Motor Graders PRODUCTIVITY

MOTOR GRADERS
The motor grader is used for many purposes such as maintaining roads, final finishing for earthmoving
projects, trenching and bank cutting.
Therefore there are many methods of expressing its operating capacity.

1. Calculating the hourly operating area (m2/h)

QA = V × (Le - Lo) × 1000 × E

Where QA : Hourly operating area (m2/hr) V : Working speed (km/hr)

Le : Effective blade length (m) Lo : Width of overlap (m)
E : Job efficiency

NOTE: Graders usually operate on long stretches, so the time required for gear shifting or turning can be
ignored.

1) Working speed (V)

Road repair : 2 to 6 km/h Trenching : 1.6 to 4 km/h
Bank finishing: 1.6 to 2.6km/h Snow-removal: 7 to 25 km/h
Field grading : 1.6 to 4 km/h Leveling : 2 to 8 km/h

2) Effective blade length (Le), width of overlap (Lo)

Since the blade is normally angled when cutting
or grading the surface, the effective blade length Effective blade length (m)
depends on the angle. Blade length (m)
Blade angle 60° Blade angle 45°
The width of overlap is usually 0.3 m. Following 2.2 1.9 1.6
table gives the values to be used when applying 2.5 2.2 1.8
the formula. 2.8 2.4 2.0
Blade angle 3.05 2.6 2.2
3.1 2.7 2.2
3.4 2.9 2.4
3.7 3.2 2.6
4.0 3.5 2.8
4.3 3.7 3.0
4.9 4.2 3.5

3) Job efficiency (E)

The following table gives typical job efficiency as Operating conditions Job efficiency
a rough guide. To obtain the actual production Road repair, leveling 0.8
figure, determine the efficiency in accordance Snow-removal (V-type plow) 0.7
with actual operating conditions. Spreading, grading 0.6
Trenching, snow-removal 0.5

2. When calculating the time required to finish a specific area.

N× D
T= V× E

Where T = Working time (h) N = Number of trips

D = Working distance (km) V = Working speed (km/hr)
E = Job efficiency

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 Compactors PRODUCTIVITY

Number of trips (N)

When a grader is operating in a job site, and leveling parallel strips, the number of trips can be calculated
by using the following formula:

W
N= × n
Le – Lo

Where W : Total width to be leveled (m) Le : Effective blade length (m)

Lo : Width of overlap (m)
n : Number of grading required to finish the surface to the required flatness.

SOIL COMPACTORS

There are two ways of expressing the productivity of compactors: by the volume of soil compacted, and by
the area compacted.

1. Expressing productivity by the volume of soil compacted.

When calculating the productivity by the volume of soil compacted, the following formula is used.

W × V × H × 1000 × E
Q=
N

Where
Q = Hourly production (m3/hr)(volume of soil compacted)
V = Operating speed (km/hr)
W = Effective compaction width per pass (m)
H = Compacted thickness for one layer (m)
N = Number of compaction (number of passes by compactor)
E = Job efficiency

1) Operating speed (V)

As a general rule the following values are Road roller about 2.0 km/hr
used. Tire roller about 2.5 km/hr
Vibration roller about 1.5 km/hr
Soil compactor 4 - 10 km/hr
Tamper about 1.0 km/hr

2) Effective compaction width (W)

Type of Equipment W
Macadam roller Driving wheel width - 0.2 m
Tandem roller Driving wheel width - 0.2 m
Soil compactor (Driving wheel width × 2) - 0.2 m
Tire roller Outside-to-outside distance of most outside tires - 0.3 m
Large vibratory roller Roller width - 0.2 m
Small vibratory roller Roller width - 0.1 m
Bulldozer (Width of track shoe × 2) - 0.3 m

3) Compacted thickness for one layer (H)

Compacted thickness is determined from compaction specifications or from the results of tests, but as a
general rule, it is 0.2 ~ 0.5 m in loosened soil.

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 Compactors PRODUCTIVITY

Number of trips (N)

When a grader is operating in a job site, and leveling parallel strips, the number of trips can be calculated
by using the following formula:

W
N= × n
Le – Lo

Where W : Total width to be leveled (m) Le : Effective blade length (m)

Lo : Width of overlap (m)
n : Number of grading required to finish the surface to the required flatness.

15A-22