Dozer

Dozer also known as bulldozer, crawler, crawler tractor, and tracked tractor.

What’s a dozer is good for ? Most useful piece of equipment in the excavating, grading and farm use, a REAL work horse.

It is designed for power and stability up to 10 mile per hour. It may not be fast but having good traction, stability, and low center of gravity makes the dozer suited for working on irregular land and steep slopes.

The dozer comes in many sizes, The smallest is a mini dozer, just a little bigger than a garden tractor not weighing more than two thousand pounds. Mostly used for working in tight places, like preparing a garage for a cement floor, small trail through the woods and dragging logs.

Larger machines can weigh up to 40 tons, and are used for land clearing, rough grading, large excavation sites, roads, forestry, and pond building. From the largest to the smallest there are many options that can be used. They will just need to be sized right for the job.

The dozer is a heavy duty tractor with a blade mounted on the front. There are different size and styles of blades, general purpose, production, and special application. Typically the blade has six movements, up, down, left and right angle, and tilt where just the left or right corner can be adjusted to dig into the ground. Not all blades have power to all six movements but may have manual adjustments. At the back end it can have optional equipment, a winch for forestry or pulling out stuck equipment and rippers, that will penetrate the ground to loosen up the hard packed dirt and rocks to make it easier for the blade to dig in. The ripper can also tear up asphalt, and concrete. Even a three point hitch for various attachments.

Although a dozer has great traction there are times it will lose traction. Depending on the size, shape and moisture content of the material being pushed. When the soil is saturated, not only will it make a mess of the tracks from mud but will lose traction just as a car would. The dozer can slide side ways on a dam in these wet conditions causing severe injury to the operator.

Dozer’s use tracks to move, on top of the tracks are grousers, a thin raised area the width of the track. Winter time these grousers act like ice skates and the dozer can slide side ways making it dangerous loading on a trailer and or plowing snow on a sloped driveway.

With sliding side ways in mind brings up safety. When ever possible work up hill or down hill, avoid traveling along the side of an incline. Use extreme caution when working along side an embankment, the embankment could let go and the dozer will slide down the hill, or the bank above the dozer could give way and bury the operator.

Back filling ditches or a house foundation. Push material to the ditch or house, never drive along side due to the weight and vibration of the dozer will pack the material to an extent of pushing the concrete block or walls in or having the ditch cave in possibly injuring the dozer and operator. When pushing over trees the dozer should have R.O.P.S. ( roll over protection structure), like a roll cage in case the tree should fall the operator is protected.

When ever possible avoid obstacles, such as rocks or fallen trees. Approach slowly, reduce speed, and cross at an angle. If the approach is head on and once the machine crosses the half way point the blade will slam to the ground launching the operator in to the air. Similar to a teeter toter at the play ground.
If a person is looking to clear land, make a mountain out of a mole hill, or pond building then a dozer is the way to go.