How To Grade with a Mini Excavator Bucket

[@junkyarddd1]

Great advice !!! Im just used to working old stuff, but what about throttle position? On older machines, people try to do things almost at idle. That makes for very jumpy hydraulic function. Keep the videos coming.

[@DirtAndRocks]

Great question, I am usually at 1/2 to 2/3 throttle. Totally agree, too little power and your hydraulics are hopping and then the machine hops too. Back in the day when I was running machines without pilot valves, I probably started around 1/3 and tried to find the sweet spot. I actually find this easier to do with bigger excavators than this little 4 ton. Thanks for watching!

[@BENNHENDRICKS33]

I always say its a feel thing. Once you learn the sticks, you can almost feel the rock your pulling. Hard to explain, sometimes, just being near a dirt pile or gravel pile and using the sticks to get a familiarity with the response and learn the “feel” is everything. I’m learning everyday, but like it was told to me with material you can always add more to take away if needed.

[@DirtAndRocks]

definitely more art than science sometimes. Thanks for watching!

[@renesolaire8319]

It’s not a feeling, it’s something you have learned. The secret is in the hydraulic joysticks and valve assembly. The function is the position of your joystick corresponds to a force at cylinder. So if you pull just a little bit the stick to one obstacle, if you keep like this, the hydraulics will not rise the pressure more than a little. And so if that pressure is too low, when meeting the obstacle it will decrease speed or stop. And that’s the way you feel it, because you know how much you are pulling the joystick and you see it’s slowing down /stop. This gives you the hint of the force the machine is currently applying. That makes your feeling : joystick position(your hand) - effective movement observed (your eye). Hydraulic feature is called proportional pilot valve system.

[@renesolaire8319]

Normal valves doesn’t feel pressure and so the pressure will reach the maximum if blocked = zero clue for operator about the force applied to the ground (excepted motor speed going down under load or such)

[@BENNHENDRICKS33]

@@renesolaire8319 so you took that long to scientifically explain the same thing i said. if your in the industry you know what i mean, weird you would take that much time replying to a random commenter on KZbin. GTFOH

[@JayCo-1978]

Thank you for taking the time to make this video. It was very helpful.

[@DirtAndRocks]

I am glad that it was helpful to you. Thanks so much for watching and commenting :)

[@Gengingen]

Very good explanation of the basics of grading. Thank you!

[@DirtAndRocks]

no problem, thanks so much for watching :)

[@aaronburford5701]

Great video! Didn't realize how exact it is...

[@DirtAndRocks]

Thank you, appreciate you watching!

[@aaronburford5701]

@@DirtAndRocks thanks for sharing! Love your channel!

[@elmarty4803]

One of the things that gets overlooked is the visual cues that allow an operator to kinda eyeball the grade and then come in and fine tune by hand. It can take longer with the hand tools but it gives a little better control at times. At least for the fine tuning. An inexperienced operator can spend a whole day just trying to level out a pad with the bucket when a rake can make it flow faster. And you dont have to be all that perfect....there are some areas where it will be close enough. Not that you want to be shotty but you want to be close and it's not exactly perfect. It is often hard to get exactly perfect off a long stretch. An inch in a long grade is not always a big deal unless you are doing small sections that need the perfection vs the long road or long area that needs to be close within a .3 percent of the actual grade.

[@DirtAndRocks]

This is a really insightful comment and I appreciate it. Great advice, and well put. Thanks so much for watching!

[@freeandcriticalthinker4431]

Great video! Hey what’s your opinion on back dragging with the blade? And I mean putting max force on it drying to pull dirt, not float. Hard on tracks? Thanks

[@DirtAndRocks]

I typically avoid it, I feel like it is probably harder on the final drives than anything. Just an opinion, I can't really back that up with data. Thanks for watching!

[@StuffBobbyDoes]

Do you use full boom and full stick to get them to pull in unison?

[@DirtAndRocks]

I feather them both, and in different amounts. For instance when the stick is near vertical, you really are not moving the boom much at all. Thanks so much for watching and commenting!

[@StuffBobbyDoes]

@@DirtAndRocksI'm moving from an old lever machine to a joystick machine. Steep learning curve. Thanks for the reply.

[@DirtAndRocks]

Just remember the most important part.....have fun :) @@StuffBobbyDoes

[@chadbible4480]

Good video!!!

[@DirtAndRocks]

thanks so much for watching :)

[@Ohotbar]

Thank you

[@DirtAndRocks]

thanks for watching :)

[@jytux9014]

Hmmm i wish they had a flat blade on the front of the machine to help stabilize your tracks 😅😅

[@DirtAndRocks]

thanks for watching

[@jytux9014]

@@DirtAndRocks i love you

[@denisea5951]

Hey Johnny how come the gravel pile hasn't been moved? It's afternoon man! Boss I was leveling the excavator with my phone, you'll thank me later...

[@DirtAndRocks]

thank you for watching and commenting

[@Rohitgamerz962]

I still try but it's not happening, I am from India.

[@DirtAndRocks]

Don't get discouraged. It is, in my humble opinion, this is the single most difficult thing to do with an excavator. It is a skiil that you will develop over time with practice. Larger machines tend to be easier than smaller ones because the hydraulics are not as jumpy. Keep practicing, one day it will all come together and you will master it! Thank you for watching :)

[@Rohitgamerz962]

@@DirtAndRocks ❤️

[@NacMacFeegle2]

you need some tips and hints yourself aswell as a lot of practice

[@DirtAndRocks]

Thank you for watching