The specification discloses a strike off apparatus for leveling and compacting mounds of sand extending above the upper edges of open-top mold boxes of varying heights carried in succession along a pathway. A pair of pivotally supported rollers extend across the pathway. A sensor determines the height of a sand mound in a mold box before it reaches the rollers. An elevating mechanism responsive to the sensor adjusts the rollers to a height so that they level and compact the sand mound as the mold box is carried thereunder. A control system including electrical and hydraulic circuits is provided for automatically controlling the cyclical operation of the apparatus.