Grader Attachment

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I am still looking for an attachment for grading.
I will be using it on a Case 440.
Has anyone tried out the Bobcat grader or the Quick Attach Versa Blade
with wheel kit?

http://www.bobcat.com/attachments/grader

http://www.quick-attach.com/attachments_catalog/?view=versa_blade&p=4

[ksss]

The Van Boh grader is much heavier duty than either of these. That may be an issue depending on how your going to use it.

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The Van Boh grader is much heavier duty than either of these. That may be an issue depending on how your going to use it.

Thanks ksss. I had not seen that one yet. As far as specs go it looks to be
the lightest of the 3 but I have not seen any of them in person.
That is why I was hoping for some feedback from you guys that have used
them.
I will be using it for grading driveways, prepping concrete jobs and probably
some landscape type work.
I really would like to have the control of a blade rather than a box.

One thing about the versa blade is that you can run the 6 way dozer without
the wheels.
Out of the 3 it looks to have the least efective wheel system though.

[ksss]

If you have the attachment control handles in your 440 (if you have that option you have three hydraulic control switches on the right handle) you can run it without the control box. Quick Attach can ship the blade to connect up to the 440 assuming you have right handles.

I am also assuming that Van Boh has not been bought out by someone else. Their grader attachments are much better than the Palm (BC) or Quick Attach as far as beef. The Van Boh can be used as a sweeper as well.

The strength of the grader may not be an issue if your routinely working on loose gravel to prep for concrete. Although if you were to use it for HD uses you may want something heavier. Especially if you have steel or VTS tracks for your 440. You can put a lot of power to the ground with that machine.

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If you have the attachment control handles in your 440 (if you have that option you have three hydraulic control switches on the right handle) you can run it without the control box. Quick Attach can ship the blade to connect up to the 440 assuming you have right handles.

I am also assuming that Van Boh has not been bought out by someone else. Their grader attachments are much better than the Palm (BC) or Quick Attach as far as beef. The Van Boh can be used as a sweeper as well.

The strength of the grader may not be an issue if your routinely working on loose gravel to prep for concrete. Although if you were to use it for HD uses you may want something heavier. Especially if you have steel or VTS tracks for your 440. You can put a lot of power to the ground with that machine.

I did order my 440 with pilots and attachment control handles.
Have you used the quick attach blade?
If so how does it work as a dozer?

After a little investigating I found out that Van Boh sold the grader to Work Saver who sells it through CE Attachments.
http://www.wssitepro.com/grader.html
I like the look of their wheel system but the mold board setup looks light to me.
I do want it to be able to do some cutting although I know I will be limited by the traction of the machine.

[ksss]

It looks like they have changed the design from the original Van Boh. There are several around here they don't look the same. The shear pin release would lead me to believe that it could generate slop at the shear pin.


I have not used the blade from QA. I know others have complained about the difficulty in using them with the short wheelbase of the skid steer. I think that with a tracked machine it would be somewhat better as you have more tractive effort and a longer wheelbase making it easier to make smooth cuts. I have never considered one myself as I really don't know what it would give me that I don't have with a bucket, but I guess it depends on the application.

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I have not used the blade from QA. I know others have complained about the difficulty in using them with the short wheelbase of the skid steer. I think that with a tracked machine it would be somewhat better as you have more tractive effort and a longer wheelbase making it easier to make smooth cuts. I have never considered one myself as I really don't know what it would give me that I don't have with a bucket, but I guess it depends on the application.

I think the wheel kit would help with the short wheelbase problem as far as
smooth cuts.
If you put pressure on the front wheels of the grader it looks like you could almost double the effective length of the machine.

Maybe I am just wasting my time and should find a small grader to buy.
I live up in the mountains and have a lot of driveways I could grade so
I was hoping to find a good attachment for my new 440 (if it ever gets here!)

Shipment got delayed because of a seal for the new cabs.

[ksss]

I think the wheel kit would help with the short wheelbase problem as far as
smooth cuts.
If you put pressure on the front wheels of the grader it looks like you could almost double the effective length of the machine.

Maybe I am just wasting my time and should find a small grader to buy.
I live up in the mountains and have a lot of driveways I could grade so
I was hoping to find a good attachment for my new 440 (if it ever gets here!)

Shipment got delayed because of a seal for the new cabs.

