This page continues the Adams Road Grader series with Versions #3 and #4.
Later graders retained much of the earlier design, but details such as wheel caps, blade hardware, tires, decals, and paint tone help separate the later production years from the earlier bright-or a nge and yellow examples.
Version #3 – 1951-52
One view of the third-version Adams Road Grader from 1951-52.
Third-version graders retained the yellow paint scheme from the second version, but used small round axle caps instead of the large cone-shaped discs found on earlier versions.
The only significant variation on the third version was the use of the smaller hub cap.
Second- and third-version toys still used the orange “Adams” lettering on the front.
Early blade circles had five different blade-angle positions. Later versions had only three.
The rear cross-member with the draw-bar hole was sometimes used in the center of the frame as well.
Sticker shock in 1952, but as Doepke liked to say, “Doepke toys outlast others 3 to 1.”
This 1952 Road Grader box was made by Fort Wayne Corrugated Paper Company.
Version #4 – 1953-56 (?)
One view of the fourth-version grader with its later pale-or a nge finish.
The pale-or a nge color of this fourth-version grader lacks the “brilliantorange” of the 1948 toys. It is not known for certain when grader production ended.
These “knobby” looking turf tires first appeared in 1953. Some graders had them on all axles.
1953 was also the first year for “Fires tone” tires, though the Goodyear brand continued to be used as well.
All four graders featured on this site used the one-piece tie-rod, though two-piece examples have also been found.
The brightorange color of the “Adams” decal clashes notice ably with the pale-or a nge paint.