Indiana Bulldozers Parts - 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 attaches to the front of the bulldozer to push materials easily and efficiently. Alteration projects and construction sites rely on dozer blades to transport gravel, dirt and other materials. 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. The track width evenly distributes the weight in unstable applications to prevent the industrial machine from sinking. There are swamp track options available which are tracks with wider width options. 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. The dozer blade is mounted in front of the articulation joint and is operated on a hydraulic system, rather than mechanical.
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 bulldozer blade consists of a sizeable metal plate that is situated at the front of the machine. The dozer blade is utilized for pushing heavy materials and items including sand, aggregate and gravel. Gravel, dirt, snow and rubbish are commonly pushed into new locations with bulldozers. There are typically three types of dozer blades available. They are:
1. the universal blade;
2. the straight blade; and
3. the semi-U 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. It is generally used for pushing boulders or large rock piles.
Dozer blades commonly attach horizontally or at an angle to the tractor. Tilt cylinders can adjust the dozer blade angle. The dozer blade is sometimes sharpened to allow for cutting of objects, such as stumps or 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 bull blade is a common bulldozer attachment. The reinforced centre portion of the bulldozer is called a bull blade. 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. 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. The dozer blade can help create protective barriers against explosives and artillery.
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 design or large single shank is commonly used for large and compact 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 enables the boot to be easily replaced when it becomes broken or worn down instead of having to completely change the shank.
Solid objects including compact earth, concrete or rock can be broken up into tinier pieces thanks to the dozer ripper, creating material that is easier to transport by the dozer. 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. Locations across Italy and New Zealand rely on dozer rippers to access nutrient-rich ancient lava flows that wouldn’t be farmable otherwise due to their dense nature. The ripper loosens the top lava rock layer to initiate farming applications.
Bulldozer Adaptations
Adaptations to the bulldozer over the years have enabled it to become useful for numerous applications.
The initial bulldozer design was too big to work in confined locations such as mines. This limitation lead to the creation of a smaller bulldozer design which allowed for maneuvering in tight spaces. Very small, light bulldozers are sometimes referred to as calfdozers.
In snow areas, such as ski hills, a lighter version of the bulldozer is used for snow removal and preparing areas for winter sports.
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 stump buster is one of the less common bulldozer attachments. A stump buster is attached at the back of the bulldozer. The horizontally protruding single spike is used to split up tree stumps into smaller more manageable pieces for removal. These attachments are often used for land clearing applications. In those instances, the bulldozer is often also equipped with a brush-rake blade.
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. However, the construction itself is mainly done by small 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. 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. It was this initial tractor version, complete with extreme maneuverability that helped contribute to the World War I armored tank.
Custom made attachments became available on tracked and wheeled tractors alike by 1929. The bulldozer attachment did not gain popularity until the middle of the 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.
Becoming popular for all types of construction applications, bulldozers grew into a variety of different stronger and larger models. Over time, large companies including Caterpillar and John Deer started manufacturing wheeled and tracked bulldozer models. The manual transmission was replaced over time with automatic transmissions and electric motors and hydraulic cylinders eventually replaced cable winch systems. These upgrades allowed for more accurate and effective control systems. These days, GPS technology geared toward bulldozing tasks has added to improved grade control.
Bulldozers began as a tractor attachment for farming applications and have grown to become one of the most useful pieces of equipment for construction, civil engineering, building and maintenance applications, mining operations and military use.
