Category Archives: Bulldozers

How to use a bulldozer

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Operators at times have a hard time while operating heavy equipment. They feel that while they are used to one particular type of machine when they are given to work on an equipment that has new configuration it takes time for them to understand those configurations and get their hands used to the system. They also have to understand the various features and their importance that is installed in a machine making the process more complicated. However once they are used to the system and they understand the features well they do not see much problem in using it. Using a bulldozer in particular has been found to be tougher amongst operators as compared to any other form of heavy equipment. The most common issue encountered by many operators is with steering the machine in the right direction. They sort of tend to lose their control while maneuvering the machine which leads to casualties and losses.

There has to be a systematic way to use a bulldozer and that is discussed as follows:-

Enter the cabin with a calm mind:-

We have enough problems to deal with in our day to day lives but we can’t carry the load of those problems with us wherever we go and especially when it is about going to work you simply can’t carry it there. You have to leave all your worries and hassles right before you enter the workplace and this stands right for the operator as well. You should not enter the cabin if you are tensed or worried about anything. You had a quarrel at home or an argument with your boss. It is better that you take some time doing nothing and clam your mind. You should not work on a bulldozer while you are angry or running through emotions. It can turn out into a bigger mess. Have a chat with your friend, check out a funny video on YouTube and once you feel that you are fresh and ready to work, get inside the cabin.

Have good control on the paddle and the brakes:-

Keep your legs strong while you are using a bulldozer. You use your legs to increase or decrease the speed of the machine as well as when you apply brakes on it. Your legs should not be shaky while you are using the bulldozer. Ideally, the paddle of the bulldozer is located just behind the brake. This means that you should be well trained and have practiced enough before using the mechanisms.

Use joystick to steer the machine as well as to use the blades:-

Joysticks are quite a helpful device as long as you know how to use them. It can be used to steer the machine and also used to move the blades in the right direction. The blades of the bulldozer are used to shove the mud to give a plain surface. An operator who has loads of experience in using joysticks to move the blades can do the work the right way at the first time. Rest may take some time to master the work.

Know all about heavy construction equipment – types available and how you should choose the right one!

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Heavy construction equipment is one of the most important elements in today’s world, where there is a continuous growth of the construction industry and new constructions are taking place every day. That is the reason, why the heavy construction equipment supplying job has become such a popular one in the industry. If you too are thinking of starting such a business, it is important that you know all about this.

Types of heavy construction equipment:

Many people do not know much about the different types of heavy construction equipment that are available in the market. These are used for various purposes. Some are used to assist in the construction and some are used indirectly in carrying, loading and unloading raw materials.

Some of the common heavy construction equipment that you will often get to see at a construction site, on the roads etc. includes –

  • Cranes
  • Backhoe
  • Loaders
  • Excavators
  • Forklifts
  • Bulldozers
  • Concrete mixers.

These are just a few of the many that you will frequently get to watch. However, there are many others that are not used as widely, but are meant for job-specific tasks. These are usually used during earthquake damage, storm damage and such other damage cleaning.

How can you access one?

The heavy construction equipment is not very cheap. There is no denying the fact that you will have to spend a lump sum amount of money, if you want to own one. Hence, it is always a better idea that you hire them, instead of owning them. This way, you will be able to access the ones that you would require for a particular task and you will not even have to spend a huge amount of money to own them and take care of them.

But of course, the heavy construction equipment is something that not everyone and anyone would require. It is mostly required by the construction industry companies and services. So, if you own such a company, it is always advised that you choose one that you can own, rather than hire it. This is because, hiring it every time will only cause you to pay more.

Choosing the right heavy equipment:

Once you have decided, whether you want to buy one or hire one, you need to check out a number of factors. These would include –

  • Brand: The right brand is very important. With a branded company, you will be able to have the peace of mind regarding its function and life.
  • Condition: In case you are buying used heavy equipment, make sure it is in a good condition.
  • Papers: The papers of the used heavy equipment must be proper, otherwise you will not get a permit and insurance, if you wish to have one.

If you take these factors into consideration, it will be easier for you to make a choice. In case you are still confused, always consult a skilled professional, who has years of experience in this field or a dealer of heavy equipment. They will be able to guide you properly.

