BUCYRUS ERIE SCRAPER

I am looking for something to help me in making and keeping up a road. I cut the road out of the side of a hill, with my CASE 450 crawler loader. The down hill side is a long way down, so I can't get to close to the edge, I just push what I can to the edge and cut deeper into the bank. I will cover the road with creek gravel that I will haul in and spread it somewhat with the dump box, on my 10 wheeler. So here is my question. There is a Bucyrus Erie 44G box scraper for sale. It has 2 pneumatic tires and is towed like a regular box scraper with a hydraulic cylinder to adjust the cut. Never used something like this, so don't even know how it would work. It looks like you can level the road and I would guess that would also allow you to keep it smooth. Doesn't need a D6 to pull. Has anyone ever heard of this box scraper? This thing looks like it would also do well at transfering dirt from High to Low spots to level out land, but not like a land leveler. A motor grader would do everything but for a big price, and a lot of up keep for no more than I would use it. Any answers would help...thanks....Phil

This must be a smaller model, tried to find an image of one on the net to see what it is, no luck though. I just recently saw a small scraper in the CL ads, forget where now, but it was of the size you could pull with a decent size tractor, 2 wheels in the back, don't recall if it was the ejector type or how it unloaded, really was not all that big. Your 450 is a small tractor, the one I saw looked like something like what you have could pull it. I'm familiar with 30 yd, twin engine types, like 627 Cat or TS24 terex etc.

The only thing that comes to mind, depending on the material you want to cut into, traction could be an issue with a track loader, given the type of track pads they typically have.

In theory you should be able to cut and fill with a scraper, grade will be flat, and without a dozer with a 6 way blade, you'll at least be able to spread the loose material. You'll want a crown in the road for run off, or likely some kind of finish grade you can't do easily with a track loader and or scraper. Loose material is not too hard to deal with using a tractor with a back blade or box scraper, that may be an inexpensive option.

Loading a scraper efficiently in a cut, does require good traction and lots of power, I used to push load both 627's and TS 24's with D8K's and the later N's. its best to take shallow cut over a long distance, some operators I worked with never understood that. Others would link up 2 scrapers and work in tandem, and actually get a pretty decent load, using the D8's to push would have it spilling off the sides. We also side loaded them with excavators from piles or other cuts.

I don't think you would really know unless you actually tried this scraper out, and I think traction may be the biggest concern.

Thanks Billy,
I have an AC7060 with duals, so looking at the pix of this thing on craigslist it should work. I will say this, it sure looks heavy duty. I tried to look it up using GOOGLE and I couldn't find anything on it either. I will call the person who is selling it and try to get some more info. on it, what yardage it holds how wide it is etc. I will leave more info. as I get some. Thanks for the reply....Phil If you want to look it up on craigslist go to California, redding. Tell me what you think......Phil

That's what I thought it was, rear wheels, drawbar pull with a hydraulic lift on the bowl. Just saw one a bit smaller locally or somewhere nearby in the CL ads. I don't know if that would be too much for a 450 case track loader, going to be close for sure. I'm not familiar with the AC 7060, but it seems small enough that you don't need a big horse in front of it. Traction is definitely key here. I've seen what old D7's and D6's can pull, so I would bet you are close or it could be a decent match, can't be but a few yards from what I can see, 4-5 yds heaped at the most. I'm wondering how these eject the material, most I have ran you open the apron door a certain amount and then use the ejector to push the fill out, using the space under the apron to control material flow. Sometimes with sticky or wet material we would turn the front to one side and eject the material and wiggle the scraper away from the pile. Hated working in those conditions, get stuck too much.
Bucyrus Erie G 44 Scraper

Phil,
I would think that your 450 ,especially with a 4in1 bucket would do well in farm road maintenence.
I have also had great results with a tractor & rear grader blade that offsets,angles & tilts in all directions.This is a great combination & a good way to move dirt around & finish off too.I can get my rear blade to offset to two feet to either side of tractor.
If your 450 doesn't have rippers,a ripper at the rear of the tractor can usually get a few inches of material loose.

Your 450 & tractor with blade should do all you need.

