Improvements in scrapers and graders are helping contractors find increased fuel efficiencies, cab improvements, and machine control toward delivering greater productivity.
Caterpillar Motor Graders has added a new model of machine—the 140—that offers steering wheels and levers, complementing the M3 series (12M3, 140M3, and 160M3) joystick machines.
The company also has added the Next Generation Cat 120 motor grader as a replacement for 120M2. It is designed to provide choices of controls, including steering wheel and lever or joysticks.
The 120 also offers a new, from the ground up cab with rear visibility as the “C” pillars have been relocated to behind the operator.
The 120 cab offers improved heat, ventilation, and air conditioning; new high definition tablet-style display; and new, more comfortable air suspension seats,” says Eric Kohout, product application specialist for Caterpillar, adding that the cab has newly-designed doors and an easy-to-use door release.
The 140 and 120 have a suite of technologies available on both joystick and steering wheel and lever, with plans to add them to the M3 series, says Kohout.
The machines are designed to have an optimal balance of weight and power, with the ability to transmit the engine power to the ground effectively in the grading/working gear and perform well in higher gears for high-speed applications as in roading or snow removal, notes Kohout.
Caterpillar motor graders are designed to offer many technologies that can help increase efficiencies and productivity of the operators, notes Kohout.
Among them is the Digital Blade Slope Meter, an option that provides operators an entry-level digital blade slope readout on the display.
Cat Grade with Cross Slope Indicate is designed to provide a real-time readout of the blade slope and machine main fall indication.
“This option works well on its own or can be upgraded to Cat Grade with Cross Slope (automatics) or to a 3D aftermarket system,” says Kohout.
Cat Grade with Cross Slope is an optional onboard two-dimensional automatics system designed to allow operators the ability to set the slope of the moldboard in automatic and control the manual side of the moldboard while the automatic side will follow, keeping the predetermined slope, says Kohout.
“This system is great for 2D designs,” he says. “It can be upgraded to 2D or 3D aftermarket systems depending on the end-user’s need. With Cat Grade with Cross Slope, the customers can see better roads and surfaces, less fuel is used, less time is required to complete the tasks and material savings can be up to 40%.”
Stable Blade is designed to assist operators with machine bounce in road maintenance, material leveling or other blade-on-ground applications, says Kohout.
“The sensor on the machine knows when the machine is about to begin to bounce before the operator and will automatically throttle down the machine when throttle lock is utilized,” he adds. “Once the bounce dissipates, the machine will automatically throttle back up to set revolutions per minute.”
Auto articulation is available on the Caterpillar joystick-operated graders. “When enabled, this technology allows the machine to articulate automatically when there is a steering input,” says Kohout.
Many of these technologies are offered on both joystick-controlled machines as well as steering wheel and lever-controlled machines, he adds.
“Operators can expect comfort and ease with controls that they prefer, excellent visibility to the blade and the work area,” says Kohout. “The Next Generation 120 will provide improved rear visibility, improved HVAC, a new seat, and tablet-style display that will assist the operators to be more comfortable and help ease operator fatigue.”
John Deere has made improvements to the ejector scrapers, offering a 15% larger gate opening for better material ejection and improved shielding, which provides optimal durability of lines and harnesses, says Maryanne Graves, product marketing manager, scraper systems, John Deere Construction & Forestry.
“John Deere also enhanced the vertical pin adapter that allows the use of the quick attach sleeves so it can be easily used in both a long and short drawbar,” she says, adding the company continues to offer its AutoLoad feature.
The John Deere Efficiency Manager adjusts and matches the performance of the engine and transmission to the ground speed. The Efficiency Manager uses the lowest revolutions per minute to maintain ground speed, designed to result in lower owning and operating costs as well as fuel savings.
The most significant improvement to the John Deere motor graders in the past year was the introduction of the Mastless Grade Control system for its motor graders, SmartGrade.
SmartGrade eliminates masts and cables from the moldboard, preventing possible theft or damage while also eliminating the need to climb on the machine every day to install blade-mounted sensors, notes Luke Kurth, product marketing manager, motor graders, John Deere Construction & Forestry.
In addition to SmartGrade, an all-new Automation Suite is included with all SmartGrade Graders and is available as an option on all GP graders, helping operators by reducing the number of controls needed to perform common tasks, he says.
The suite includes auto-articulation, blade flip, and operator selectable machine presets.
In the John Deere tractors, the standard CommandView III cab offers optimal visibility, operator comfort, control placement, and ride and sound quality, Graves says.
John Deere 9 Family tractors feature the CommandARM with integrated Generation 4 CommandCenter display. The control layout of the CommandARM is designed to be “clean and efficient,” controlled by function, and building upon John Deere’s intuitive and ergonomic control placement and operation.
“The CommandARM’s design allows for a 40-degree right seat swivel and adjustable positioning matching the operator’s preference,” says Graves. “With operator comfort and productivity in mind, the Generation 4 CommandCenters also feature fast adjustment of tractor functions and controls and are integrated into the CommandARM to create a seamless control center.”
