Why there are so few blogs (if any!) written by road grader operators

This hydraulic ram rod was bent at a 30° angle before I fixed it.

In the past few days, I have been involved in getting parts of our 3.2-mile (5 kilometer) driveway up to snuff. Using our little Bower Industries Model 50 Roadrunner, a grader that hasn’t been manufactured for at least 25 years (we have serial number 5092 of 100 made) I gamely head out to our rock-strewn narrow little road to try to make it at least a little bit smoother. Its 2-cylinder diesel engine is always reliable, its hydraulic system performs beautifully, its mold board (the really long blade that runs across between the front wheels and back wheels and does most of the work) is wonderfully controllable, the eleven levers that control the speed, engine power, mold board, the bulldozer blade in front, the three-clawed scarifier for tearing up tough soil, the overall length of the machine, and the right-to-left position of the whole front wheel assembly (called “frame articulation”) are embedded totally in my memory to the point that I never have to look to see which lever I am pulling or pushing. After several years, it all becomes second nature.

But we have a real challenge for small graders here in these hills. They aren’t made to operate in places where there are so many large deeply embedded rocks and tough tree roots. The rocks are manageable, the roots are the worst. Today as I was gathering some soil along the edge of the road an oak root brought the whole machine to a sudden halt and caused one of the hydraulic cylinder rods to bend at least 30° which meant I had to limp home and go through an oft-repeated remedial action to get it unbent. I checked some sites on the Web to see what it could cost for a hydraulic cylinder that has a thicker rod that wouldn’t bend so easily. I will probably have to replace our cylinder in order to hope for any viable chance of keeping our road in shape. While I was looking on the Web, I checked some sites to see why grader drivers don’t blog. On the John Deere site, I ran across this: “…motor graders are one of the most challenging machines to master” which obviously means there’s no time for blogging if you drive one of these things. Especially if the one you are driving doesn’t have an enclosed cab (like mine doesn’t) or air conditioning (like mine doesn’t) or satellite radio (like mine doesn’t) or even a comfy seat (like mine doesn’t).

Or a fridge to keep your beer cold (like mine doesn’t).

Another thing our grader doesn’t have—springs! It’s a bouncy ride, one that means you don’t sit; you stand with knees bent to absorb the shock. At least my leg tendons and muscles are getting some high-intensity stress that could make them stronger. Or wear them out!

I hope this explains why I haven’t been blogging for a while. I’m bushed.