Shire of Narrogin takes delivery of ergonomic John Deere 620Gp Grader
Scott Reeves, Shire of Narrogin acting manager operations (left), and Paul Casagrande, AFGRI Equipment sales consultant for construction and forestry by the freshly delivered John Deere 620GP Grader. Picture supplied.
AFGRI Equipment won the tender to deliver to the Shire of Narrogin a new John Deere 620GP grader, a powerful tool in maintaining Narrogin's roads and infrastructure.
The grader was factory ordered with a 12-foot mould board and 14.00 R24 Michelin tyres.
AFGRI Equipment construction & forestry sales representative, Paul Casagrande, facilitated the delivery of the machine to the Shire last week.
It weighs about 18 tonnes and has 200 horsepower.
The local AFGRI branch in Narrogin will be supplying parts and specialised servicing for the grader.
Mr Casagrande said the model the Shire decided to acquire had one key difference from the previous grader they used.
"Traditionally, they had levers as their control configuration on their grader," Mr Casagrande said.
"But as John Deere has progressed with their technology, they've brought out the fingertip control, and we also offer the joystick control."
He said the Shire, which had a traditional lever configuration, wanted to move to the fingertip control because it's the same layout as the lever control.
The Shire of Narrogin's John Deere Grader will have a fingertip control configuration as opposed to a lever configuration, making it ergonomically friendly. Picture supplied.
The main difference was the fingertip control provided some ergonomic benefits.
"It's friendlier on your body; you're not reaching out constantly, feeling tired at the end of the day," Mr Casagrande said.
"They decided to go down that line to have that relative control."
There was also the addition of Grade Pro, a 2D slope system that allows the operator to dial in a two or three degree slope required for Narrogin's roads, so the water can easily run off.
Grade Pro helps streamline grading operations by automating blade positioning, resulting in consistent, accurate outcomes with less manual input.
Other parts of the grader suit Narrogin's roads well, Mr Casagrande said, such as a smaller blade.
"Due to the narrow road requirements, the Shire of Narrogin requested the 12-foot blade," he said.
"As far as the fingertip control and integrated Grade Pro, we're the only ones that have that feature."