Comfort and ease of use are key to both retaining operators and to make them productive throughout the day, Kurth points out.
John Deere motor graders offer three styles of controls: traditional mechanical antler rack controls, armrest-mounted fingertip controls, or dual joystick controls. All three styles feature a standard steering wheel, enabling operators to select the control type they are most comfortable and productive with, Kurth says.
New automation auto-articulation combines front steering and rear articulation while blade flip enables the operator to automatically rotate the blade to a set position without holding the control at the end of a pass.
Machine preset allows the operator to activate multiple functions by pressing a single button such as return-to-straight, auto-shift, and lights, among others.
“This automation reduces the number of controls operators need to use to complete common tasks, reducing fatigue and allowing them to focus on the task at hand versus how to run the machine,” says Kurth.
“In addition to the new automation, GP graders still come standard with automated cross-slope and return-to-straight,” he adds. “Cross-slope also can be combined with blade flip to truly mirror—both slope and angle—the blade at the end of each pass with the simple double tap of a single control.”
Efficiencies and productivity are derived from the fact that John Deere designs and builds the entire scraper system—both the tractor and the scraper itself—and the company’s system is designed to work together as one unit with their unique features, says Graves.
“When it comes to productivity, the John Deere Autoload feature lessens the learning curve for a new operator,” she says. “However, this feature also can help the seasoned operator be more productive.”
Autoload utilizes sensors on the scraper, drawbar, and within the tractor to automatically raise or lower the scraper in the loading cycle to maintain a smooth cut area and load consistent loads cycle after cycle.
Other benefits of Autoload include preset transport and fill heights of the scraper, designed to provide consistent dump heights in the fill area.
“It also enables automatic load counting on the monitor of the tractor to help operators keep an accurate count of loads throughout the workday,” says Graves.
“John Deere also offers contractors the choice of a two- or four-tire configuration on two models of ejector scrapers,” says Graves. “This provides the contractor the proper configuration of scraper for the job site needs in their local area.”
Machine grade control allows operators to get to grade faster, with fewer passes, and without risk of over- or under-cutting, says Kurth.
“By removing the masts and leveraging position sensing, the operator can now run without limitation, using all of the machine functions like blade pitch, circle side-shift, and circle rotate, while staying on grade,” he adds. “Operators are now able to run graders the way they were intended, managing the material instead of taking multiple passes.
“In addition, the same grader can now be used throughout the job cycles from site development/clearing to final grade without risking damage to the grade control components. This eliminates the need for a second machine or [from] having to take components on and off throughout the day.”
Shane Kroeker, vice-president of marketing, K-Tec Earthmovers, notes that “one of the advantages to using K-Tec’s pull pan scrapers and land levelers for earthmoving is that their performance can continually improve along with the advancements of their paired power units.”
“If the new model tractor or articulated dump truck has increased fuel efficiency advantages, K-Tec’s pull pan scraper will move dirt at a more efficient fuel cost compared to older power units with inefficient fuel consumption,” he adds.
K-Tec’s pull pan scrapers are designed to work with the power unit to consume only 12–18 gallons per hour, says Kroeker.
“Comparatively, fleets that utilize traditional self-propelled motor scrapers would be locked into a higher, static fuel burn cost with sometimes two engines required for earthmoving,” he adds. “When the scraper is a part of the power unit, if the machine burns too much fuel, the earthmoving performance will always have expensive fuel costs so long as you continue to use the self-propelled scraper unit for the full lifetime of the machine.”
When K-Tec started building scrapers in 2000, four-wheel drive power units on the market had only 300 to 350 horsepower (hp) to pull the K-Tec scraper, Kroeker points out, adding K-Tec’s scrapers could still utilize the lower horsepower for productive earthmoving operations.
“Today, power unit manufacturers have tractors with up to 620 horsepower,” he says. “Essentially, over the course of 20 years, tractors on the market have doubled in power, offering increased loading time, traction, and power to the ground for the K-Tec scraper to move material more efficiently than before.”
The same trend can be seen with the articulated dump truck (ADT) power units, as scrapers hauling ADTs started out with 25 tons and have gone up to 30-ton, then 40-ton, 50-ton, and now 60-ton trucks that have been developed into the market, Kroeker points out.
K-Tec’s scraper model offering continues to climb to match the ADT’s horsepower offerings with the 1263 ADT, a pull-pan scraper offering an ISO heaped capacity of 63 cubic yards behind a single articulated dump truck, says Kroeker.
Kroeker points out that it is a “massive advantage for a contractor to be able to use an existing fleet of ADTs and convert them into efficient, self-loading scraper haulers.”
“Not only can the trucks be utilized for a new purpose, but also that same truck driver can now easily transition into an effective scraper operator behind the same familiar wheel,” he says. “The great operator benefit with using an ADT as the scraper power unit is that using a scraper is now a comfortable, forward-facing operation.”
The truck’s six-wheel drive, along with K-Tec’s Scraper Automatic Cushion Ride System acting as a shock absorber, provides for a smooth ride for the operator, plus the ability to travel faster on the haul road for increased productivity, Kroeker says.
