Category Archives: Bulldozer

Mid range crawler dozers are widely accepted by customers in the construction domain

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Working in a small space will not allow huge equipment and you have to restrict the use to either mid-range or small equipment. When we talk about heavy equipment, it is not only about those big machines that you often see at construction sites but it is also about equipment that you see in your backyard clearing the garden or clearing the snow off the road. You do not always need a big dozer to clear the snow from the road. Imagine if the road is not that big to accommodate a big dozer, it will not be able to complete the work. In such a situation what you need the most is a mid range crawler dozer.

The demand for the mid range crawler dozer has increased over the last few years. People have begun to realize that it is not all about big machines but at times we also need something smaller in size to get the work done. This is how people have understood the importance of such machines and has led to the growing acceptability of it. Before we speak further on this, we need to understand what category of machine come under mid range and what goes above that. Machines that have horsepower between 130 to 200 hp are in the mid-range category. Anything falling short of that is a small machine and machines that have more than 200-300 hp fall in the higher range of machines.

A reports also suggest that the mid-range machines play a dominant role in the construction industry which was not the case few decades ago. However, not everybody likes to purchase high range equipment and keep themselves content with the lower version. Irrespective of the construction company being a big one or just a newbie, they all prefer mid range machines. The maneuverability of such machines are simpler and faster and are therefore considered potent for work that is meant for small range as well as high range equipment. Caterpillar’s Dave Cusac feels that though some companies want mid range machines to have hp more than 300 but due to certain technical alignment, it has been limited to the range of 150 to 215 hp.

Mid range crawler dozers have varied uses. They are not just used for single category of work but are used for several purposes and this is what makes the machine more in demand. Case Construction Equipment brand marketing manager has bifurcated the use of the machine on the basis of the horsepower it possess. According to him, the machine with hp of 130 is used for construction of roads and bridges but not into residential construction. Machines with hp of 150 are also used for building of bridges and roads but they can simultaneously spread their wings into larger jobs. Machines more than 214 hp can be used for mining, overburden clearing and similar operations. Having said this, it does not mean that these machines do not have the capability to perform heavy duty jobs.

Benefits of Bulldozer: Earth Moving Equipment

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Familiarized in 1920 and employed extensively ever since, the bulldozer widely recognised as dozer, is a clear descendant of the crawler tractor. Applied in combination with the earth moving apparatuses, the bulldozer is a potent and indispensable gizmo utilised in more or less every construction site of the world.

The earth moving heavy equipment, bulldozer was primarily manufactured in United States by some of the heavy equipment manufacturing companies like Case Tractor Company, John Deere and Caterpillar. This earth moving weighty paraphernalia proffers engineering application to several fields for instance agriculture, waste management, construction, mining etc.

Components of an Earth Moving Heavy Bulldozer

Bulldozer characterised for its versatile track and immense blade is comprised of several engines, pneumatic and construction assemblies. Here in the below cited points, the readers will get to know about the various essential parts of dozers:

  • The mainframe and the undercarriage parts of the bulldozer are made-up of low carbon structural steel platters.
  • The cab of the dozer is fabricated from plastic, rubber and glass materials that help in improving the ergonomic feature of the paraphernalia.
  • The steel made parts inside the engine of the bulldozer have the capability to bear the high operating temperatures.
  • When the dozer is filled with assorted sorts of fluids like oil, coolant, hydraulic fluid and fuel, its weight augments drastically.
  • Paint, decals and the patterned trim of the dozer helps in creating it the most artistic and appealing earth moving heavy equipment.

Advantages of Bulldozers

  • Dozers are big-sized weighty vehicles making them a perfect option for cleaning construction sites and for the purpose of demolition. The high-quality tracks offer bulldozers a distinct benefit permitting them to be astonishingly invariable for their excessive weight.
  • The tracks of the dozers have the quality of strong grip that assist them to undertake the rough terrain. These tracks also help the bulldozers to distribute their heavy weight thwarting them from submerging in dirty or mud-covered land.
  • Bulldozers are famous for their quality of grasping the ground tightly that gives them exceptional potency to shove and pull the obstructions coming in their path.
  • Some of the replicas of tanks attached in the dozers have the ability to pull up almost 70 tons of weight and are especially utilised for construction and military purposes.
  • In a bulldozer, the customers can find chiefly three types of blades that are straight, universal and S-U combined blades. These blades are normally employed for grading, carrying extra materials and for shoving large-shaped mound of rocks for instance quarry.
  • When the bulldozers are used in battle fields, the blades are attached on the battle tanks for clearing various anti-tank obstructions.
  • If the construction business owners want to buy dozer with stump buster, they get the additional benefit of brush scrape blade that helps in clearing in the land effectively.

