Motor grader daily inspection checklist
A motor grader is a long machine with a lot of joints: six tires on two tandems and a front axle, an articulated frame, front wheels that lean, and a moldboard hung from a drawbar and a turning circle under the middle of it all. Each of those joints can wear, leak, or loosen, and a grader’s whole job is putting a precise edge on the ground, so small play anywhere shows up in the finished surface. In winter add a front plow and a wing, with their own posts, pins, and hydraulics.
This list runs in walk order, front to back and down both sides. Your operator’s manual is the authority for model-specific items, grease points, and the tandem oil check. The table after the checklist sets out what each province and US OSHA asks, rule by rule.
Engine off — the walkaround
Moldboard, wing, and any front plow down on the ground, articulation lock in, before you walk the machine.
- Six tires and wheel nuts — cuts, bulges, and sidewall damage on all six, inflation looking even, no missing or rust-streaked wheel nuts.
- Tandem housings — no oil weeping from seals, plugs, or the oscillation joint; level checked where your manual says.
- Circle and drawbar — wear on the circle teeth and wear strips, cracks at the drawbar, and visible play at the ball and circle guides.
- Moldboard, edges, end bits — moldboard straight and crack-free, edge and end-bit bolts tight, nothing worn back into the moldboard.
- Ripper or scarifier — shanks, teeth, and pins present and retained, frame uncracked, if fitted.
- Front plow and wing — wing post, hinge pins, and mounts tight and retained, wing hoses unchafed, plow edge and trip working, if fitted.
- Articulation joint and lock — pins and retainers in place, no cracks at the frame, lock stowed for work and pinned for service.
- Front axle and wheel lean — lean pins, tie rods, and steering links tight, no fresh play, no bent links.
- Hoses and fittings — chafe, bulges, and wet fittings along the frame and at the circle. Look for leaks with your eyes, never your hand.
- Fluids — engine oil, hydraulic oil, coolant, and fuel levels, then a look underneath for anything fresh.
- Lights and mirrors — every lens and mirror present, clean, uncracked, and aimed: a grader carries a lot of both.
- Cab glass and steps — glass uncracked and clean all round, steps and grab handles clear of mud and ice.
Engine on — the function checks
- Blade lift and side-shift — both lift cylinders and side-shift through full travel, smooth, no drift with the controls released.
- Circle turn and tip — the circle turns both ways without chatter or jumping; moldboard tip moves through its full range.
- Steering, articulation, wheel lean — steering firm lock to lock, frame articulates both ways, wheels lean and return to straight.
- Differential lock — engages and releases cleanly, and the indicator agrees with the switch.
- Service and park brakes — the grader stops straight and holds with the park brake set.
- Horn, alarm, and lights — horn, travel alarm, work lights, and beacons all working.
- Gauges and seat belt — no warning lights left on, hour meter noted, belt latching and not frayed.
Around the machine
- People and other machines — who is working the same stretch on foot or in another machine, and where your blind spots fall.
- Soft shoulders and edges — ditches, soft or thawing shoulders, and drop-offs the tandems or a leaned front wheel could slide into.
- Overhead clearances — power lines, signs, and branches over the stretch you’ll work, and how high a raised wing reaches.
wearpointWhat the rules ask, jurisdiction by jurisdiction
Do this walkaround before every shift. Where a rule below doesn’t name a daily inspection, it often requires the machine to be inspected or used according to the manufacturer’s instructions — so check what your operator’s manual calls for before each shift.
Each row is what one regulation asks of this machine, in plain words, with a link to the text. Where a rule depends on the kind of site or machine, the row says so: check it against your own. This is a summary, not legal advice — the regulation and your operator’s manual govern.
