Bulldozers Parts in Illinois - A popular type of industrial equipment is a bulldozer. Crawler tractors run on continuous track as opposed to relying on wheels, although, wheeled versions are also on the market. The large metal plate attached to the front of the bulldozer is called the dozer blade. 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. 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. 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. The bulldozer blade relies on a hydraulic system for operation instead of a mechanical system and is located in front of the articulation joint.
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. The purpose of the dozer blade is to push heavy items and awkward materials. 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 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 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. 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. 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 bull blade is a common bulldozer attachment. The reinforced centre portion of the bulldozer is called a bull blade. The bull blade enables the dozer to push a scraper to move large portions of 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. 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. The dozer blade can help create protective barriers against explosives and artillery.
The Dozer Ripper
The shank or dozer ripper is the substantial tool situated on the bulldozers’ back with long teeth. There are single shank options on dozer rippers or groups with two or more shanks available depending on the application required. The single shank design is also known as a giant ripper and is preferred for large, very dense projects. The multi-shank options are called multi-shank rippers.
The shank’s tip, called the boot, is a metal, detachable piece. This allows for replacement of the boot when it becomes dull or broken, rather than replacement of the entire 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.
In agricultural applications, the dozer ripper is used to break up the ground and rocks for planting and plowing. 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. With use of the ripper, the top layer of lava rock is loosened, allowing for the surface to be farmed.
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. This limitation lead to the creation of a smaller bulldozer design which allowed for maneuvering in tight spaces. Calfdozers refer to small, lighter bulldozer models.
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. This was created by replacing the dozer blade with a large bucket, raised and lowered with the use of hydraulic arms. 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 is a single spike, protruding horizontally, used to split tree stumps for removal. Stump busters are commonly used by bulldozers to clear land. In those circumstances, the bulldozer also has 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. However, the construction itself is mainly done by small 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 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. Later that year, Cummings and McLeod filed for a US patent on their bulldozer attachment which was granted in January 1925. During this time, tractors commonly ran on a track system. 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. 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. 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. Nowadays, GPS technology has been added to improve grade control and enhance bulldozing tasks.
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.
