Bulldozers Parts in Fort Worth - A popular type of industrial equipment is a bulldozer. 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 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. Big, metal teeth known as “the ripper” are located on the back of the bulldozer, used for breaking up tough, compressed items.
Specifics
A typical bulldozer utilizes tracks that provide excellent maneuvering options and stellar traction on unstable, uneven or rough ground with a unique transmission that enables the dozer to operate with more 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. These capabilities make bulldozers very popular for use in road construction, clearing land, mining and many other jobs needing powerful but stable equipment to move 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. Mounted directly in front of the articulation joint, the bulldozer blade uses a hydraulic system for operating instead of a mechanical setup.
The main tools that distinguish the dozer from other construction machine are the dozer blade and the ripper.
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. Gravel, dirt, snow and rubbish are commonly pushed into new locations with bulldozers. Three typical kinds of dozer blade options are available including the semi-U blade, the universal blade and the straight blade.
The universal or U blade features large wings on the sides of the tall, curved blade to transport more material. 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 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.
A dozer blade is fitted either horizontally to the tractor or at an angle. The angle of the dozer blade can be adjusted with tilt cylinders. 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. Angledozers are commonly used for 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.
Military vehicles also utilize dozer blades. Numerous military vehicles can attach a dozer blade for strategic operations including battle tanks, artillery tractors and combat engineering vehicles. The dozer blade helps the battle tank maneuver items and mines to create combat positions or dig shelters. It also helps create a protective barrier against artillery and explosives.
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 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 boot refers to the tip of the shank and consists of a detachable metal piece. This design allows the boot to be replaced instead of the entire shank whenever it becomes broken or dull.
The dozer ripper breaks up concrete, rock, solid objects and dirt into smaller pieces to facilitate easier bulldozer transport. One machine that completes multiple tasks creates faster project completion on the job site.
The dozer ripper is used in farming to break up earth and rock for better plowing and planting. In certain locations in New Zealand and Italy, the dozer ripper helps to access ancient lava flows that are rich in nutrients and normally would not be able to be farmed due to the density of the ground. 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.
For example, the original bulldozer was too large for work in small areas, such as mines. These size limitations lead to smaller unit designs to enable more maneuverability in tighter locations. 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.
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. 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. Stump busters are commonly used by bulldozers to clear land. In those instances, the bulldozer is often also equipped with a brush-rake blade.
Despite the many adaptations available, bulldozers in their original form remain popular in deforestation, earthmoving, ground levelling, and road carving. Large bulldozers are mainly used to flatten terrain for construction preparation. The construction is completed mostly by smaller bulldozers and loader tractors.
Origins
The initial bulldozer design was created when a draftsman, J. Earl McLeod teamed up with a farmer named James Cummings in 1923. The dozer blade was the initial design they created and was built to be attached to an existing tractor in order to plow fields. The first bulldozer was built soon after and the prototype is can be seen in Morrowville, Kansas’ city park. McLeod and Cummings filed a US patent on the bulldozer attachment later that year and it was granted in 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.
Custom made attachments became available on tracked and wheeled tractors alike by 1929. However, the popularity of the bulldozer attachment did not occur until the mid-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.
Bulldozers evolved to become stronger and bigger as their demand grew for small and large construction jobs. Over time, large companies including Caterpillar and John Deer started manufacturing wheeled and tracked bulldozer models. With time, manual transmission was replaced with automatic transmission and cable winch systems were replaced with hydraulic cylinders and electric motors. These upgrades allowed for more accurate and effective control systems. These days, GPS technology geared toward bulldozing tasks has added to 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.
