My old foreman told me to run the 320 excavator with the thumb in float for grading... tried it on a small pad job and it was a game changer.

3 comments

3 Comments

johnfoster1mo agoMost Upvoted

See, I get what @torres.drew is saying about blowing seals, but on a 320 with a good thumb, I've used float for light grading pressure for years. The trick is you feather the crowd, you don't just drop the bucket and shove. Lets the pad find its own grade without the machine fighting itself.

jesse841mo ago

Yeah, no, that's a good way to wreck a thumb cylinder real fast. Float is for when you're not touching anything, not for putting constant pressure on the ground. You got lucky on a small pad, but try that on anything with real resistance and you're asking for a big repair bill. That old foreman gave you some bad advice.

torres.drew1mo ago

Listen to jesse84, he's spot on about float mode. It's basically just for letting the attachment follow the ground without digging in, not for forcing it down. You keep pushing like that and you'll blow a seal or bend a rod for sure.