Sany’s new motor grader for road maintenance, repair

Sany introduces its SMG200C-8 motor grader designed specifically to handle road upkeep and rebuilding work, according to the manufacturer.

“The market now is so complex,” said Noah Thomas VanOosterhout, road product manager at Sany. “Many [competitor machines] are more than what is needed to grade and repair roads. The SMG200C-8 is built specifically for maintaining and repairing roads.”

He added that, across the industry, the past few years have seen more technology added to the cab of machines. While many of these new advancements offer extra features and capabilities, they also come with a higher price tag – and complexity.

VanOosterhout said he’d heard from one highway superintendent who said that a competitive equipment dealer in his area tripled the lease rate for its equipment in recent months to account for the higher cost of equipment on the market today.

The SMG200C-8 offers a range of features designed for operator comfort and ease of use. This includes a steering wheel control for roading, and joystick controls for grading, an air-conditioned cab and air ride seat with heat.

Under the hood, a 253-horsepower Cummins QSL9-C250 engine drives the SMG200C-8, which also has an 8-speed transmission, operator-controlled locking differential and electronically locking rear differential.

“Municipalities handle a lot of roads – and particularly gravel roads. But the [motor grader] market got way too complex for grading something like a gravel road,” said VanOosterhout. “There’s all sorts of guidance and products that simply aren’t needed for that kind of work that drive costs up.”

VanOosterhout claims the price for the SMG200C-8 is half to two-thirds the cost of a competitor’s product.