We buy motor graders
Sell Your Motor Grader
Priced on circle and drawbar wear, moldboard condition, and whether it is set up for machine control.
- Written offers
- Transport arranged
- Running or not
- California
On this page
MachineryBarn buys used motor graders, running or not. Graders are precision machines and they are valued on precision: the circle and drawbar assembly that carries the moldboard is the wear point that decides whether the machine can still hold a grade, and it is the first thing an experienced buyer checks. A grader with a worn circle looks fine parked and cannot do the one job it exists to do. Grade-control readiness is the other factor that moves the number more than hours.
What counts as a motor grader
A motor grader is a long-wheelbase articulated machine with a moldboard slung under the frame between the front axle and the drive wheels. The blade can be rotated, angled, tilted and shifted sideways, which is what allows a grader to cut a precise slope. That range of movement comes from the circle — a large toothed ring the drawbar and blade hang from — and it is the assembly that wears.
Graders are described by blade width and operating weight — a fourteen-foot moldboard is the common size for general roadwork, with narrower blades on smaller municipal machines and wider on production units. Model numbers usually signal the class, and the mid-size machines have by far the broadest resale market.
Where these machines usually come from
- Road building and highway maintenance
- Fine grading and slope work on construction sites
- Gravel road maintenance for counties and rural districts
- Mine and quarry haul road upkeep
- Snow removal, particularly in mountain and county fleets
- Site preparation and pad finishing
Motor Graders we buy
Configuration changes who the next buyer is, so it changes the offer. These are the variants worth naming when you describe your machine.
- Standard road grader
- Six-wheel, rear tandem drive, general-purpose moldboard. The volume configuration and the widest buyer pool.
- All-wheel drive
- Front wheel assist for traction on soft ground and slopes. Genuinely useful and worth a premium where the work demands it.
- Grade-control ready or equipped
- Mounts, masts, cabling and receivers for a Trimble, Topcon or factory system. Increasingly what buyers look for first on this category.
- Scarifier and ripper equipped
- Front scarifier or rear ripper for breaking hard surfaces. Widens the buyer pool for reclamation and gravel road work.
- Snow-equipped municipal machine
- Wing plow mounts, front plow hitch and appropriate lighting. A distinct configuration with its own municipal buyers.
What determines a used motor grader's value
Roughly in order of how much each one moves the number.
- 1
Circle and drawbar condition
The defining wear point on a motor grader and the most expensive routine repair. A worn circle lets the blade shift under load, which means the machine cannot hold a consistent grade — the entire purpose of the machine. Rebuilding a circle is significant work.
How to check it: With the blade on the ground under light down-pressure, rotate the circle slowly and watch for jump, hesitation or excessive backlash. Check the wear inserts and the circle drive pinion teeth.
- 2
Moldboard and cutting edge
The blade itself is a wear item and its condition is immediately visible. A bowed or heavily worn moldboard, or worn slide rails and wear strips, all affect how cleanly the machine cuts.
How to check it: Sight along the moldboard for straightness, check cutting edge and end bit thickness, and look at the slide rail wear strips.
- 3
Grade-control readiness
Machine control has reshaped this category. A grader already fitted with mounts, masts, cabling and a receiver — or with factory-integrated control — is worth meaningfully more than one needing the install. Be explicit about whether the components are included, because they are often leased or moved between machines.
- 4
Articulation and lean
A grader articulates in the middle and its front wheels lean. Play at the articulation joint or worn lean components affect precision directly and are checked closely.
How to check it: Articulate full lock both ways watching the centre pins, and cycle the wheel lean through its range.
- 5
Tandem and final drive condition
The rear tandem housings carry chains and bearings under constant load. Noise, leaks or metal in the oil signal a substantial repair.
How to check it: Listen while driving under load and check tandem oil condition and level.
- 6
Tyres
Six large tyres, and graders wear them unevenly because of the lean and articulation. A full set is a real cost and mismatched sets are a visible deduction.
- 7
Hydraulic control condition
A grader has a lot of hydraulic functions and buyers cycle all of them. Drift in the blade lift, shift or tilt circuits directly undermines the machine's precision.
- 8
Hours, engine and emissions tier
The same California off-road diesel considerations as other earthmoving equipment. Older machines often find stronger buyers out of state or for export than in a California fleet.
