Bulldozer Revolution
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A bulldozer or dozer (also called a crawler) is a large, motorized
machine A machine is a physical system using power to apply forces and control movement to perform an action. The term is commonly applied to artificial devices, such as those employing engines or motors, but also to natural biological macromolecul ...
equipped with a metal
blade A blade is the portion of a tool, weapon, or machine with an edge that is designed to puncture, chop, slice or scrape surfaces or materials. Blades are typically made from materials that are harder than those they are to be used on. Histor ...
to the front for pushing material:
soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former ...
, sand, snow, rubble, or rock during
construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and ...
work. It travels most commonly on
continuous track Continuous track is a system of vehicle propulsion used in tracked vehicles, running on a continuous band of treads or track plates driven by two or more wheels. The large surface area of the tracks distributes the weight of the vehicle ...
s, though specialized models riding on large off-road tires are also produced. Its most popular accessory is a ripper, a large hook-like device mounted singly or in multiples in the rear to loosen dense materials. Bulldozers are used heavily in large and small scale construction, road building,
mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the econom ...
s and quarrying, on farms, in
heavy industry Heavy industry is an industry that involves one or more characteristics such as large and heavy products; large and heavy equipment and facilities (such as heavy equipment, large machine tools, huge buildings and large-scale infrastructure); o ...
factories, and in military applications in both peace and wartime. The word "bulldozer" refers only to a motorized unit fitted with a blade designed for pushing. The word is sometimes used inaccurately for other heavy equipment such as a front-end loader designed for carrying rather than pushing material.


Description

Typically, bulldozers are large and powerful tracked
heavy equipment Heavy equipment or heavy machinery refers to heavy-duty vehicles specially designed to execute construction tasks, most frequently involving earthwork operations or other large construction tasks. ''Heavy equipment'' usually comprises five e ...
. The tracks give them excellent traction and mobility through very rough terrain. Wide tracks also help distribute the vehicle's weight over a large area (decreasing ground pressure), thus preventing it from sinking in
sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class ...
y or muddy ground. Extra-wide tracks are known as swamp tracks or low ground pressure (lgp) tracks. Bulldozers have transmission systems designed to take advantage of the track system and provide excellent
tractive force As used in mechanical engineering, the term tractive force can either refer to the total traction a vehicle exerts on a surface, or the amount of the total traction that is parallel to the direction of motion. In railway engineering, the term tr ...
. These traits allow bulldozers to excel in road building,
construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and ...
,
mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the econom ...
,
forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. ...
, land clearing, infrastructure development, and any other projects requiring highly mobile, powerful, and stable earth-moving equipment. A variant is the all-wheel-drive wheeled bulldozer, which generally has four large rubber-tired wheels, hydraulically operated articulated steering, and a hydraulically actuated blade mounted forward of the articulation joint. The bulldozer's primary tools are the blade and the ripper:


Blade

Bulldozer blades come in three types: * straight ("S blade"), short with no lateral curve or side wings. Can be used for fine grading. * universal ("U blade"), tall and very curved, with large side wings to maximize load. * combination ("S-U", or semi-U), shorter, with less curvature and smaller side wings. It is typically used for pushing large rocks, as at a quarry. Blades can be fitted straight across the frame, or at an angle. All can be lifted, some, with additional hydraulic cylinders, can be tilted to vary the angle up to one side. Sometimes, a bulldozer is used to push or pull another piece of earth-moving equipment known as a "
scraper Scrape, scraper or scraping may refer to: Biology and medicine * Abrasion (medical), a type of injury * Scraper (biology), grazer-scraper, a water animal that feeds on stones and other substrates by grazing algae, microorganism and other matter ...
" to increase productivity. The towed Fresno Scraper, invented in 1883 by
James Porteous James Porteous (1848–1922) was the Scottish-American inventor of the Fresno scraper. James Porteous was born in Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland. His father, William Porteous, had been a wheelwright and blacksmith who built and repair ...
, was the first design to enable this to be done economically, removing the soil from an area being cut and depositing where needed as fill. Dozer blades with a reinforced center section for pushing are known as "bull blades". Dozer blades are added to
combat engineering vehicle A military engineering vehicle is a vehicle built for construction work or for the transportation of combat engineers on the battlefield. These vehicles may be modified civilian equipment (such as the armoured bulldozers that many nations field) ...
s and other military equipment, such as
artillery tractor An artillery tractor, also referred to as a gun tractor, is a specialized heavy-duty form of tractor unit used to tow artillery pieces of varying weights and calibres. It may be wheeled, tracked, or half-tracked. Traction There are two ...
s such as the Type 73 or M8 Tractor, to clear battlefield obstacles and prepare firing positions. Dozer blades may be mounted on
main battle tank A main battle tank (MBT), also known as a battle tank or universal tank, is a tank that fills the role of armor-protected direct fire and maneuver in many modern armies. Cold War-era development of more powerful engines, better suspension sys ...
s to clear antitank obstacles or mines, and dig improvised shelters.