So, if you are looking for an upgraded version of bulldozer, you can find it very easily by browsing the internet, as there are scores of dozer manufacturing companies that provide efficient modern technology designed dozers in reasonable price.

 

Growth in the world of heavy equipment

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The technology of heavy equipment is growing rapidly nowadays. No one can deny the fact that this development of science extremely useful in detecting any kinds of damages in the equipment regularly. By using the technology of global positioning satellite, one can check the condition of the constructional heavy equipment even if it is placed at a great distant from the observer. Picking out the right equipment for the construction site is becoming a great challenge with so much new models coming out in the market every year. The sellers are offering lots of options and interesting features which ultimately make this troublesome task quite interesting.

Equipment used in construction sites

Among the many heavy equipment available in the market, backhoe loaders are gaining a strong hold in the constructional site as they are used in small tasks of demolitions, breaking down of the asphalt, digging or excavating the holes, to power the building equipment, little transportation of material building and paving of the roads. To smash up rocks and huge chunks of concrete, many people use breaker tools in place of backhoe bucket. To get rid of the loads efficiently and quickly, some of the loader buckets contain a retractable bottom. This retractable bottom of the loader buckets are useful in scratching and grading off the sand. The front side of the bucket has some devices which is either permanently seated or can be removed whenever needed. Most of the times, other constructional tools replace the bucket. The backhoe loader must have a tool coupler to get various types of fastening to the loader.

Bulldozers are large sized heavy equipment and they can easily go over a course terrain because of the mobility and a strong hold of the ground provided by the big trucks. Bulldozers have swamp tracks which are only extra-broadened tracks.

Compressed hydraulic excavators have three unique collections of undercarriage, workgroup and house. The arm and the boom along with breaker and buckets comprise the workgroup of the hydraulic compact excavator. All of them are attached to front portion of the structure of the house of the excavator through an oscillating frame which will allow the workgroup to be pivoted hydraulically right or left to do balance digging needed for trenching.

Today, the harvesters do all the tasks related with commercial felling in Finland and Sweden. They clear their ways by cutting down the forests and can work more easily on smooth terrain. To thinning out the debris, small harvesters are used particularly in the Nordic countries.

Pile drivers also do a lot of work with two rods of metal containing a cylinder between them. This design makes it move freely with the up and down sliding. To remove the cylinders, workers make use of a pulley system. It also involves the use of hydraulics or steam. To lift the cylinders, small explosions are also sometimes made in the chamber.

All of these heavy equipment have their own applications. So, one has to choose the equipment carefully deciding what kind of job he is going to do.

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Dozer Engine Specifications – How can one know more of them?

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A construction site is installed with various heavy equipment. They need almost all sorts of heavy equipment to complete a project. Out of all the heavy equipment that they have on their site, a bulldozer is a must. Many big construction companies say that dozers are the most integral part of their business and they can’t dream of completing a project without the presence of highly efficient and easy to use dozers. Dozers are not only needed in big construction projects but also in projects which are not huge in nature. One can do away with any other heavy equipment which they feel can be ignored but never with a dozer. They will always feel the need of that equipment for the completion of their project.

Now we have something which is of such an importance. Have you wondered what would be the specifications of its engine which carries most of the load of the machine? An engine is said to be the heart of the machine and if that is in good shape, any external damage to the machine can be easily dealt with. However, if something goes wrong with the engine, it takes a heavy toll on the project as you may expect the machine to not to work for few days. Unless you have an alternative for the equipment, things will be harsh.

Let us now talk about the specification of the engine of a dozer. Before we go any further with the topic, please note that different companies have different makes and every make has variation in its engine. So the specification of the CAT dozer engine will be spoken in length.

The model of the CAT dozer engine is 3406 with around 315 horse power with a displacement of 590.9 cu in. The horse power that the engine gives is quite immense in comparison to models made by its competitors. Nevertheless, there are few makes manufactured by companies like John Deere, Hitachi etc that marvels many times that the CAT model.

In order to know in depth about the specifications of the dozer engine, the most reasonable way is to explore the internet. You may find unlimited search results that will help you understand the design or the pattern of the engine. Though exploring the internet is one of the best options but there are some flaws as well. Getting too much of options can sometime make things very confusing. You may not understand what to see and what to skip and especially when you are running short of time, it becomes a pain to browse the entire site just to know a simple specification of the engine.