Dozer vs Excavator: which is more versatile

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Though all heavy equipment are built with a specific purpose to serve the construction industry, but now most of the machines can be used for multi-tasking. Gone are the days when heavy equipment were used for only for specific purpose and companies needed some other machine for the next work. Today with the help of one machine, many tasks can be completed. However, such heavy equipment are also expensive and certainly cost more than the traditional ones but people prefer paying the extra price for the comfort of one machine. At times, there are issues when there is a requirement of the same machine at two places. This is when construction companies make use of the traditional ones but only when it is most needed. If given a subject where we have to pick a dozer or an excavator based on their versatility, it will be quite a difficult one even for the experts to do so.

Both a dozer and an excavator are widely used for activities like demolishing a structure, bringing down a tree and clearing the site debris, grading and excavating. We can’t expect an excavator to do heavy duty land clearing work. It can’t be used to bring down real huge structure but can certainly be used to demolish sizeable structures. At times, when contractors do not have a dozer at his disposal, he makes use of excavators to bring down any structure. It does not matter much to him how big the stuff is and if the excavator can do it. He is ready to give time but can’t deploy one more machine. There the excavator becomes more versatile. Though it does work out of the way but still its versatility remains intact.

Some experts in the construction industry believe that an excavator is more versatile when it comes to performance on the field. It is used extensively for a number of activities and one can simply depend on that piece of metal to complete all his work. They also believe that if given a hoe, the excavator can do everything under the sun. One can’t use a dozer to that extent. However, that does not imply the dozer to be non-efficient equipment. The group of experts who have their patronage for dozers feel otherwise. They see the dozers to be more versatile as it can quite efficiently do all the work which is somewhat not possible by any other genre of heavy equipment. They consider it to be the toughest of all and right from bringing down huge structures to carrying loads of debris, it can do it all.

There are also a bunch of experts who feel that it all matters on what kind of accessories are attached to the machine. You can get the same quality work done from an excavator that you can with a dozer if you gift them with appropriate accessories. These equipment fall in the category where they can be transformed as per their utility.

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Caterpillar D8 Dozer

It has been witnessed that construction companies have found Dozers as a very good alternative of excavators to do low grade excavating. By grade excavating, it suggests digging not too deep inside the ground. It can’t just fully replace an excavator which has the potential to go deep inside the ground and pull all the dirt out. However, when one has his excavator occupied on some other project and is left with just a dozer, he can make full use of it. Other than that, a dozer is widely used for flattening the surface of the land which is its primary function.

A flat surface is very important before you take your work any further. You can’t ask your men to begin their work on rugged uneven piece of land. You first have to ensure that the land is flattened and brought to a level where others can find it convenient to walk with their tools or else there will be an alarming rate of accidents happening which will lead to working not read to work any further. In a situation like this, it is pretty imperative that you first make use of a dozer and roll it all over the ground to make it ready to walk. This also reminds of the fact about how intensively dozers are used to construct roads. You perhaps do not make use of any other heavy equipment other than dozers. Its heavy roll has the capability to flatten the hardest rock lying on the ground. CAT D8 is one such dozer that has made its reputation as the most incredible piece of machine made by Caterpillar.

It has been fitted with an unbelievable strong engine and has a net power of 120 hp with a displacement of 644.8 cu in. The total number of gears installed in this machine is 3 and the maximum forward and reverse speed that it can take is 8.4 mph and 9.6 mph respectively. The operating weight of the machine including the driver and the fuel tank is around 26,256 lbs. The total fuel capacity of the D8 dozer is 72 gallons. This is many times better than the several dozers made by CAT’s competitors. Moreover, the engineers while making this model have taken immense care to make the cabin as comfortable as it can be. They understand how important it is to make the operator feel comfortable and therefore have ensured that all the levers are set in a zone from where he can easily reach out to them.

CAT claims that it consumes less fuel and is highly productive. People who use CAT machines have also agreed to this claim and they say that they have been able to save good deal of money on fuel. They also expect CAT to manufacture more machines that work on these lines. The D8 dozer is easily available and can be bought directly from the manufacturer or by contact the dealer of your state. Other option is to buy them online. All seems to be quite convenient options.

