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The Powerful Bulldozer
The bulldozer is an engineering and construction vehicle that is considered a powerful crawler equipped with a blade. It is common to hear the term bulldozer interchanged with the term heavy machinery, and, in most senses, a bulldozer is heavy machinery; but it is also a tractor that has been fitted with a dozer blade. A bulldozer is a large and powerfully tracked engineering vehicle that has incredible ground hold, making it mobile on rough types of terrain. A bulldozer has wide tracks that assist it to distribute its weight as it travels over large areas; the wide tracks also help prevent the bulldozer from sinking into the softer terrains like sandy or muddy grounds. Bulldozers are known for their strong ground hold and having a torque divider, which is designed with the ability to convert the engines power into a dragging ability. This allows the bulldozer to use its own weight in order to push objects and remove objects from the ground. An example of this ability can be seen with the Caterpillar D9, when it easily tows a tank that weighs more than 70 tons. It is these attributes that make the bulldozer a key construction and excavation vehicle, as it is extremely instrumental in clearing heavy obstacles, debris, shrubbery and remnants from building structures. The Blade of a Bulldozer The bulldozer blade is constructed from a heavy and durable piece of metal plate, which is then installed and attached on to the front of the bulldozer. It has to be heavy and durable because the blade is used to push heavy objects around. The bulldozer blade is available in three different varieties: a straight blade, a universal blade and a combination blade. The bulldozer straight blade is designed short with no lateral curve. This variety has no side wings, making it only useful for fine grading. Universal bulldozer blades, which are also known as the U-blade, are designed to be tall and very curved. The universal blade has large side wings that help it to carry more material. The third type is a combination blade, or S-U blade, and this blade is designed to be shorter, but has less curvature. The side wings of the combination blade are small. Typical Modifications The newer models of bulldozers have come along way from their distant past relatives, and have evolved with modern improvements that make them more efficient. One only has to look at the loader tractor for an example of modifications, which were accomplished by removing the blade and replacing it with a large volume bucket. This bucket is attached to hydraulic arms that will assist in raising and lowering the bucket, making it very useful for scooping up mounds of dirt and debris, and then loading it into trucks for removal or transport. Another obvious modification has to do with the size of the bulldozer. The original bulldozer was larger than the ones today, and this compact version makes it easier to operate and maneuver in small work areas that might be restrictive to the larger models. This comes in handy when mining caves and tunnels. There are even very small bulldozers that are called calfdozers. The History of the Bulldozer With one look at a bulldozer, it is obvious that the origins were adapted from farm tractors that were used to plough farm fields. When it was necessary to dig ditches or canals, raise earth damns or move earth, the earlier tractors were fitted with thick metal plates in the front of the tractor. Eventually, the thick metal plate became known as the blade. It is the progressive modifications of the bulldozer blade, which peels at layers of soil, that led to the useful advancements of this tractor. More to the point, the blade is the essential part of the bulldozer, making it extremely useful in excavation type projects.
As time passed, engineers were able to use technology and toy with the modifications of the bulldozer. This need for modification developed out of the need for construction equipment to complete larger scaled jobs. It was companies such as CAT, Komatsu, John Deere, Case and JCB that pushed forward with efforts to manufacture large tracked earth-moving vehicles. These larger models were very loud and very powerful, which helped it earn the name "bulldozer". Still, time kept progressing and the need for more powerful and sophisticated bulldozers became essential, and so the bulldozer got larger. The new modifications included improved and better engines, reliable drive trains, improved tracks, and precision hydraulic arms that allowed for improved manipulation of the blades as well as automated controls. Another additive for the bulldozer is it can come equipped with the option of a rear-ripping claw, which breaks up rock, concrete and pavement. The most common and well-known manufacturer in the bulldozer industry is CAT, which is a reputable name when considering tough, durable and reliable machinery. Though the bulldozer was born out of the classic farm tractor, it has become a useful piece of machinery for companies that deal with excavating and construction.
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