40 TradeEarthmovers.com.au
It wasn’t the first or last time locally-designed
improvements pushed into the D Model and
credit goes to Don Nugent, the engineers and
men whom continually searched for improvement
during this time.
This little grader, as soon as the gearbox is
repaired, would (believe it or not) fire up quite
easily with a bit of a clean-up and half a day’s
persistence.FROM THE CAB
You would be putting in a big day operating one
of these in the Queensland, or anywhere for
that matter. The control levers would certainly
sort out the best of operators, and there’s no air
conditioning, radio, heater or fan in this old girl,
but that’s how it was done in those days.
Plenty of all round vision here, but could be a
problem if you were standing and hit a log or
rock – you may actually go overboard and fall
out of the cab. And I’m sure the grader driver
would have spent all day standing – no operator
protection or comforts here.
The operation of the rig is quite simple,
effective for its day but underpowered in today’s
market. The 50hp (37kW) diesel engine slotted
into the market and became very popular in
its time, pushing the grader through a manual
gearbox with a maximum speed of 35mph (after
modification). The mouldboard controls are on
the outside and right of the console, backward to
lift and forward to lower, the six tyne scarifier is
the third lever and again back to lift and forward
to lower, whilst wheel lean is the left hand lever
and again backward to right and forward to left
wheel lean.
As with all graders you will have to ensure that
the mouldboard and the scarifier positioning does
not clash when adjusting.The controls are all hydraulic and tell-tale signs
are evident that most of the hoses have been
replaced many times over the years.
The dashboard is a simple as it can get with
hand throttle, sparse gauges, stop lever and lights
all positioned downward and to the left side front
of the dashboard, whilst the clutch and brake are
floor mounted and foot controlled.UNDER THE HOOD
The engine bay would have once housed a
couple of large swinging doors to keep out a lot
of the day to day crap that’s just waiting for a
free ride during a day’s work. There is nothing
worse than having either an oil or diesel leaking
engine and finding the engine bay is filled with
dust, leaves and branches, so those covers are
a godsend.
The six-cylinder naturally aspirated diesel
engine is located over the rear wheels for good
balance and weight distribution, whilst a quick
look at the filters shows that they have not been
changed since 11-11-13, that being a day to
remember.THE BOTTOM LINE
It could be thought that nowadays this grader
would be a dinosaur but in fact it still holds
the same principals as current graders being
produced. Technology has merely become
more fine-tuned as the years go by.
Personally, I love the old girl as most of the old
machinery I get to be involved with.
All the machines have a place in our history
and should be preserved, if not physically, at
least by writing about the background of the
machines and how they evolved and performed
in their day.
This old girl is just another classic example.USED MACHINERY REVIEW
It wasn’t the
first or last time
locally-designed
improvements
pushed into the
D Model.- A bit spidery, but still
functional - The operation of the rig is
quite simple, effective for
its day but underpowered
in today’s market
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