In such a situation, it is often advised to meet a dealer or visit the dozer manufacturing company’s office and ask for a brochure which will contain all the minute information of everything. You can focus your attention to the design of the engine or can have a look at the entire brochure. You never know what might catch your attention the next minute.

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What is the ultimate small dozer?

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You do not always need big things to get smaller work done. Similarly, in case of heavy equipment when you see some petty work, it would be highly unwise of the person to bring in the big heavy equipment to get that small work done. In case, if he tries to work with the big machine, he may get everything wrong and may have to start things from all over again. Therefore, it is always advisable to identify the machine and check if it is compatible for the work before you start doing your work. The sight in a big construction company will have all huge machines however; you will also get to fix your eyes on some small machines. Wonder why? It is only because they understand that not all work can be done with the help of these big equipments. They also need small heavy equipment to complete certain kind of work.

We would be discussing about small dozers and how they are effective in many scenarios.

Why do we need a small dozer when we already have the bigger ones?-

A big dozer is a heavy machine and at places where we do not need the strength of a bigger machine, a small dozer comes handy. For instance, you just want to work with the garden area at the front of your house and you need to do some digging work and after that dump the dirt at a place that is meant to do so. In this situation, you can’t use those big dozers because they will simply pull off the entire mud making it improper for you to work on it. You will need those small dozers which have less strength and can get the required work done. Moreover these dozers are quite user-friendly. You will not have a tough time dealing with them and can get your work done in a smooth manner.

No need of specialized operators to work on it:-

Big construction companies have specialized operators who work heavy equipment. It is believed that the function buttons of these equipment are quite complex and it needs good deal of training to completely understand the different buttons and levers which is not possible for a naïve person to do. As the small dozers are quite simple than their complex counterparts, a person will definitely go for it. They just want to get their work done without wanting to know the complexities involved in operating a bigger version.

Companies that manufacture small dozers:-

There are many companies that are manufacturing small dozers. However, some of the prominent companies are Cat, John Deere, and Case, etc. Caterpillar has 4 models of small dozers. All the dozers are less than 130 hp. All the models have full power turn potential, dynamic braking. Steeples speed range and few other important features that one may find helpful while operating the machine. The joystick of the machine takes care of speed, direction and steering lessening the strain of the operator.

 

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What is the ultimate medium dozer?

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Heavy equipment are of various types each type of heavy equipment is meant for a specific function. Though there are few equipment that are multi-purpose but they also come with certain constraints and keeping into consideration those constraints, an operator bring that machine to use. It depends upon the operators recommendations if the equipment should be used for a specific work because he would be in a better position to understand if the work is doable with the equipment. Similarly, heavy equipment can’t do all kind of work that it is meant to do.  For instance, you are given a project to repair the road which looks fragile. You know that you have to unearth the strip using an excavator and then roll a dozer to plain the road. In this situation, you can’t use the excavator that is used for big projects and also can’t use the big dozers. It becomes important for you to identify the kind of machine you need for the work. You perhaps need a medium dozer to complete the work in contrary to the higher version.

We would be talking about why we need a medium dozer and is it really going to be effective.

Not all work suitable for all machines:-

Not everybody is compatible for everything. This also goes good with heavy equipment. Construction companies that are engaged with mighty projects need big dozers. However, while doing those big projects, they come across situations where they require a medium range or small dozers because they may not find the bigger ones compatible for the small work. They may see the use of a medium dozer in that situation. Similarly, when a person needs to work in his garden or there’s some work in the school campus or in the university campus, a medium dozer is much preferred machine.

Very simple to use and bar the requirement of an operator:-

The medium dozers and quite simple to use and do not have complex buttons that you may see in a big dozer. It would be almost impossible for a layman to understand the various functions in a big dozer. He may ruin the work if at all he uses the complex machine. However, if the person decides to hire an operator, that will be an additional expense on his part. Firstly, it is not so easy to get a heavy equipment operator. They are people with expertise knowledge about the machine and are usually hired by big companies paying them fat packages. Nevertheless, if he still manages to get hold of one, he may not be able to afford him. In such a situation, the medium dozer comes very handy. He only need to follow few very simple instructions and can get his hands on the machine.

Quite economical in terms of fuel consumption and high productivity:-

The medium dozers are highly economical when it comes to fuel consumption and still manages to deliver high productivity. After a lot of research work, engineers of various heavy equipment manufacturing companies have come up with latest technology enabled medium dozers that saves good amount of money for the user. It can also give a good sales value after using it for some time.

How do you adjust brakes on a bulldozer?