How usage is measured
Engine hours, but on a grader the hour meter correlates poorly with the wear that matters. A machine can accumulate hours travelling and idling while the circle and drawbar barely wear, or wear them heavily in abrasive gravel work. Tell us the application — county gravel roads, highway construction, mine haul roads or snow — because it changes how the hours read.
What gets inspected on a motor grader
Knowing what a buyer looks at lets you describe the machine accurately the first time, which avoids the offer changing later.
Circle and drawbar
Backlash on rotation, wear insert condition, circle drive pinion teeth, drawbar ball and socket, and any prior rebuild.
Moldboard assembly
Moldboard straightness, cutting edge and end bit wear, slide rails, wear strips, and side-shift function.
Articulation and front axle
Centre pin play, articulation cylinder condition, wheel lean function, king pins and tie rod ends.
Tandems and drivetrain
Tandem housing noise and oil condition, chain wear, differential and transmission behaviour under load.
Hydraulics
Drift across every blade function, cycle times, hose condition, and leaks at the circle and lift cylinders.
Cab and controls
Control linkage or joystick condition, air conditioning, glass and visibility, and grade-control wiring integrity where fitted.
Wear items that dominate cost on this class
What we need to price your motor grader
You do not need all of it to start. The more of it you have, the closer the first number is to the final one.
- Make, model and serial number
- Year and hour meter reading
- Moldboard width
- Whether the machine is all-wheel drive
- Circle and drawbar condition, or when last rebuilt
- Grade-control components fitted, and whether they are included
- Scarifier, ripper or snow equipment fitted
- Tyre condition across all six
- What work it mostly did — gravel roads, highway, mine, snow
- Whether it starts, drives and blades
Common situations
The circumstances that come up most often when someone sells a motor grader, and what each one actually means for the sale.
The circle is worn
Very common on higher-hour machines and not a reason to avoid selling. Do not rebuild it in order to sell — the cost rarely returns in the sale price. Describe the condition accurately, because a known-worn circle is priced predictably and an unknown one is priced defensively.
The machine has grade control fitted
State clearly what is included. Masts, receivers and displays are frequently leased or shared across a fleet, and a grader advertised with a system that does not convey is the most common source of dispute at collection on this category.
A county or municipal machine with low annual hours
Often the strongest position in this category. County graders typically have consistent servicing, moderate hours and full records. Send the maintenance file — it genuinely moves the number here.
It will not start or move
Still bought. Graders have a solid parts market and non-running machines move regularly. Say what stopped — engine, transmission, or hydraulics — rather than diagnosing it.
The grader is set up for snow work
Mention the wing plow mounts, front hitch and any plow equipment included. Snow-configured graders have a specific and motivated buyer pool, particularly ahead of winter.
Moving a motor grader
Graders are long, and length rather than weight is usually the constraint. Most travel on a lowboy or RGN with the moldboard removed or angled to stay within legal width, and some machines need an oversize permit for length. A grader that will not drive is winched on, which needs planning because of the wheelbase. Transport is arranged and paid for by us and is already inside the offer.
Ownership and paperwork
Motor graders are not titled in California. Ownership transfers by bill of sale against the serial number, generally on the frame near the cab. Financing appears as a UCC filing rather than on a title and is settled as part of the purchase. Municipal machines sometimes require a formal surplus declaration before they can be sold — worth checking early if the machine belongs to a public agency.
Attachments and extras
Front scarifiers, rear rippers, wing plows, front plow hitches, snow wings and grade-control components all count and should be listed individually. As with dozers, grade-control equipment is the item most often assumed included when it is not.
Makes and model families we see most
We buy motor graders from manufacturers beyond this list. These are the ones that come up most often, with the series a seller is likely to recognise from the machine.
| Manufacturer | Model families |
|---|---|
| Caterpillar | 12, 120, 140, 160 in H, M and K series |
| John Deere | 670, 672, 770, 772, 870 |
| Komatsu | GD series — GD530, GD655, GD675 |
| Volvo | G900 series |
| Case | 845, 865, 885 |
| Champion | Older machines still common in county fleets |
Get a cash offer
Get an offer on your motor grader
Tell us what you have and what shape it is in. We come back with a cash figure in writing.
- A written offer, not an estimate
- Transport arranged and priced into the offer
- Running or not, any make
Prefer to talk it through?
(916) 740-7755Get a Cash Offer
Any brand, any condition, any hours.
- Written offer
- Transport arranged
- No Spam
Where we buy motor graders
We buy across California. Our published town-level coverage is concentrated in these counties.
