Types of Dozers and Its Various Application Areas

Dozers are heavy equipment commonly known as bulldozers. Bulldozers are equipped with heavy and wide blade, which is mounted at the front of the tractor and is utilized to push densely compacted material. Not all but some bulldozers come with claw-like tool that is mounted at the rear side of the dozer. Earlier, dozers were utilized only by farmers for landscaping and plowing however, with the new modifications and developments, they are paving their ways into construction and mechanical industry. Presently, dozers are commonly seen at mining and engineering sites.

On the basis of use, dozers have various types including crawler bulldozer, mini dozer and wheeled bulldozer. Some bulldozers are modified by replacing its tool with metal buckets or large hydraulic arms. These modification help in increasing utility of dozers. This is the key reason for steady growth of Dozer Market. Several types of dozers have been discussed below;

Crawler BulldozersThis is the common type of dozer, which looks same as that of a tractor. It helps in moving sand and other heavy materials from one place to another. This type of bulldozer is a tracked vehicle and has no tires and are available in various sizes. The large crawlers have a ripper installed at the end of machine and have ability to crush any hard surface. This type of dozer are suitable to work in irregular fields on the back of abrasive plate. The plate in front of the tractor is utilized to move the sand and other heavy material.

Mini DozersThe small dozers are designed to optimize maneuverability, transportability, speed and versatility. This type of dozers are suitable for residential construction. They are useful for tasks such as clearing and grading lots. They are beneficial in sloping the sides of roads, driveways and for backfilling and construction purpose as well.

Wheeled DozersWheeled dozers are comparatively larger than crawler dozers. They have wide applications in construction sites such as water parks and building of stadiums. Due to high efficiency and performance they have gained wide traction in the construction sector. The wheeled dozers come with large and heavy tires, which is the key reason for enabling them to be useful in the construction industry. Such type dozers have fully articulated hydraulic steering, which is very easy and flexible to operate.

Types of Blades

S Blade

As the name suggests s blades are geometrically straight blades, which are attached to the tractor by dozer arms, which are attached to the lower corners of the back of the blade eliminating option of angling. For horizontal blade adjustment, the S blade is vertically stabilized with angle braces to the dozer arms, which may be outfitted with a hydraulically tilt cylinder. Tilting the blade improves ground penetration by focusing on the cutting force over different blade lengths. Crowning and ditching are likely to be easily performed by the S blade as the tilts increase versatility. An experienced operator can improvise and advance material carrying by building and employing push trough.

U Blade

The U blade simply suggests the geometry of the blade is generalized as U shape. Reducing the side spillage off the blade, the U shape works like a scoop to hold materials. Owing to the shape of the blade it provides better material carrying capabilities and more efficient movement of soil over longer distance. The U blade is fixed on a heavy dozer arms from trunnions on the sides of the tractor of the lower bottom corner of the blade. The U blade is vertically stabilized from the push arms with an angle braces, which incorporate one or two hydraulic tilt cylinders. The tilt cylinders delivers the blade with the ability to focus on ground penetrating forces, thereby increases versatility to include operations including ditching and crowning.

SU Blade

The SU blade is designed to occupy the middle ground between the straight blade and the U-blade, delivering lesser degree characteristics of both. The name SU is given after its meaning semi-U. The SU blade is mounted to the tractor with the same heavy straight push arms connected to the lower back of the blade. From the dozer arm, the blade is vertically stabilized with angle braces that will incorporate one or two hydraulic tilt cylinders. This feature increases the blade versatility to include crawling and ditching. The addition of forward curving side wings is the unique feature of SU blade, which keep it distinctive than other types of blades. This type blade is able to carry any type of material efficiently however, it have less ground penetration ability than S blade. The SU blade is certainly a better choice in a way of performance such as stripping, stumping, backfilling, crowning, leveling and ditching. The blade is beneficial to work on soft to medium hard soils, particularly with the skillful applications of the tilt feature.

Arslan Khan is currently living in Delhi, working as a Senior Research Manager @ Fact.MR. He is a blogger with unique content each time.