Bulldozer

Submitted by: Scheygen Smith

The bulldozer is a very powerful crawler that is equipped with a blade.The term bulldozer is often used to mean any type of heavy machinery, although the term actually refers to a tractor that is fitted with a dozer blade.

Often times, bulldozers are large and extremely powerful tracked vehicles. The tracks give them amazing ground mobility and hold through very rough terrain. Wide tracks on the other hand, help to distribute the weight of the dozer over large areas,therefore preventing it from sinking into sandy ormuddy ground.

Bulldozers have great ground hold and a torque divider that’s designed to convert the power of the engine into dragging ability, which allows it to use its own weight to push heavy objects and even remove things from the ground. Take the CaterpillarD9 for example, it can easily tow tanks that weightmore than 70 tons. Due to these attributes, bulldozers are used to clear obstacles, shrubbery,and remains of structures and buildings.

The blade

The blade on a bulldozer is the heavy piece ofmetal plate that isinstalledon the front. Theblade pushes things around. Normally, the blade comes in 3 varieties:

1. A straight blade that is short and hasno lateral curve, nosidewings, and can be usedonly for fine grading.

2. A universal blade, or U blade, which istall and very curved,and features large side wings to carry more material around.

3. A combination blade that is shorter,offers less curvature, and smaller side wings.

Modifications

Over time, bulldozers have been modified to evolveinto new machines that are capable of things the original bulldozers weren’t. A good example is that loader tractors were created by removing the blade and substituting a large volume bucket and hydraulic arms which will raise and lower thebucket, therefore making it useful for scoopingup the earth and loading it into trucks.

Other modifications to the original bulldozerinclude making it smaller to where it can operate in small working areas where movement is very limited, such as mining caves and tunnels. Verysmall bulldozers are known as calf dozers.

History

The first types of bulldozers were adapted from farm tractors that were used to plough fields. Inorder to dig canals, raise earth dams, and part take in earth moving jobs, the tractors were equipped with a thick metal plate in the front. Later on, this thick metal plate earned the name blade.

The blade of the bulldozer peels layers of soil and pushes it forward as the tractor advances. The blade is the heart and soul of the bulldozer,as it was the first accessory to make full usefor excavation type jobs.

As the years went by, when engineers needed equipment to complete larger jobs, companies suchas CAT, Komatsu, John Deere, Case, and JCB started to manufacture large tracked earth moving equipment.They were very loud,very large, and very powerfuland therefore earned the nickname”bulldozer”.

Over the years, the bulldozers got bigger, more powerful, and even more sophisticated. The important improvements include better engines,more reliable drive trains, better tracks, andeven hydraulic arms that will enable more precise manipulation of the blade and automatedcontrols.As an added option, bulldozers can come equipped with a rear ripping claw to break up pavement or loosen rocky soil.

The best known manufacturer of bulldozer is CAT,which has earned a vast reputation for making tough and durable, yet reliable machines. Eventhough the bulldozer started off a modified farm tractor, it rapidly became one of the most usefulpieces of equipment with excavating and construction.

About the Author: Scheygen is a simple woman that loves to explore and share things through writing. She loves to share her knowledge to the users who care to understand everything about

Bulldozer

. Go and visit the Bulldozer free website to get plenty of more information. Come and visit us at: http://Bull-Dozer.net/

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