My bad, I thought you were refering to using the dozer blade without the wheels on. That being the case, I would agree that the attachment would work well as far as smooth cuts. Did you get the series 3 machine?

[ksss]

I have been looking into the small grader market myself. I spoke with Champion, Leeboy, PSI/Maudin and Noram at ConExpo. There are several used PSI machines in SLC at Wheeler CAT. They are laser ready with under 200 hours on them.

[Scag48]

Shane, check out the thread on HEF about small graders if you haven't already. There was some talk of PSI and LeeBoy graders on there, not much of it was positive from a used standpoint. From what I've seen, Champion builds some of the best smaller graders and there is one guy on HEF who is a sales and marketing guy from Champion. I've been doing some market research around here for small grading work, I'm curious to see what kind of niche that could support here.

[ksss]

Shane, check out the thread on HEF about small graders if you haven't already. There was some talk of PSI and LeeBoy graders on there, not much of it was positive from a used standpoint. From what I've seen, Champion builds some of the best smaller graders and there is one guy on HEF who is a sales and marketing guy from Champion. I've been doing some market research around here for small grading work, I'm curious to see what kind of niche that could support here.

I have not seen it. Is it in the motor grader section? The best built grader I saw, was the Noram (Fiat/Allis). Very well built. The Champion is also nice but the Noram was like a full size grader only smaller. The Leeboy had joy stick controls like CAT. The price on some of these machines is unreal.

[Scag48]

Yep, motor grader section. Some guy was basically looking for the same size machine, there were a few replies yesterday, I haven't checked yet today. You're right, they are ridiculously expensive, you'd really have to need one to justify the cost.

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My bad, I thought you were refering to using the dozer blade without the wheels on. That being the case, I would agree that the attachment would work well as far as smooth cuts. Did you get the series 3 machine?


Yes I did get the series 3 440

At first I ordered the 430 because I thougth they put a turbo on the 4.5L motor but then I found out they actually put in a smaller 3.2L turbo motor in the 430 with More hp but LESS torque than before!
I changed my order to the 440 so I should have power out the ears now!

I can't wait to see the new cab. I hope it is as nice as rumored.

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Here is my old Huber I had a couple of years ago.
I have been kicking myself ever sence I sold it.
We use a similar type machine called an Athey Maintainer at work
for finish grade before we pave.
They don't make either anymore but you can still find them.
Let me know if you do find one.

[tnmtn]

http://minimightpatrol.com/index.htm

has anybody run or seen one of these grader attachments? seems pretty substantial. may be a problem in tigher quarters. i guess it has overrides so that you can run the skid from the attachment instead of the cab.

[Scag48]

I've seen one somewhat like that, not sure if it was the same brand, but they had one at the local Cat dealer about 2 years ago. I think it was on a tracked machine, like a 287 or something like that, would be great on a tracked machine. Looks pretty slick, I bet it wouldn't be more than $20K and you still have a skid steer at the end of the day.

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http://minimightpatrol.com/index.htm

has anybody run or seen one of these grader attachments? seems pretty substantial. may be a problem in tigher quarters. i guess it has overrides so that you can run the skid from the attachment instead of the cab.

I talked with the maker of that unit a couple of days ago.
It looks to be the best skid steer grader attachment available but it
was close to $20,000 by the time you purchase and modify your skid steer.

[ksss]

Yes I did get the series 3 440

At first I ordered the 430 because I thougth they put a turbo on the 4.5L motor but then I found out they actually put in a smaller 3.2L turbo motor in the 430 with More hp but LESS torque than before!
I changed my order to the 440 so I should have power out the ears now!

I can't wait to see the new cab. I hope it is as nice as rumored.

Power wont be a problem. I did not know that about the 430. I also thought they turbo charged the 4.5 I guess that they did not want the 430 and 440 to be that close together in spec.

The cab is very nice. When it hits the ground let us know what you think.

[ksss]

Yes I did get the series 3 440

At first I ordered the 430 because I thougth they put a turbo on the 4.5L motor but then I found out they actually put in a smaller 3.2L turbo motor in the 430 with More hp but LESS torque than before!
I changed my order to the 440 so I should have power out the ears now!

I can't wait to see the new cab. I hope it is as nice as rumored.

They still make the Huber. I saw an ad for it in a dirt mag just the other day. Doesn't look any different than the yellow one you posted, except now their white.