Bulldozer

Bulldozer  — a self-propelled earth-moving machine, which is a caterpillar or wheeled tractor, tractor or other chassis with a hinged working body — a blade (shield) that is curved in cross-section, located outside the base of the chassis of the machine.

Serves for layer-by-layer digging, planning and moving (at a distance of 10-200 meters) soil, minerals, road construction and other materials during the construction and repair of roads, hydraulic and other engineering structures. Also, the bulldozer is used in the development of placers, on dumps, during reclamation, as an auxiliary machine in quarries. In addition, the bulldozer is also used as a pusher (for example, when filling self-propelled and trailed scrapers).

The word «bulldozer» appeared at the end of the 19th century and referred to any force capable of moving a large mass. In 1923, the tractor-based bulldozer itself appeared by mounting a metal shield in front.

Varieties of bulldozers

• with a fixed blade mounted perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the base machine;
• with a rotary blade, which in the horizontal plane can be installed at an angle in both directions from the longitudinal axis of the machine or perpendicular to it;
• universal with a blade of two articulated halves, installed in a horizontal plane at different angles to the longitudinal axis of the machine or perpendicular to it ( tracklayer ).

Dumps of all types of bulldozers are equipped with mechanisms with a hydraulic, mechanical (rope-block) or electromechanical drive for lifting and lowering, turning in plan, distortions in the transverse plane, tilting forward and backward along the way. Bulldozers are supplied with interchangeable equipment (rippers, slopes, wideners, openers, and others), which expand their scope and increase efficiency in certain jobs.

Characteristics of bulldozers

• blade length — up to 5500 mm
• blade weight — up to 32 tons
• blade dimensions: width — up to 7400 mm, height — up to 3250 mm
• height with visor — 2300 mm
• blade lift — up to 1780 mm
• dump depth — up to 800 mm
• rock movement distance — up to 200 m
• engine power — up to 603 kW
• weight — up to 155 tons

Bulldozer Application

• layer-by-layer cutting and digging, leveling, leveling, moving rocks, soil, bulk materials
• removal of the fertile surface layer of soil during the preparation of construction sites
• moving soil into the area of ​​action of a single-bucket excavator when loading it into a vehicle or dump
• development of shallow channels with transportation of soil to the dump
• cleaning of slopes
• construction of embankments from reserves
• planning work when cleaning the foundations for the foundations of buildings and structures and planning areas and routes
• arrangement and repair of access roads, arrangement of entrances to embankments and exits from excavations
• development of soil on slopes
• backfilling trenches and foundation pits
• leveling the soil in dumps
• bulk material handling
• preparatory work for felling individual trees, cutting bushes, uprooting stumps, removing stones, clearing surfaces from debris and snow
• stripping
• use as pushers (e.g. scrapers) and tractors

Working tools of bulldozers

• dump
• push frame
• control mechanism
• loosening teeth, slopes, wideners, openers (optional equipment)