Ripper

A ripper is a long, claw-like shank that may be mounted singly or in multiples on the rear of a bulldozer to loosen hard and impacted materials. Usually a single shank is preferred for heavy ripping. The ripper is fitted with a replaceable
tungsten Tungsten, or wolfram, is a chemical element with the symbol W and atomic number 74. Tungsten is a rare metal found naturally on Earth almost exclusively as compounds with other elements. It was identified as a new element in 1781 and first isol ...
steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistan ...
alloy An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which at least one is a metal. Unlike chemical compounds with metallic bases, an alloy will retain all the properties of a metal in the resulting material, such as electrical conductivity, ductili ...
tip, referred to as a boot. Ripping can not only loosen soil (such as
podzol In soil science, podzols are the typical soils of coniferous or boreal forests and also the typical soils of eucalypt forests and heathlands in southern Australia. In Western Europe, podzols develop on heathland, which is often a construct of ...
hardpan) in agricultural and construction applications but break shaly rock or pavement into easily handled small rubble. A variant of the ripper is the stumpbuster, a single spike protruding horizontally used to split a tree stump.


Variants


Armored bulldozers

Bulldozers employed for combat-engineering roles are often fitted with
armor Armour (British English) or armor (American English; see spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat, or f ...
to protect the driver from firearms and debris, enabling bulldozers to operate in combat zones. The most widely documented use is the Israeli Defence Forces' (IDF) militarized
Caterpillar D9 The Caterpillar D9 is a large track-type tractor designed and manufactured by Caterpillar Inc. It is usually sold as a bulldozer equipped with a detachable large blade and a rear ripper attachment. The D9, with 354 kW (474 hp) of gross p ...
, for earth moving, clearing terrain obstacles, opening routes, and detonating explosive charges. The IDF used armoured bulldozers extensively during Operation Rainbow where they were used to uproot
Gaza Strip smuggling tunnels The Gaza Strip smuggling tunnels are smuggling tunnels that had been dug under the Philadelphi Corridor along the Egypt-Gaza border. They were dug to subvert the blockade of the Gaza Strip to smuggle in fuel, food, weapons and other goods i ...
and destroy residential neighbourhoods, water wells and pipes, and agricultural land to expand the military
buffer zone A buffer zone is a neutral zonal area that lies between two or more bodies of land, usually pertaining to countries. Depending on the type of buffer zone, it may serve to separate regions or conjoin them. Common types of buffer zones are demili ...
along the Philadelphi Route. This use drew criticism against both the use and the suppliers of armoured bulldozers from human-rights organizations such as the EWASH-coalition and
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human ...
, the latter of whom urged
Caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sy ...
to cease their sale of bulldozers to the IDF. The use of bulldozers was seen as necessary by Israeli authorities to uproot smuggling tunnels, destroy houses used by Palestinian gunmen, and expand the buffer zone. Some forces' engineer doctrines differentiate between a low-mobility armoured dozer (LMAD) and a high-mobility armoured dozer (HMAD). The LMAD is dependent on a flatbed to move it to its employment site, whereas the HMAD has a more robust engine and drive system designed to give it road mobility with a moderate range and speed. HMADs, however, normally lack the full cross-country mobility characteristics of a dozer blade-equipped tank or armoured personnel carrier. Some bulldozers have been fitted with armor by civilian operators to prevent bystanders or police from interfering with the work performed by the bulldozer, as in the case of strikes or demolition of condemned buildings. This has also been done by civilians with a dispute with the authorities, such as Marvin Heemeyer, who outfitted his Komatsu D355A bulldozer with homemade composite armor to then demolish government buildings.


