Tennessee Bulldozers Parts - Bulldozers, also referred to as dozers, are a type of tractor equipped 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 large metal plate attached to the front of the bulldozer is called the dozer blade. The dozer blade is used to push large volumes of material, such gravel or dirt, during construction and alteration projects. The back end of the bulldozer often has giant metal teeth used to break up hardpacked materials.
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. On unstable ground, the width of the tracks distribute the vehicle’s weight, preventing the heavy machine from sinking. Tracks are also available in increased widths, known as swamp tracks. 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.
Wheeled system bulldozers feature four wheels that operate with hydraulically powered articulated steering unit. The dozer blade is mounted in front of the articulation joint and is operated on a hydraulic system, rather than mechanical.
What distinguishes the bulldozer from other large, construction equipment are its principal tools: the dozer blade and the ripper.
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 straight blade, or S blade, is short, has no lateral curve and no side wings and is also used for fine earth grading. 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.
Usually, the dozer blade attaches to the tractor on an angle or in a horizontal fashion. Tilt cylinders can adjust the dozer blade angle. Dozer blades can be sharpened to enable cutting items including tree stumps and roots. The blade on an angledozer is pushed forward on one side to allow material to be pushed out of the dozer’s path. Angledozers are commonly used for snow removal.
A bull blade is a common bulldozer attachment. The bull blade refers to a reinforced middle section of the bulldozer. 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 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 shank’s tip, called the boot, is a metal, detachable 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.
In agricultural applications, the dozer ripper is used to break up the ground and rocks for planting and plowing. 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
The bulldozer has transformed over the years to become useful for a variety of applications that were not originally possible with the initial design.
The initial bulldozer design was too big to work in confined locations such as mines. 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. 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 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. These are used primarily by bulldozers working on land clearing projects. 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. 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
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. 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. 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. During the mid-‘30s, the bulldozer attachment started to gain popularity. Hydraulic cylinders were introduced before 1940 and the term bulldozer referred to the whole machine who’s popularity greatly expanded by the 1950s.
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. With time, manual transmission was replaced with automatic transmission and cable winch systems were replaced with hydraulic cylinders and electric motors. More effective and accurate control systems were introduced thanks to these upgrades. Nowadays, GPS technology has been added to improve grade control and enhance bulldozing tasks.
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.