Thanks Jim,
My 450 doesn't have a 4in1, sure wish it did, and have looked around for that bucket. I have fairly good results just back dragging to spread and smooth, and have been doing this for years. I have seen some of these super trick pull scrapers with the offset blade which would be perfect for the road I have with the steep bank, and outside edge drop off. This Bucyrus wouldn't help there that's for sure. It would be slick if someone made a blade you could put on a loader bucket, or in place of, that could be turned and offset to work like a motor grader. I've seen some of the old road MAINTAINERS that were part tractor, part grader, but not to many of them around, and those that are, are either junk or way over priced. So back to the drawing board. I guess I will just keep looking and maybe figure something out, the offset, swivel, tilt blade is what motor graders were built to do, "make roads". Thanks for the comments, just nice to hear other people are dealing with the same things.........Phil

Hi Billy,
Glad you checked out the Craigslist. I called the person who has it. He said it was his grandfathers, and now this person is retired, so that gives you some idea of the age of the machine. He said, only seen it used once, and couldn't remember a lot about it. I asked him how it unloaded, and he couldn't remember. I guess this thing has been setting for a good number of years. He said the width was approx. 7ft, depth approx. 6ft and approx. 3ft high. So like you said, my guess is about 4to5yrds, max. I think my 7060 would do it, it has 160hp and the duals are 18" across each tire so 36" on each side of the tractor, like you said traction is definitely Key. Crawlers were made for a reason that's for sure. I will go and look at this but it sounds like from your comments, and some from Jim, that this may not be what I really need. They made motor graders for a reason also. I have even looked at some of the "pulled road graders" but looks like a to man job not a old man and wife operation, but you never know. Thanks for the comments.........Phil

I think the only thing you gain with one of these is being able to cut, right off existing grade or from a long stockpile that you could drive over, allowing you to haul material. Other than being able to move material with something self loading such as a towed behind scraper, I don't think you gain much else as far as grading.

Motor graders do seem to be available relatively inexpensively, seen a lot of them over the years that were posted for sale. Older ones, like the old knuckle buster caterpillar or similar. Very useful, many use them seasonally, for snow removal or road maintenance, often times sitting for periods of time. I've run a few, but never spent enough time on one to really comment in detail. Takes some skill, but if you are good with grading and using mostly any kind of moldboard, dozer blade or what have you, the basics of these as I see it are not that hard to learn at all. Some operators are extremely talented on these, and every company I worked for had one that was a skilled grader operator.

The old pull behind graders are useful, but its manual adjust, something like the Adams or similar, (before Caterpillar and others started making them) could be useful, but you would need 2 people at minimum. I've watched them at shows, behind crawlers, they work well.

I think a box blade like a Gannon, would be ideal behind a tractor for your purpose, you can scarify hard packed material, and grade with these, + pull a fair amount of material for a little distance, one of these and a back blade as mentioned, heavier one with the ability to offset, probably all you would need.

That scraper, who would not want to have one of those given what they do. If had every attachment I could use often or not, my yard would be littered with them LOL !

HI Phil,
If you want to email me with your email details,I'll send some pics of my blade.
It is a very handy rear grader blade,no hydraulics.I have been using a Mitsubishi Crawler-Loader with a GP bucket to form my farm roads,then pull in the edges & tidy up with the tractor & blade.
I've made a lot of roads in this manner.
A tractor armed with a blade & ripper,is an under-rated outfit.And cheap to run.

I also have pics of an angle-blade that can be mounted at front of a loader.

Thanks Jim,
My email is....... [email protected] ..... looking forward to the pics. .... Phil

Billy,
Yep, I think you are right. But like you said if I got every piece of equipment I wanted I would need a yard full of machine sheds, and more work than I could do. Jim is going to send me some pics of a system he uses, I'll look at it and maybe get some ideas........thanks.....Phil

Hi Jim,
Got the pictures, and a lot of good ideas, thanks....looks like you did a lot of work and a lot of thought went into making what you needed to do the job. I have saved the pics. and will look for some parts that I can use, and see if I can come up with some ideas like you did. Your loader looks a lot like my CASE 450, and looks like you have some rocky country like me, to work around. Again Jim, thanks for your help and pictures.....Phil

Phil,
Glad to help.
If you can find a grader blade that gives you tilt,angle & offset,you'll be very happy with it.
I'll try to get a few closer shots of that yellow blade ,so you can see it properly.

Jim