FARMINGTON – The Franklin County Soil and Water Conservation District will offer a front runner grader training session in late June if 15 people or more sign up.

The one-training session will include a classroom session, followed by a hands-on demonstration in the field. Participants will be given an opportunity to learn about basic road construction and maintenance techniques.

The front runner grader/rake, an attachment that fits onto the front of -ton pick-up trucks utilizing a snowplow mount, is used for road grading, maintenance, site clean-up, landscaping, finish grading and snow removal on soft roads.

The front runner consists of a row of heavy-duty, flexible, spring steel tines individually bolted to a rugged, welded steel frame. A set of adjustable gauge wheels is attached to the frame in front of the tines for support. The entire attachment forms the configuration of a miniature road grader. It is controlled by the truck’s snowplow hydraulic hoist.

Anyone who completes a training session is qualified to lease one of the seven front runners housed in the central, southern and western part of the state, including Farmington. There is a modest maintenance fee to use the equipment for up to a week. Digital pictures of the road to be graded must accompany the request to lease the equipment.

To register for the training, send in a $50 check made out to FCSWCD and send it to FCSWCD, 107 Park St., Farmington, ME 04938.