Buying Motor Graders at TuffWerx
When you buy a used grader at TuffWerx, you know you’re getting the best deal. Because there’s no waiting for auction or paying heavy dealer fees. You just get online at your convenience and browse the machines being offered, either by our enterprise or individual customers, and find the one that suits you at a reasonable price. If it’s not there, tell us what you need and we’ll alert you as soon as it becomes available. We feature the best brands from Caterpillar, John Deere, Komatsu, Case and New Holland as well as Volvo and LeeBoy. You can even use our premium service and have it inspected before you buy. TuffWerx takes the hard work out of buying used heavy equipment.
About Motor Graders
Motor graders, also called blades, maintainers or graders, have a long blade that creates a flat surface. Most have three axles—two at the back where the engine and the operator’s cab sit—one at the front. Unlike many heavy machines where the blade is in the front of the machine, graders typically have the blade in the middle between the front and back axles. Some graders, however, have an additional blade at the front.
Blades, which are called moldboards, can swivel in different directions and at different heights to create grades or slopes. Most are between 10 and 16 feet long but they can be up to 24 feet long.
Graders are often used to create roads, such as gravel or dirt roads, or to prepare a base course for asphalt roads. They are also used to smooth the ground before construction of a home or building. Generally speaking, other tools, like bulldozers, are used to create a rough grade, in other words get rid of rocks, clumps of dirt and stumps to the point where the ground is relatively flat and smooth. Then graders are brought in to create a finish grade or make the ground smooth enough that there will be no variance under an asphalt road or concrete foundation.
In recent years, more graders have been fitted with GPS technology that allows grader operators to grade according to exact specifications within the parameters of a construction project. This frees a construction company from having to stake-out the project, which can be time consuming and a hassle.
Graders come in different sizes. Some are appropriate for large construction projects while others are small enough to be used to create driveways or do smaller landscaping projects.
Certain graders can operate multiple attachments, like front dozer blades and rippers or scarifiers to remove rocks, tree stumps and other objects.
Tips for Buying Graders
- Make sure you buy the right sized grader for your biggest jobs. If you buy one that’s too small, the job will take much longer.
- Consider whether you need extra attachments such as a ripper. Some used machines come with attachments as part of the package, although they can be purchased separately.