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CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS
FEBRUARY 2017
18
T
he motor grader – the
heavy machinery used
to flatten surfaces in
construction, road main-
tenance, mining, agricul-
ture and more, remains a crucial piece of
equipment in these industries. The earliest
graders took the form of a simple steel
frame with a blade, drawn by horse or oxen.
With industrialisation in the early 20
th
century, graders more often took the form
of converted farm tractors. With continued
innovation over the years, today they are
completely different pieces of equipment.
A motor grader remains a crucial piece of
equipment, especially in road construction
and mining. According to Dale Oldridge,
product marketing manager at Bell
Equipment, the grader market in Africa is
estimated at about 900 units per year. South
Africa makes up a fair share of this market
with an average of 250 units per year.
Miguel Angel Torres, business director for
Africa at CASE Construction, tells
Capital
Equipment News
that available industry
statistics show that 199 motor graders were
sold in South Africa during the 11 months
to November 2016, compared with 347 for
the full year in 2015. Elsewhere, North-East
Africa accounted for 125 motor grader sales
to November 2016, compared with a total of
195 unit sales for the full year in 2015. Central
Africa is the smallest market, and even went
down from 28 unit sales in the period to
November 2016, from 42 units in 2015. West
Africa, up to November 2016, accounted for
57 motor grader sales, a significant decline
from the 124 units recorded during the full
year of 2015. The Maghreb region is said to
have accounted for 217 units by November
2016, a notable increase from the 171 units
sold in 2015 as a whole.
Some of the key names that come to mind
as far as motor graders are concerned include
Caterpillar, Bell Equipment, CASE, Hidromek,
Komatsu, New Holland and Dezzi. The value
end of the market has also seen the likes of
SDLG, Sany, XCMG, Shantui and LiuGong
continuously improving their offerings.
Despite all the technological innovations,
a key issue that continues to affect motor
graders is the difficulty in operating them.
How best an operator can work a motor
grader remains at the core of product
offerings from many original equipment
manufacturers. Today’s grader developments
are centred on easing operation as this piece
of equipment has traditionally been regarded
one of the most difficult to operate, often
calling for specialised final level skills.
On many jobsites, it is often the case
that the highest paid equipment operator
is the one running the grader. The critical
importance of maintaining proper grade
One issue that continues to be the talking point whenever motor graders are
the topic of discussion is the difficulty in operating them. However, innovations
from several original equipment manufacturers are redefining the operability
of this crucial piece of equipment, writes
Munesu Shoko.
GRADING TOWARDS
The main
frame of Bell
graders has been
redesigned to include
an arc that allows the
operator better visibility
of the blade to make
operation easier.
EASY OPERATION