Remote-controlled dozers

In recent years, innovations in the construction technology have made remote-controlled bulldozers a reality. Now, heavy machinery can be controlled from up to 1,000 feet away. This contributes to the safety of workers on the jobsite, keeping them at a secure distance from potentially dangerous jobs. The advancement and the ability to control the heavy machinery from afar provides workers with the sufficient control over the dozers to get the job done. Though these machines are still in their early stages, many construction companies are using them successfully.


History

The first bulldozers were adapted from
Holt Holt or holte may refer to: Natural world *Holt (den), an otter den * Holt, an area of woodland Places Australia * Holt, Australian Capital Territory * Division of Holt, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives in Vic ...
farm tractors that were used to plow fields. The versatility of tractors in soft ground for logging and road building contributed to the development of the armored
tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful ...
in
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
. In 1923, farmer James Cummings and draftsman J. Earl McLeod made the first designs for the bulldozer. A replica is on display at the city park in Morrowville, Kansas, where the two built the first bulldozer. On December 18, 1923, Cummings and McLeod filed U.S. patent #1,522,378 that was later issued on January 6, 1925, for an "Attachment for Tractors." By the 1920s, tracked vehicles became common, particularly the Caterpillar 60. Rubber-tired vehicles came into use in the 1940s. To dig
canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface f ...
s, raise earthen dams, and do other earth-moving jobs, these tractors were equipped with a large, thick, metal plate in front. (The blade got its curved shape later). In some early models, the driver sat on top in the open without a cabin. The three main types of bulldozer blades are a U-blade for pushing and carrying soil relatively long distances, a straight blade for "knocking down" and spreading piles of soil, and a brush
rake Rake may refer to: * Rake (stock character), a man habituated to immoral conduct * Rake (theatre), the artificial slope of a theatre stage Science and technology * Rake receiver, a radio receiver * Rake (geology), the angle between a feature on a ...
for removing brush and roots. These attachments (home-built or built by small equipment manufacturers of attachments for wheeled and crawler tractors and trucks) appeared by 1929. Widespread acceptance of the bull-grader does not seem to appear before the mid-1930s. The addition of power down-force provided by hydraulic cylinders instead of just the weight of the blade made them the preferred excavation machine for large and small contractors alike by the 1940s, by which time the term "bulldozer" referred to the entire machine and not just the attachment. Over the years, bulldozers got bigger and more powerful in response to the demand for equipment suited for ever larger
earthworks Earthworks may refer to: Construction *Earthworks (archaeology), human-made constructions that modify the land contour *Earthworks (engineering), civil engineering works created by moving or processing quantities of soil *Earthworks (military), mi ...
. Firms such as
Caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sy ...
, Komatsu, Clark Equipment Co,
Case Case or CASE may refer to: Containers * Case (goods), a package of related merchandise * Cartridge case or casing, a firearm cartridge component * Bookcase, a piece of furniture used to store books * Briefcase or attaché case, a narrow box to ca ...
,
Euclid Euclid (; grc-gre, Εὐκλείδης; BC) was an ancient Greek mathematician active as a geometer and logician. Considered the "father of geometry", he is chiefly known for the '' Elements'' treatise, which established the foundations of ...
, Allis Chalmers, Liebherr,
LiuGong LiuGong, officially Guangxi LiuGong Machinery Co., Ltd., is a Chinese multinational construction machinery manufacturing company headquartered in Liuzhou, China. It is the world's 10th-largest construction equipment manufacturer by market share ...
, Terex, Fiat-Allis,
John Deere Deere & Company, doing business as John Deere (), is an American corporation that manufactures agricultural machinery, heavy equipment, forestry machinery, diesel engines, drivetrains (axles, transmissions, gearboxes) used in heavy equipment, ...
