Become A Finished Grade Motor Grader Operator

Not all motor grader operators are equal. This may surprise many who are considering entering the heavy equipment field as motor grader operators. Finished-grade operators are those who have the skill and expertise to finely grade an area to exact specifications.

A good example is in road building. Motor grader operators can come in and cut back the surface and level out the gravel ready for paving. It takes a skilled finished-grade operator to fine tune that surface.

You can tell whether a road has been ‘finished’ properly by the way water flows and pot holes form. A road that has been finished properly is never flat. In fact flat roads can be dangerous to drive on, particularly in wet weather. A finished surface for a straight section of road has about a 3 percent slope from the shoulder to the center of the road – this is known as the crown. This will enable water to flow to sides and not just pool on the roads surface.

Curved road surfaces should be flat, but inclined on a 6 percent slope down to the inside of the corner. Of course, both of these configurations will depend on the final surface and the local weather conditions. In areas that receive heavy rain then the angle of the slope may well be larger.

Finished-grade motor grader operators have the skill and experience to finish that surface to finest accuracy. It takes a lot of experience to become a finishing grade operator and that experience all starts with effective training.

ATS Heavy Equipment Operators Schools have a reputation for producing well trained operators ready to start their careers using the heavy equipment of their choice. For motor grader operators, they may not be ready to work as finishing grade operators, they have certainly got a good start.