Which grader blade??

[DaveAust]

OK guys, my first post here all the way from Australia. I'm after some comment on these two skidsteer grader blade options:
http://www.ceattach.com/isroot/ceaweb/specs/GraderAndLaser.pdf
and
http://www.erskineattachments.com/attachments_catalog/?view=6_way_dozer_blade_grader&p=4

Both setups have a similar range of blade operation but achieve that in different ways. The CE Attachments product has a conventional grader construction with the tow point of the blade at the front behind the stabilizing wheels whereas the Erskine design has a skid steer dozer blade configuration with the stabilizing wheels just stabilizing.

I would like to use this type of grader on my skid steer for small road and driveway maintenance as well as leveling sites. I suppose one advantage to the Erskine is that there is the option to use as a dozer or a grader blade.

Has anyone used either of these and can you provide any comments?
Otherwise fire away with any opinions, ill informed, biased whatever.

Regards Dave

[bobcat_ron]

Go for the Erskine, with the optional pinned on wheel and frame kit, then at least you have a damn good built 6 way dozer blade, but dozer blades in general don't work the greatest on skid steers, tracked or wheeled, too much weight in the wrong places.

[ccstrebe]

I owned the Erskine for a short while...............about five minutes before I realized it wasn't gong to work for my needs. Sold it at a huge loss.

The Erskines are built heavy duty, but like BC Ron said they don't work very well on SS's or CTL's. You can do all the rough work you want with them but you will not be able to do any kind of fine grading or finish work with them.

[RockSet N' Grade]

AustraliaDave........would you see slab final grades in your future? Fine grading lots? Are you seeing moving material or cutting/grading materials of just an inch or two to create final grade? What I am throwing out is the consideration of laser in the future on the implement of your choice. Check out level best. Maybe KSSS and CCs would be kind enough to repost their set-ups so you could see what both these guys have. I have used the set up that KSSS has and it would be my choice for fine grading, although, everyone's defination of fine grading seems to differ. If you just want it smooth, check out the roadrunner.......it is an inexpensive pull behind or push/pull box that will flatten out a large area and can be used to maintain roads. I purchased one of these to maintain about 5 miles of road and to date, it has performed better than expected AND it is fairly idiot proof so even a novice can get descent results immediately.....

[Ausman]

you know you can get that type of blade made in queensland right!

[Total Earthworks]

If it were me I would go to Norm engineering at Wacol in Qld, they make a very good strong unit

[Catbloke]

I had a digga blade which I used on a posi it was Ok for roughing in but very difficult to trim with as they bounce alot, in the end I left it home as it was more of a pain in the ar## than it was worth. Look at a hydrapower grader they are alot better suited to grading than those blades. They are not cheap but they do a great job, just remember you need something with a bit of weight to push it or you are wasting your time.

[DaveAust]

Thanks guys for your quick replies.:clapping:
They raised few questions as well as requiring me to be a bit more clear about what I want to do with the blade.

The first thing I want to be clear on is that I don't want to be using the Erskine and similar blade styles as just a dozer blade very often at all. I already have a 4in1 bucket and know how hard it is to work to level on a short wheelbase skidsteer. I'd probably use a blade only about 10% of the time for rough work such as backfilling and pushing up rubbish/fallen timber etc.

90% of the time I would want to use the thing as a grader with a wheel assembly out the front to enable me to do a smooth/level job forming and cleaning up dirt roads including spreading roadbase, spreading topsoil, small swales and leveling small sites for buildings, parking etc. Work will be mainly small scale and low cost with no need for laser leveling at this stage. I'm based in a regional area with small bush acreages & some large urban building blocks and people are pretty tightarsed around here.

I want a grader attachment which is flexible in what tasks it can do and durable so if I hit a rock or root it won't bend or break. I need to be able to cut into hard, dry, compacted road surfaces so will be wanting to transfer a decent amount to downward force to the blade and therefore to the grader front wheel assembly. My skidsteer is a JCB 1CX, a bit over 3 tons so it's a medium size machine.

I thought the Erskine style looked durable but have those of you who've used one used it with the wheel kit? (Did you use a wheel kit with an Erskine Ron, ccstrebe?) If so how did it perform in comparison to the CE Attachment or Hydrapower http://hydrapower.com.au/AttachmentRange/GraderAttachments/tabid/86/Default.aspx style where the wheel assembly is permanently fixed to the unit?

BTW Ausman let me know if you were referring to another Qld manufacturer other than Hydrapower or Norm. Thanks

:australiaflag:Also if anyone in Australia knows of something secondhand which would do what I have described above or could be modified with a wheel kit to work as a grader, let me know.

Once again thanks a lot for your replies to this post. I've lurked on this forum for a while before joining, as well as being a member of another similar one. I really appreciate the experience members have had. Beats going out and spending the hard earned on something I could have been told was a POS instead of finding out the hard, (and expensive), way.

Regards Dave

[ccstrebe]

I thought the Erskine style looked durable but have those of you who've used one used it with the wheel kit? (Did you use a wheel kit with an Erskine Ron, ccstrebe?)

At first I didn't have the wheel kit and the blade wouldn't do what I wanted it to do so I let the dang salesman talk me into getting the wheel kit...........that was a bust, still didn't do what I needed it to do.

The reason you can't do finish work with these kind of blades, wheel kit or not, is because you don't really have any up or down control of the blade other than moving the boom up or down or tilting the blade back. Either way, it is not condusive to finish work.

If you want to do grading I would get something that allows the blade to move up or down independant of it's attatchment point on the SS or CTL.

For rough work get the blade without the wheel kit.

[DaveAust]

At first I didn't have the wheel kit and the blade wouldn't do what I wanted it to do so I let the dang salesman talk me into getting the wheel kit...........that was a bust, still didn't do what I needed it to do.

The reason you can't do finish work with these kind of blades, wheel kit or not, is because you don't really have any up or down control of the blade other than moving the boom up or down or tilting the blade back. Either way, it is not condusive to finish work.

If you want to do grading I would get something that allows the blade to move up or down independant of it's attatchment point on the SS or CTL.

For rough work get the blade without the wheel kit.

Ahh thanks ccstrebe.
You've defined the difference between the different types of grader attachment. As you say the limited height control on the Erskine style would be crap for doing a lot of road work and site leveling work. Obviously it wouldn't work with a laser system properly either if I went that way in the future.

When I get the cash or come across an extraordinary deal on a CE Attachment or Hydrapower type grader, which has height adjustment independent of the skidsteer arms, that will be what I'll get. Let me know if anyone has one that want to get rid of, preferably in Australia. (But for the right price I could import:) )

Thanks guys for all your comments, could have saved me wasting my hard earned.

Regards Dave