Alberta
Before operating powered mobile equipment, the operator must complete a visual inspection of the equipment and the surrounding area. OHS Code s.257(1)
British Columbia
Before mobile equipment is first operated on a shift, the operator must inspect it and report any unsafe or potentially unsafe defect to the supervisor or employer, then keep monitoring it while it runs. The employer keeps a record of reported defects for at least 2 years. OHSR 16.3(1)–(3)
Ontario
Construction projects: No vehicle or machine may be used while it is defective or hazardous, and it must be used as its manufacturer’s operating manual says. Powered equipment rated over 10 horsepower must be inspected by a competent worker before it is first used at the project, then at least once a year or more often if the manufacturer recommends. Neither section sets a daily inspection. O. Reg. 213/91 ss.93–94
Every workplace: The employer must keep the equipment it provides in good condition, and a worker must report a known defect that may endanger a worker to the employer or supervisor. OHSA ss.25(1)(b), 28(1)(c)
Quebec
Construction sites: Any self-propelled vehicle or equipment driven by a power source other than manual must be checked by an experienced person before its first use on the site, then daily whenever it is used. CSTC s.3.10.1(b)
Elsewhere, such as a yard or plant: A self-propelled vehicle must be inspected and maintained according to the manufacturer’s instructions or standards offering equivalent safety. Section 272 sets no inspection frequency of its own. RSST s.272
Nova Scotia
The employer must ensure powered mobile equipment and forklifts are operated, inspected, serviced, maintained, and repaired according to the manufacturer’s specifications, or specifications certified by an engineer. N.S. Reg. 44/99 s.55
United States (federal OSHA)
Construction sites: OSHA’s earthmoving equipment rules set no inspection interval of their own. 29 CFR 1926.602(a)
Construction sites: The employer’s safety program must provide for frequent and regular inspections of equipment by competent persons it designates. Equipment that doesn’t comply with OSHA’s construction rules may not be used and must be tagged, have its controls locked, or be removed. 29 CFR 1926.20(b)(2)–(3)
Not in the table yet: Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador. We add a province once its official text has been checked.
Snow duty: the wing and the front plow
A grader set up for snow is carrying a front plow and a wing it didn’t have in August, and those parts take the hits. The wing rides out beside the machine at the height of curbs, signs, guardrails, and snowbanks with something hard buried in them. Walk the wing post top to bottom: mounts tight, hinge pins and retainers in place, no cracks starting at the welds. Look at the wing’s edge and shoe, and at the hoses that run out to it, which flex every time the wing moves and chafe where they cross the frame. Look for leaks with your eyes and a light, never your hand.
On the front plow, check the edge, the trip springs or trip edge, and the hitch pins. A trip that has rusted in place turns the next buried curb into a bent moldboard or a cracked frame. With everything down, raise and lower the plow and the wing and watch for drift and jerky travel. At night, the operator’s only view of the wing tip is the mirror and the light aimed at it, so a cracked mirror or dead wing light is a real defect, not a cosmetic one. The snow equipment pre-season checklist covers the setup work before the first storm.
Circle and drawbar: play shows in the cut
The circle and drawbar are where a grader’s precision lives. The drawbar hangs from a ball joint at the front, the circle turns in guides or shoes underneath it, and the moldboard hangs from the circle. When the wear strips, the guides, or the ball joint wear out, the blade starts to move on its own: it chatters, wanders off the line you set, or leaves a washboard pattern you can see behind the machine. Operators usually feel it before they can see it.
On the walkaround, look for fresh shiny metal around the circle guides, cracks at the drawbar, and missing shims or bolts. In the function checks, turn the circle both ways and watch for jumping or chatter, and put the blade down with light pressure and watch for the circle shifting under it. Note what you see and tell the shop: adjusting the circle is a mechanic’s job, done with the blade down and the machine locked out. Never reach into the circle or under a raised moldboard to check it by hand.
When something fails
Take the grader out of service. Tag it where the next operator will see it, take the key, and report it to your supervisor. Only a qualified mechanic repairs it. The defect that gets noted and run anyway is the one that hurts someone, often on a night shift with no one else around.
How wearpoint runs this checklist
You build the grader checklist once in wearpoint as an inspection template, in your own words and walk order, and every grader in that category uses it. Mark the wing and plow items N/A in summer. Every item takes a verdict: OK, Issue, or N/A. A defect is flagged with a quick note, and open defects carry forward to the next inspection until the fix is recorded. The operator raises a defect as an issue in one tap, the shop triages it into a work order, and the people responsible get an alert when a machine goes down; a machine marked down can’t be started from the app until it’s repaired. Operators tap in and enter the hour-meter reading when they tap out, so service comes due on the hours the grader actually ran, and a second operator taking over mid-shift runs their own inspection, which is its own record.