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Have you wondered what will happen when you bump off to something while your car is at a good speed and you are unable to apply brakes on it? Well, there will be a disaster. This small example can be given to make somebody realize the importance of brakes in a car. Similarly, when it comes to heavy equipment, you need to be extra careful with its brakes. Mind you, that when you are dealing with heavy equipment, you become accountable for any loss that happens if you are not able to operate the machine properly which also includes its brakes not functioning properly. At times, when you apply brakes you can get to hear a sound that appears like the brakes are not well lubricated. This is perhaps the first indication the machine is giving you to work on the maintenance of the machine. It is always advisable that you do not start opening the parts of the equipment as long as you are not an expert who know the in and out of the machine and can indeed work things out and repair the brakes. You should get help of a mechanic who can fix the problem for you.

Apparently, not many people go to the mechanic in the first place. They would like to experiment things on their own and when they realize that this is not their cup of tea that is when they turn up to a mechanic. By the time, they have caused enough harm to the machine.

For people who are used to working on a bulldozer can try the following steps to adjust brakes on it. However, it is still recommended that they get in touch with a mechanic to work things out.

Firstly, you should remove the steel floor plate. Once you have done that, you should be able to see the drive shaft area. You should then check how long it takes for the drive shaft to stop spinning after you are done with depressing the clutch firmly. If you find that the spin time is taking quite long, then you should make sure that you grip the brake band aggressively. However, a word of caution will be that you do not try to be very aggressive in tightening the brake band as there is a possibility that you may end up causing a brake drag on the disk and in this process may overheat and damage the lining of the brake.

You should ensure that the disk spins smoothly when you put off the engine and monitor the temperature of the disk after it has ran smoothly for some time. This is done to check if it is getting hot. If it is overheating then that suggests there is a problem. You can do the same process again and check if it is overheating. If it continues to overheat, then it is better that you take this up to a mechanic and let him fix the problem.

 

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Top ten models of bulldozer

Manufacturers of heavy constructional equipment, farm and mining bring out innovative models of the machines with prototyping tools of the manufacturing companies. As these tools develop a clear understanding of the total effective cost, risk management and maintenance requisites, one can go ahead with confidence. This advancement in designing the models of heavy machines especially bulldozers slash the construction time and hence, enhances the speed time of the product marketing.

Different designs of bulldozers have their own applications in their respective areas. The skilled engineers use CAD tools to increase the productivity which in turn will reduce the cost making it affordable to the users.

List of top models of bulldozers

Fiat Allis FD-50 Bulldozer: – It is outfitted with an engine of Cummins VT28-C. Due to some rationalism in its marketing, the manufacture of this type of bulldozer has come to an end. FD-50 had the highest power of 600 hp with carrying a total weight of 80 tons.

Promtractor CHETRA HEAVY 40Ya Bulldozer: – The model of the diesel engine which the bulldozer uses is YaMZ-E856. Its fuel tank has the capacity to hold 1200 litres. Its main technical data indicates that this kind is less efficient as compared to the above said model with the maximum power of 590 hp and working weight capacity of 68.5 tons.

KOMATSU D375A-6 Bulldozer: – This kind of bulldozers uses a dislocation of 23 litres of the engine of KOMATSU SAA6D170E-3. The bulldozer can run at the rate of 15.8km/h. It is efficient with 645 hp power and carrying limit of 72 tons at its best.

Promtractor T-50.01Bulldozer:- Russian product which came into existence in the late 1980s. The width of the track is 740mm with the installation of U-shaped blades. Its power of 751hp with loading capacity of 93.5 tons makes it stand out from other models of bulldozer.

Caterpillar D10T Bulldozer: – D10 in 1970s was the largest bulldozer types. The latest T – type models use the cylinder engine of D10T-12. Both its power and lifting retention is low i.e. 671hp and 66 tons respectively.

Ch TZ T-800 Bulldozer:- This bulldozer is equipped with the diesel engine of 6-turbocharged cylinder. It has two back and four forward gears, but this machine is not efficient to give out more than 8 units when carried out to work of mining and removal of the debris.

KOMATSU D475A-5SD Bulldozer: – The capacity of its fuel tank is 1670 litres. The technical info shows that the bulldozer has the maximum power of 913hp and working weight of 113 tons.

KOMATSU D575A-3SD Bulldozer: – It has total 6 gears-three reverse and three forward. The bulldozer can hold maximum 2100 l fuel. The length of its machine is 11.72metres.

ACCO Bulldozer:- ACCO, an Italian company manufactured the world’s best designed bulldozer model in 1983. Due to some technical fault, it can’t be operated. It never got any appropriate occasion to show its efficiency.

