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Grader – heavy

Photograph courtesy TSA (Murray Bridge). This heavy grader measuring 9.2 x 2.0 x 3.0 m, was manufactured by Armstrong-Holland Australia and distributed by Champion Construction Machinery of Melbourne and Sydney. It was manufactured in the early 1950s and had a fairly short life with the Highways Department before being phased out. King Earth Movers of Whyalla donated the grader to the Highways Department Heritage Group.

Heavy graders with a 12 to 14 tonne capacity were the main graders used for road construction.

The heavy grader was originally used in the maintenance of the Eyre Highway and was drawn by a tractor. It has two axles and four wheels making it a cumbersome vehicle and movement along roads on route to work sites was tedious. With only manual controls it needed one person to drive the tractor and another to control the grader blade and scarifying tynes. The scarifying ‘tynes’ are located behind the grader blade, so each section of ground was gone over twice; once with the scarifying tynes and then once with the grader blades down. Manual operation made it difficult to adjust the grading levels.

The full steel construction of this grader meant it could be left in parking bays with little risk of vandalism.

Photograph courtesy TSA. Graders were used to pull equipment trailers to road construction sites. This grader has the grader blade behind the scarifying tynes

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