Bulldozers Parts Washington - A popular type of industrial equipment is a bulldozer. Many models are known as crawler tractors, operating on a continuous track instead of using wheels; however, wheeled models are available. The dozer blade is a large metal plate fixed to the front of the bulldozer. The dozer blade is used to push large volumes of material, such gravel or dirt, during construction and alteration projects. The back of the bulldozer is usually fitted with large, metal teeth, called the ripper, useful in breaking up hard, compressed material.
Specifics
The tracks of a typical bulldozer give it superior traction and maneuvering capabilities on rough, uneven or unstable ground and the specialized transmission system allows the bulldozer to operate with increased tractive force. Sinking into unstable environments is prevented as the track width evenly distributes the weight of the machine. Swamp tracks refer to tracks that have increased widths, suitable for specific applications. Dozers are popular within mining applications, land clearing and construction jobs that need strong and stable equipment to transport materials within a variety of environments.
Bulldozers operating on a wheeled system usually have four wheels, moved along by a 4-wheel-drive system and a hydraulic, articulated steering system. Mounted directly in front of the articulation joint, the bulldozer blade uses a hydraulic system for operating instead of a mechanical setup.
The bulldozer is easily recognized from other types of industrial equipment thanks to its main components, the ripper and the dozer blade.
The Dozer Blade
The huge metal plate that is located at the front end of the bulldozer is called the dozer blade. Its purpose is to push heavy objects and material. This could be anything from dirt, rubbish, sand, gravel or even snow. Three typical kinds of dozer blade options are available including the semi-U blade, the universal blade and the straight blade.
The universal blade, or U blade is tall, curved and has large wings on the side used to carry extra material. The S blade aka the straight blade features zero side wings or lateral curve and is used for fine earth grading applications. The SU or semi-U blade combines a shorter blade with slight side wings and less curve compared to the U blade. Generally, the semi-U blade is used to push large rock piles or boulders into place.
Usually, the dozer blade attaches to the tractor on an angle or in a horizontal fashion. Dozer blade angles are capable of being adjusted via tilt cylinders. Dozer blades can be sharpened to enable cutting items including tree stumps and roots. The blade on an angledozer is pushed forward on one side to allow material to be pushed out of the dozer’s path. It is common to see an angledozer in action on highways and roads during winter snow removal.
A variety of bulldozers are equipped with a bull blade. A bull blade is a reinforced centre section of the bulldozer. This feature allows the machine to push another heavy piece of equipment known as a scraper for earthmoving applications.
Dozer blades are common attachments on a variety of military vehicles. Numerous military vehicles can attach a dozer blade for strategic operations including battle tanks, artillery tractors and combat engineering vehicles. When mounted to a battle tank, the dozer blade allows the tank to push obstacles and mines and to dig shelters or create combat positions. It can help establish a protective barrier against obstacles, artillery and explosive items, making it a valuable machine for military applications.
The Dozer Ripper
A dozer ripper is the long, tooth-like tool, known as the shank, on the back of a bulldozer. Dozer rippers come in a large, single shank design or with groups of two or more shanks. The single shank design is also known as a giant ripper and is preferred for large, very dense projects. The multi-shank designs are referred to simply as multi-shank rippers.
The tip of the shank is a detachable, metal piece known as the boot. This enables the boot to be easily replaced when it becomes broken or worn down instead of having to completely change the shank.
The dozer ripper breaks up concrete, rock, solid objects and dirt into smaller pieces to facilitate easier bulldozer transport. This combination enables projects to be completed faster.
The dozer ripper is used in farming to break up earth and rock for better plowing and planting. In some areas of Italy and New Zealand, for example, this is especially useful as the nutrient-rich, old lava flows would otherwise not be farmable given their denseness. The ripper loosens the top lava rock layer to initiate farming applications.
Bulldozer Adaptations
Over time, the bulldozer has been adapted to allow for uses that were not possible with its original design.
The first bulldozer design was too large for working in confined spaces such as mining applications. This limitation lead to the creation of a smaller bulldozer design which allowed for maneuvering in tight spaces. Calfdozers refer to small, lighter bulldozer models.
Snowier locations including ski hills rely on a lighter bulldozer version for snow removal and winter slope preparation.
More common bulldozer adaptations resulted in the loader tractor. This machine was born by changing the dozer blade with a large bucket and using hydraulic arms to raise and lower it. The new bulldozer is commonly called a Drott, track loader or trackscavator and used for loading dump trucks with earth, gravel and rocks.
A stump buster is one of the less common bulldozer attachments. This attaches to the rear of the bulldozer. It consists of a single spike that protrudes horizontally to split tree stumps up for easier removal. These are used primarily by bulldozers working on land clearing projects. A brush-rake blade is also commonly used with the bulldozer in these situations.
Even with numerous bulldozer adaptations on the market, the original form of the machine is still popular in road carving, ground leveling, earthmoving and deforestation projects. Heavy bulldozers are primarily used to level terrain in preparation for construction. Construction aspects are mainly completed by loader tractors and small bulldozer models.
Origins
In 1923, the first bulldozer was designed when farmer James Cummings joined forces with a draftsman named J. Earl McLeod. Their design was actually what is now known as the dozer blade and was meant to be attached to an existing farm tractor, used to plow fields. They built the original bulldozer and it can be viewed in Kansas’ city park, Morrowville. Later that year, Cummings and McLeod filed for a US patent on their bulldozer attachment which was granted in January 1925. It was normal for tractors to run on a track system at this time. The creation of the armored tank in World War I was largely due in part to this early version of the super maneuverable tractor.
A variety of custom and homemade attachments started to appear in 1929 on tracked and wheeled tractors. The bulldozer attachment did not gain popularity until the middle of the 1930s. Hydraulic cylinders were introduced before 1940 and the term bulldozer referred to the whole machine who’s popularity greatly expanded by the 1950s.
Becoming popular for all types of construction applications, bulldozers grew into a variety of different stronger and larger models. Numerous companies including Caterpillar and John Deer began making wheeled and tracked bulldozer lines. Electric motors and hydraulic cylinders replaced initial cable winch mechanisms and automatic transmissions replaced manual transmission systems. These technological upgrades created more effective and accurate control systems. Upgrades with GPS technology have been added to enhance bulldozing tasks with improved grade control.
What started out as a tractor attachment for use in farming has not only become one of the most important machines in today’s civil engineering, it has become an important tool in military operations, mining and building and maintaining the vast infrastructures we rely on every day.