Caterpillar D11T CD Bulldozer:- This kind of bulldozer uses the displacement of 32L of the diesel engine of Cat C32 ACERT. It can carry upto 113 tons of weight utilizing its power of 950 hp.

To sum up, the rapid advancement in the field of technology has definitely boosted up the designs of the bulldozers giving it a completely different look and efficiency.

 

 

 

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Why does my heavy equipment lose oil pressure?

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It has been seen that many construction houses do not pay much heed to the maintenance of their machines. Though heavy equipment are meant for rough uses but that does not mean that they should never be maintained and since it is left unmaintained, it develop complications which then require the help of sound technicians or mechanics who charge good sum of money to get it fixed. One of the major problems of not maintaining the heavy equipment is it losing oil pressure at frequent intervals. Other than this, another major issue is cold weather. Well, nothing much can be done if the weather is really chilled but that does not mean that one has to sit doing nothing. Cold weather does not bring a “no business” tag along with it. There are always ways and means that one can take to avoid a situation where the engine of the heavy equipment is simply not willing to start and you are at the mercy of the ineffectual thing.

We would be taking in details as to why heavy equipment loses pressure and what can be done to fix the problem.

In extreme weather (especially cold weather when the temperature is below 0 degree Celsius), the engine oil gets thickened, due to which it fails to build the oil pressure quickly. Similarly, if the equipment is already in working mode, the pressure may suddenly fall and the engine will stop responding. The thickness of the engine oil may also cause the system to go sidestep resulting to the same problem. Other than the problem of cold chilled weather, improper maintenance of the machine is another issue that can cause to similar issues.

In case, if this problem recurs to happen, then it will have direct impact on the quality of the engine. It may damage the engine that includes engine oil pump, crankshaft bearings and camshaft bearings (tin overlay), bearings of engine timing and many other things. The damage can be to several minute instruments all around that constitutes the engine of the machine.

Solution to the problem

The best possible solution will be to change the engine oil and filter when one experiences this issue. The person can put in multi-viscosity oil like 5W-30 or can even install a low wattage engine oil pan heater that will take care of the problem. There is another way to check if the oil thickness is up to the mark or has that degraded. One can test the oil viscosity by doing a lube oil testing. In the testing, if the lube oil shows that the viscosity is at 40 degree Celsius and 100 degree Celsius then, it indicates that the oil has degraded. The soot loading, oxidation and sulphur will all read as high.

Ideally, the soot loading is one of the major reasons for the increase in thickness in the oil. It also increases the oxidation level in the oil which becomes the reason for the thickness in the oil. Sulphur generation can happen due to not changing the engine oil at regular intervals. If we combine all these problems, it leads to increase in viscosity in the oil and the solution would be to change the engine oil and the filter.

 

How to buy Used Construction Equipment

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The early morning search is the most popular and the easiest way to find best deals of buying used construction. Monday morning is the best time to find used construction equipment because maximum people give advertisement on the web sites at Sundays.

If you want a piece of equipment badly don’t be scared to communicate with the seller and questioned him about his fixed price. Most of the auction web sites are strictly against this type of arrangements but it depends on you and how bad you want that piece. The dealer will either sell you the piece or tell you to bid in a natural way. So sometimes it can save your time and energy.

If you are checking a piece which no one else is looking for then doesn’t bid on it instantly. Wait for the last day of auction and then bid on it. The most important point for getting a great price of equipment you want for a long time is don’t bid on it. It is a very difficult point to get but it always works. Bidding on the piece that you want at very first moment you saw it, draws unnecessary attention and that you shouldn’t do in an auction. So just wait for the very last moment and then bid on it.

Sometimes people make bid on those pieces which other people are bidding on. So putting your bid on the equipment you want from a very long time in your hand is a very bad choice. It could make your chances extremely low and you cannot buy that thing. If you get into bidding battle it will only raise the bar high. Just sitting and watching till the last moment and then making your move is so far the best way to save your money in an auction.

Purchasing used items in business is the best way to avoid unnecessary expenses. But checking the safety of the equipment is the first and the most important thing to do when you buy a used piece of construction equipment. So if someone buy a used piece of equipment and used it after the important instruction, then the shape of their business will always be good. So every person who is thinking of buying this kind of stuff by the auction should always keep remember these important rules.

If the buyer is careful to follow all the necessary instructions before handling the construction equipment, then this thing can provide very good return on investment to the business.

If you didn’t check the safety equipment before using then many problems can occur such as job injury, time loss, media’s bad coverage, legal action etc. So it’s very important that you do a thorough check up before buying it.

Safety features are different in various models. It totally depends on the model. So you have to check the safety features before buying the equipment.

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