it.
Rigid frame motor grader has only one axle. Axle is unable to
turn left or right about a point. It has a long rectangular frame
that forms a rectangle.

| Aritra Halder | Assistant Professor | Aritra Halder | Assistant Professor

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Grading Operation
• Using the ‘‘back and forth’’ method, the operator travels with the blade
down to the end of the pass, picks up the blade, backtracks, drops the
blade, and starts over.
• Using the ‘‘looping’’ method, the operator drops the blade for the pass,
lifts the blade at the end of the pass, turns the grader in an arc to the
other direction, and drops the blade for this pass.
– The process is repeated until the area is covered with the grader traveling in a
forward loop or oval as many times as necessary to cover the surface.
– To set the ‘‘looping’’ coverage pattern, the turning radius of the motor grader
must be considered.
| Aritra Halder | Assistant Professor
Grader Production
• Grader production for road maintenance is pretty much linear.
• For mass earthmoving projects, grader production must be matched to
production of other equipment (usually scrapers or dump trucks) in the
equipment package dumping material to be spread in lifts.
• Linear grading productivity is estimated using:
– V, the average grading speed
– W, the grading width (width of blade if pushing straight ahead perpendicular to
travel direction)
– OF, the operating factor
– N, the number of passes required to cover the area to be graded (width of the
road base)
| Aritra Halder | Assistant Professor
12-04-2023
Summary of Grader Functions
• In simple terms, motor graders are used to finish grade (refine, set
precisely) the rough grading performed by heavy CE such as scrapers and
bulldozers.
• A small motor grader within a range of 80-150 horsepower is usually
enough for most jobs.
• The smaller graders are perfect for jobs that need to be completed in a
tight spacing environment
• Larger motor graders can be used in broader spaces.
• Larger machines are known to use a direct drive or a torque converter
drive transmission system while the smaller ones are hydrostatically
driven.
| Aritra Halder | Assistant Professor
Illustration
• A Volvo G740B motor grader with a 14’ blade is to be used to knock down dirt on a 66’ wide X
9800’ long road base area. The effective grading width is 12’ . The average speed will be around
3mph. The number of passes required is two to reach the desired smoothness.
• What is the work hour productivity if the operator works 50 min per 60-min hour?
• How long will it take to grade the road base?
| Aritra Halder | Assistant Professor
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Loaders Loader Bucket Attachments

• Loaders are special earth-moving
equipment having the following • General Purpose Bucket:
functions- – Heavy duty all welded steel. Fitted with
– Handle and transport bulk material replaceable cutting edge bolted to the
face. Also comes with straight lip.
– To load trucks
– To excavate earth
– To charge aggregate bins at asphalt and • Multipurpose Bucket:
concrete plants – Segmented hinged jawed bucket. Four
• Loaders can be wheel mounted and functions –
crawler mounted. – dig, blade, clam and grapple.
– Bolted on replaceable cutting edges or
teeth used to function.

| Aritra Halder | Assistant Professor | Aritra Halder | Assistant Professor

Loader Bucket Attachments Loader Bucket Capacities

• Rock Bucket: • Fill Factors: Rated capacity is specified in cubic yards. Similar to
One Piece heavy duty steel attachment with other excavators, fill factor is applied for correction of quantity.
protruding V-Shaped cutting edge. The
protruding edge is used for breaking and
loosening rocks.
• Side Dump Bucket:
The bucket twists in vertical plane along the
central shaft. It is useful for working in confined
areas, along roads in traffic and filling trucks.
• Forklift:
Forklifts are used to lift loads at specified vertical
distances from the floor. They help in towing,
carrying loads within short distances.
| Aritra Halder | Assistant Professor | Aritra Halder | Assistant Professor

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 12-04-2023

Loader Bucket Capacities Loader Specification

• Operating Loads:
For wheel loaders, the limiting operating load is less than 50% of rated full turn
static load considering combined weight of the bucket and load. (measured from
CG of the extended bucket at its maximum reach)
For track loaders, the operating load is limited to less than 35% of the rated static
load.

Representative Specification for a wheel loader

| Aritra Halder | Assistant Professor | Aritra Halder | Assistant Professor

Loader Specification Speed & Standard Cycle Time

• For travel distances of less than 100 ft, a
wheel loader should be able to travel,
with a loaded bucket, at about 80% of
its maximum speed in low gear and
return empty at about 60% of its
maximum speed in second gear.
• In the case of distances over 100 ft,
return travel should be at about 80% of
its maximum speed in second gear.

| Aritra Halder | Assistant Professor | Aritra Halder | Assistant Professor

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Output of Loaders (simplified) Output of Loaders (simplified)

• Hourly production in m3/hr (Q) =
× × • Cycle Time : Loading + Swing + Travel + Dump + Back Swing + Travel

• q = production per cycle = heaped capacity * Swell Factor * Material Loading Time (Minutes)
Uniform Aggregates 0.03-0.05
Bucket Factor
Moist mixed aggregates 0.04-0.06
• C = Cycle Time (seconds) Wet Load 0.05-0.07
Roots, Large Rocks, Soil 0.05-0.20
Loading Condition Example Bucket Factor Extremely cohesive material 0.10-0.20
Easy Sand, Sandy Soil with moisture 1-0.8
Average Dry Sand, Only soil, Clay, Unscreened Gravel 0.8-0.6
Degree of Swing Swing Time (Seconds)
Difficult Crushed Stone, high moisture clay, Hard Clay 0.6-0.5
45-90 degree 4-7
Very Difficult Irregular Rocks, Boulders 0.5-0.4
90-100 degree 5-8

| Aritra Halder | Assistant Professor | Aritra Halder | Assistant Professor

Illustrative Example Solution

• Step 1. 12,500 Ib
• A 4-cy wheel loader will be used to load trucks from a quarry stockpile of – Size of bucket, 4 cy – 10,540 Ib actual load < 12,500 Ib
operating load; therefore okay.
processed aggregate having a maximum size of 1t in. The haul distance • Step 2.
will be negligible. The aggregate has a loose unit weight of 3,100 Ib/cy. – Bucket fill factor (Table 9.6), aggregate • Step 3.
over 1 in., 85-90%; use 85% – Typical fixed cycle time (Table 9.10) 4-cy
Estimate ·the loader production in tons based on a 50-min hour efficiency wheel loader, 30 to 33 sec; use 30 sec.
– conservative estimate
factor. Use a conservative fill factor.
– Check tipping Load: weight: 4 cy x 0.85 = • Step 4.
3.4 Icy – Efficiency factor, 50-min hour
• 3.4 Icy x 3,100 Ib/lcy (loose unit weight of • Step 5.
material) = 10,540 Ib
– Class of material, aggregate unit
– From Table 9.8: 4-cy machine static weight=3,100 Ib per Icy
tipping load at full turn is 25,0001b
– Probable production:
– Therefore, operating load (50% static
tipping at full turn) is 0.5 x 25,000 Ib = 3,600 sec/hr x (4 cy x 0.85) 50 𝒎𝒊𝒏 3,100 lb/lcy
× ×
30 sec/cycle 𝟔𝟎 𝒎𝒊𝒏 2,000 Ib/ton
= 𝟓𝟐𝟕𝒕𝒐𝒏/𝒉

| Aritra Halder | Assistant Professor | Aritra Halder | Assistant Professor

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Thank You!
Contact Me
at
ahalder@nicmar.ac.in
+91-8504017164

| Aritra Halder | Assistant Professor