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Caterpillar D5 Dozer

Removing of debris, moving of dirt from one place to another and things like these are better done by few set of machines and a dozer falls completely in this zone. This means that a dozer is a far more beneficial machine when it comes to doing stuffs that not many machines are capable of doing. More to it, the price of a dozer is also pretty less. This makes it a machine that all can afford to buy and make complete use of it in almost all of their projects. It also works as a very good alternative for excavators which are used to dig just few feet and not deep inside the ground. A dozer can’t completely become an alternative of an excavator as it is meant for a different purpose but can be used at times when an excavator is not immediately available. This also makes it a multipurpose machine.

One company that takes pride in making top quality dozers is Caterpillar. It seems that they are one of the pioneers in manufacturing dozers as it all happened in the year 1925 that they produced their first dozer. Since then they are into manufacturing several types of heavy equipment. However, they still specialize in producing dozers. Talking a bit about the D5 dozer, it has been installed with a 105 hp engine and has a displacement of 640.7 cu in. The total number of forward and reverse gears that is available with the machine is 3 and the maximum forward and backward speed it can travel is 6.3 mph and 7.6 mph respectively. The total height of the machine that also includes its blade is 15”1’ long. Going by the standard blade, the width of it is 10 feet and 3 inches.

It has 6 tracks rollers on each its side and it looks like little wheels that help the track shoe to move. Moving into the operating weight of the D5 dozer, the weight of the machine including the tank full of gas and the average weight of the driver is around 25,794 lb. The total fuel capacity in the dozer is up to 65 gallons.

Once can certainly go through the specification mentioned here to decide if the D5 model of dozer is the one he is looking for in his upcoming project or if he needs something else. However, this is perhaps one of the most inexpensive models available with CAT. Though CAT has been given an impression of selling high priced heavy equipment which to a certain extent is untrue. However, this piece of metal is nowhere falling close to the expensive stuffs that CAT deals with. Having said this, the ones that people find as expensive are machines that are quite technologically advanced and therefore are slightly over priced than the conventional ones. The CAT D5 dozers can be easily purchased from the manufacturer or from their authorized dealers. You also have the option to buy them online as they are available on all the major online stores that deals with heavy equipment.

New Caterpillar Bulldozers

Construction business owners invest a lot on heavy equipment and they are always in the look of technologically advanced machines that has the capacity of working for hours at length, consumes less fuel, emit less carbon and provide enough comfort to the operator so that at the end of the day they do not feel dead tired. Reliability is something that they are not ready to compromise a bit and if they find that the machine is not up to the mark, then very soon the demand diminishes for that machine incurring huge loss to the manufacturer. Keeping everything into due deliberation, Cat always comes up with products that matches consumer’s needs, wants and demands and in this process they turn out to be the undisputed leader in the heavy equipment manufacturing industry leaving every other company far behind.

Caterpillar is renowned for producing different types of equipment and is best known for producing dozers. We will be speaking in length about one of its new arrival and that is CAT D11T dozer.

Starting with the dimension of the machine, the total length of the machine with blade is 34.9 ft in and without blade it is 19.8 ft in, the width over the tracks is 11.8 ft in, the height to the top of the cab is 13.4 ft in and the length of the track on the ground is 12.7 ft in. Paying little attention on the specs, CAT D11T has a gross power of 935 hp and net power of 850 hp. The power measure is at 1800 rpm and the displacement is 1958.9 cu in. The total number of cylinders installed in the dozer is 12.

The total operating weight of the machine is 104590 kg with a fuel capacity of 425 gallon. The cooling system fluid capacity, the engine oil capacity, hydraulic fluid capacity and power-train fluid capacity is 63 gallon, 28 gallon, 64.2 gallon and 91 gallon respectively. The operating voltage is 24 V with alternator supplied amperage of 100amps.

Moving to the transmission of the machine, the total number of forward and reverse gears is 3 with a maximum forward speed of 7.3 mph and maximum reverse speed of 8.7 mph. The standard shoe size of the machine is 28 in. The total number of shoes on each side is 41 and the total number of track rollers on each side is 8. Moving the focus to the blade of the dozer, the width and height of the blade is 18.3 ft in and 109 in respectively. The capacity of the blade is 35.5 yd3 and the cutting depth is around 30.2 in.

It is fitted with hydraulic pump that is ideally gear driven and has a relief valve pressure of 3500 psi and the pump flow capacity is 66 gallon per minute. People who are intending to buy this machine should first go through its specifications and decide to buy it only if they find it suitable for their projects which it ideally is.

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