Bulldozers Parts in California - Bulldozers, also referred to as dozers, are a type of tractor equipped with a dozer blade. They are most often crawler tractors - that is, they operate on a continuous track, rather than wheels - although they can be wheeled tractors. The dozer blade attaches to the front of the bulldozer to push materials easily and efficiently. Large volumes can be moved with the dozer blade including dirt, gravel and snow on a variety of landscapes. Big, metal teeth known as “the ripper” are located on the back of the bulldozer, used for breaking up tough, compressed items.
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. There are swamp track options available which are tracks with wider width options. Bulldozers are often utilized in land clearing applications, road construction, mining operations and other jobs that require stable and powerful equipment to transport large volumes of material.
Bulldozers operating on a wheeled system usually have four wheels, moved along by a 4-wheel-drive system and a hydraulic, articulated steering system. The dozer blade is mounted in front of the articulation joint and is operated on a hydraulic system, rather than mechanical.
The main tools that distinguish the dozer from other construction machine are the dozer blade and the ripper.
The Dozer Blade
The dozer blade is a large, metal plate mounted at the front of the bulldozer. The purpose of the dozer blade is to push heavy items and awkward materials. 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 U blade, aka the universal blade, is curved and tall with sizeable wings on the sides to enable more material to be easily transported. The straight or S blade is much shorter than the U blade and has no wings on the side or lateral curve, making it ideal for earth grading jobs. The semi-U blade, or S-U blade, is a combination blade which is shorter, is less curved and has side wings, but which are smaller than those on the U blade. It is generally used for pushing boulders or large rock piles.
A dozer blade is fitted either horizontally to the tractor or at an angle. Tilt cylinders can adjust the dozer blade angle. Dozer blades can be sharpened to enable cutting items including tree stumps and roots. An angledozer features a blade that is pushed ahead on one side to enable items to be cleared out of the path of the bulldozer. 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. The bull blade enables the dozer to push a scraper to move large portions of earth.
Dozer blades are also used on military vehicles. Many different military vehicles including artillery tractors, combat engineering vehicles and battle tanks utilize dozer blades. 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. There are single shank options on dozer rippers or groups with two or more shanks available depending on the application required. The giant ripper design or large single shank is commonly used for large and compact applications. The multi-shank options are called 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 is used to break up rock, concrete, earth or other solid objects and material into smaller pieces which are then easier for the bulldozer to move using the dozer blade. This allows for quicker project completion.
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. These limitations led to more compact bulldozer designs and models. Very small, light bulldozers are sometimes referred to as calfdozers.
A smaller and lighter version of the bulldozer is used in snow applications such as ski hills and prepping winter sports locations.
Another adaptation resulted in the popular loader tractor. This was created by replacing the dozer blade with a large bucket, raised and lowered with the use of hydraulic arms. This adapted bulldoze is now often referred to as a Drott, trackscavator or track loader and frequently used in loading rocks, gravel and earth into dump trucks.
A stump buster is one of the less common bulldozer attachments. This attaches to the rear of the bulldozer. The horizontally protruding single spike is used to split up tree stumps into smaller more manageable pieces for removal. These are used primarily by bulldozers working on land clearing projects. In those circumstances, the bulldozer also has a brush-rake blade.
The original bulldozer design is used ground leveling, road carving, deforestation and earthmoving applications. Large bulldozers are commonly used in construction for leveling terrain. The construction is completed mostly by smaller bulldozers and loader tractors.
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. At the time, it was common for tractors to run on a track system. 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. Once hydraulic cylinders were added, sometime before 1940, bulldozers began to grow in popularity and by the 1950s, the term bulldozer referred to the entire machine.
With their growth in popularity for large and small construction jobs, bulldozers became larger and stronger. Over time, large companies including Caterpillar and John Deer started manufacturing wheeled and tracked bulldozer models. 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. These days, GPS technology geared toward bulldozing tasks has added to improved grade control.
What began as a tractor attachment to be used for farming jobs has transformed into one of the most versatile machines in civil engineering, mining, construction, military operations and building maintenance.
