Spokane Bulldozers Parts - Dozers are similar to a tractor that is outfitted with a dozer blade. Crawler tractors run on continuous track as opposed to relying on wheels, although, wheeled versions are also on the market. The dozer blade is a large metal plate fixed to the front of the bulldozer. Large volumes can be moved with the dozer blade including dirt, gravel and snow on a variety of landscapes. The back of the bulldozer is usually fitted with large, metal teeth, called the ripper, useful in breaking up hard, compressed material.
Specifics
The track system on a common bulldozer offers phenomenal maneuvering abilities and excellent traction on uneven ground and unstable or rough surfaces. The special transmission components let the machine function with increased traction. The track width evenly distributes the weight in unstable applications to prevent the industrial machine from sinking. 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.
The dozers that rely on a wheeled system typically consist of four wheels that use a 4WD system combined with an articulated hydraulic steering mechanism. Mounted directly in front of the articulation joint, the bulldozer blade uses a hydraulic system for operating instead of a mechanical setup.
What distinguishes the bulldozer from other large, construction equipment are its principal tools: the dozer blade and the ripper.
The Dozer Blade
The dozer blade is a large, metal plate mounted at the front of the bulldozer. Its purpose is to push heavy objects and material. Snow, gravel, sand, dirt and garbage are some of the most popular items that bulldozers push around. 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 straight blade, or S blade, is short, has no lateral curve and no side wings and is also used for fine earth grading. The semi-U or SU blade features a shorter, slightly less curved blade with size wings that are smaller than those on the U blade. Generally, the semi-U blade is used to push large rock piles or boulders into place.
Dozer blades commonly attach horizontally or at an angle to the tractor. Tilt cylinders can adjust the dozer blade angle. Sharpened dozer blades may be utilized for cutting items including tree roots and stumps. 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. The angledozer is commonly used for snow removal on roads and highways.
A variety of bulldozers are equipped with a bull blade. The bull blade refers to a reinforced middle section of the bulldozer. This allows a bulldozer to push a scraper, which is another large, heavy piece of equipment used to move earth.
Dozer blades are common attachments on a variety of military vehicles. Many different military vehicles including artillery tractors, combat engineering vehicles and battle tanks utilize dozer blades. The dozer blade helps the battle tank maneuver items and mines to create combat positions or dig shelters. It can help establish a protective barrier against obstacles, artillery and explosive items, making it a valuable machine for military applications.
The Dozer Ripper
The tool found at the back of the bulldozer with long teeth is the dozer ripper also called the shank. There are single shank options on dozer rippers or groups with two or more shanks available depending on the application required. The giant ripper is the name given to the single shank design that is often needed for dense applications. Multi-shank rippers refer to multi-shank designs.
The tip of the shank is a detachable, metal piece known as the boot. This allows for replacement of the boot when it becomes dull or broken, rather than replacement of the entire 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.
In farming, a dozer ripper is used to break up rock and very dense earth to allow for ploughing 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 top layer of lava rock is loosened up with the ripper to create farmable land.
Bulldozer Adaptations
Adaptations to the bulldozer over the years have enabled it to become useful for numerous applications.
The first bulldozer design was too large for working in confined spaces such as mining applications. These size limitations lead to smaller unit designs to enable more maneuverability in tighter locations. Smaller, light bulldozer models are commonly called calfdozers.
A smaller and lighter version of the bulldozer is used in snow applications such as ski hills and prepping winter sports locations.
The loader tractor is another popular adaptation. The loader tractor consists of replacing the dozer blade with a sizeable bucket and using hydraulic arms for raising and lowering. The new bulldozer is commonly called a Drott, track loader or trackscavator and used for loading dump trucks with earth, gravel and rocks.
A lesser-known bulldozer attachment is called the stump buster. The stump buster attachment is secured to the rear portion of the dozer. It is a single spike, protruding horizontally, used to split tree stumps for 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.
Despite the many adaptations available, bulldozers in their original form remain popular in deforestation, earthmoving, ground levelling, and road carving. Large bulldozers are commonly used in construction for leveling terrain. The construction is completed mostly by smaller bulldozers and loader tractors.
Origins
James Cummings, a farmer, teamed up with J. Earl McLeod, a draftsman, to create the first bulldozer design in 1923. The initial design created was the dozer blade made to plow fields by attaching to an existing tractor. They built the original bulldozer and it can be viewed in Kansas’ city park, Morrowville. The team filed for a US patent on their bulldozer attachment later that year and a patent was granted in January 1925. At the time, it was common for tractors to run on a track system. In fact, it was this earlier version of the tractor, with its superior maneuverability, that contributed to the creation of the armoured tank during World War I.
A variety of custom and homemade attachments started to appear in 1929 on tracked and wheeled tractors. However, the popularity of the bulldozer attachment did not occur until the mid-1930s. Prior to 1940, hydraulic cylinders were added and by the ‘50s, bulldozer popularity began to grow with the term bulldozer referring to the whole machine.
Bulldozers evolved to become stronger and bigger as their demand grew for small and large construction jobs. Eventually, many companies such as John Deere and Caterpillar began to manufactured large tracked and wheeled bulldozers. The manual transmission was replaced over time with automatic transmissions and electric motors and hydraulic cylinders eventually replaced cable winch 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 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.
