ForConstructionPros.com

If used in the right soil conditions with the correct scraper train and scraper tractor, a pull scraper system promises to move material faster with less initial investment, less support equipment, fewer operators and lower operating costs compared to conventional methods.

Mike McCrory, Eastern regional sales manager, Miskin Scraper Works, says the biggest advantage comes from the system's ability to work without support equipment. "It loads itself with no help from a crawler dozer and unloads itself while dumping on grade, negating the need for a crawler dozer to smooth out the dump area," he points out.

But you really have to know what you're doing to realize the savings. Bennington Equipment, a John Deere dealer, made the decision several years ago to get into the scraper business. "Basically, we jumped in with both feet, and a lot of the things we tried didn't work," says Brad League, scraper product specialist. "They cost us a lot of money. It took a period of years to learn everything."

This experience now cuts the learning curve for Bennington Equipment's customers. "Now that we have that experience, we try to set up customers properly," says League.

When exploring pull scraper systems, look for a supplier that can provide practical jobsite experience. Sometimes small mistakes in the setup result in an unfavorable experience. "Maybe if you used a different tire or a different scraper, you may have been satisfied," League notes.