“With K-Tec’s ADT Scraper system, the operator’s eyes can always be facing forward by using the truck’s factory back-up camera that is angle-adjusted towards the cutting edge to see the material flow smoothly into the bowl,” he says. “K-Tec provides additional camera kit options for split screen view of the top of the heap or scrapers in a tandem configuration.”
K-Tec’s multi-function joystick control is attached to the truck’s operator seat to help deliver efficiencies and productivity, notes Kroeker.
“Younger millennial operators have a natural comfort with video-game joystick controls, allowing for ease of training,” he adds. “An operating system display in the cab provides the operator with a selection of automatic ejector modes for specific soil types and an even spread of material for excellent compaction.
“The variety of pre-programmed ejector modes also allows for simplistic training of new operators,” he adds. “The operating system also displays automated load counting productivity and operator service maintenance reminders. The reminder alerts will pop up to have them confirm completion on the scheduled intervals that the operator/service mechanic is supposed to perform a task. Examples range from daily greasing to tire pressure and cutting-edge checks to ensure maximum performance of the machine.”
Further precision technology can be easily added to the operator’s dashboard as K-Tec scrapers are Trimble GPS-ready from the factory, Kroeker points out.
“This allows for Trimble’s kit to be simply installed for quick GPS integration for finish grading applications,” he adds.
The historical transition from self-propelled earthmovers towards four-wheel-drive tractors and pull-type scrapers was the result of dramatic changes within the high-horsepower four-wheel drive tractors being offered, notes Randy Rust, Ashland Industries president.
Case IH offers a constant velocity transmission within a 540 hp tractor, he adds.
“The operator simply sets a target speed for loading, transporting loaded and unloaded scrapers, and the tractor will adjust the engine’s output to reach the targeted speed,” he says. “This simplifies the operation while providing better fuel efficiency.”
Most scraper companies are now providing mounting brackets for easy installation of a riser mast to install a GPS or laser receiver, notes Rust.
“Contractors who are using machine control systems on tractor and scraper combinations find that they’re about to get to final grade much closer when moving bulk dirt,” says Rust.
“On larger projects with several tractors and scrapers operating on the job site, contractors may have one or two units that have machine control installed to help guide the rest of the units to the desired grade,” he says. “This reduces the amount of time required for dozer or maintainer operator to establish final grade.”
Introduced in 2017, the Steiger series tractor with CVXDrive continuously variable transmission is designed to offer the durability and power needed for scraper applications and efficiently handles large-scale ground-moving work with optimal fuel economy, notes Mitch Kaiser, Case IH Steiger tractor marketing manager.
Steiger series tractors available in scraper configurations include Steiger 470, 500, 540, 580, and 620 models. Updates include improvements to fuel efficiency, productivity, and control.
Case IH Steiger series tractors have a split-throttle design enabling end-users to set the throttles so they can save an extra 3 to 4 gallons per hour when allowing the transmission to determine the power it needs to pull the attached load, says Kaiser, adding the “set it and forget it” technology increases an operator’s efficiency.
CVXDrive, a continuously variable transmission designed for an articulated 4WD tractor, provides 605 peak horsepower on a Steiger 540 tractor.
The heavy-duty axles on the Steiger CVXDrive tractor-scraper combination can carry up to 66,000 pounds of operating weight, the optimal weight of the tractor class. It also operates at full power to the ground at any speed in either direction, notes Kaiser.
The four-point suspended cab is designed to provide operators with a smooth, comfortable ride by stabilizing front-to-back, side-to-side, and up-and-down motions and eliminating repeated jarring and bouncing, says Kaiser.
A MultiFunction Handle puts 85% of the controls an operator needs in one location, including three preset speed buttons.
Case IH Advanced Farming Systems (AFS) AccuGuide auto guidance allows the end-user to manage lines on each scraper pass for straight forward loading of the scraper, says Kaiser.
The 40-degree right seat swivel is designed to offer operators improved visibility to check scraper pan loading, providing them with a 360-degree full field of vision, he adds.
On efficiencies and productivity, the Steiger CVXDrive tractor is designed to balance power and efficiency on construction sites, moving earth at the lowest possible cost per yard, says Kaiser.
“The Steiger CVXDrive tractor automatically selects the most efficient transmission range once the operator sets the desired speed, eliminating the need to use the clutch,” he says. “This reduces fuel consumption in applications that require frequent roading, shifting, or shuttling.”
Operators can expect responsive hydraulics and controls, including faster acceleration, smoother deceleration, and three preset speed options so they can focus on the application for improved performance, says Kaiser.
“Seamless acceleration is three times faster for maximum comfort and speed changes on the go, with speeds as low as three feet per minute and as fast as 25 miles per hour,” he says. “With continuous hydraulic flow, operators will encounter greater precision and control over inputs.
“Active stop holds the Steiger tractor stationary on any terrain, making it easier to start and stop on inclines without using the clutch and brake. Case IH Steiger CVXDrive tractors place more power to the ground when needed, allowing operators to start and fill scrapers easier for greater efficiency.”