,
Massey Ferguson Massey Ferguson Limited is an American agricultural machinery manufacturer. The company was established in 1953 through the merger of farm equipment makers Massey-Harris of Canada and the Ferguson Company of the United Kingdom. It was based in ...
, BEML, XGMA, and
International Harvester The International Harvester Company (often abbreviated by IHC, IH, or simply International ( colloq.)) was an American manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment, automobiles, commercial trucks, lawn and garden products, household e ...
manufactured large, tracked-type earthmoving machines. R.G. LeTourneau and
Caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sy ...
manufactured large, rubber-tired bulldozers. Bulldozers grew more sophisticated as time passed. Improvements include drivetrains analogous to (in automobiles) an
automatic transmission An automatic transmission (sometimes abbreviated to auto or AT) is a multi-speed transmission used in internal combustion engine-based motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving ...
instead of a manual transmission, such as the early Euclid C-6 and TC-12 or Model C Tournadozer, blade movement controlled by
hydraulic Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counte ...
cylinders or electric motors instead of early models' cable winch/brake, and automatic grade control. Hydraulic cylinders enabled the application of down force, more precise manipulation of the blade, and automated controls. In the very snowy winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom, in at least one case a remote cut-off village running out of food was supplied by a bulldozer towing a big sled carrying necessary supplies. A more recent innovation is the outfitting of bulldozers with GPS technology, such as manufactured by Topcon Positioning Systems, Inc.,
Trimble Inc Trimble Inc. is an American software, hardware, and services technology company. Trimble supports global industries in building & construction, agriculture, geospatial, natural resources and utilities, governments, transportation and others. Trim ...
, or
Leica Geosystems Leica Geosystems (formerly known as Wild Heerbrugg or just Wild) based in eastern Switzerland produces products and systems for surveying and geographical measurement (geomatics). Its products employ a variety of technologies including GPS sa ...
, for precise grade control and (potentially) "stakeless" construction. As a response to the many, and often varying claims about these systems, the Kellogg Report published in 2010 a detailed comparison of all the manufacturers' systems, evaluating more than 200 features for dozers alone. The best-known maker of bulldozers is Caterpillar. Komatsu, Liebherr,
Case Case or CASE may refer to: Containers * Case (goods), a package of related merchandise * Cartridge case or casing, a firearm cartridge component * Bookcase, a piece of furniture used to store books * Briefcase or attaché case, a narrow box to ca ...
,
Hitachi () is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is the parent company of the Hitachi Group (''Hitachi Gurūpu'') and had formed part of the Nissan ''zaibatsu'' and later DKB Group and Fuyo G ...
,
Volvo The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...
, and
John Deere Deere & Company, doing business as John Deere (), is an American corporation that manufactures agricultural machinery, heavy equipment, forestry machinery, diesel engines, drivetrains (axles, transmissions, gearboxes) used in heavy equipment, ...
are present-day competitors. Although these machines began as modified farm tractors, they became the mainstay for big civil construction projects, and found their way into use by
military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
construction units worldwide. The best-known model, the
Caterpillar D9 The Caterpillar D9 is a large track-type tractor designed and manufactured by Caterpillar Inc. It is usually sold as a bulldozer equipped with a detachable large blade and a rear ripper attachment. The D9, with 354 kW (474 hp) of gross p ...
, was also used to clear mines and demolish enemy structures.


Manufacturers

Industry statistics based on 2010 production published by ''Off-Highway Research'' showed Shantui was the largest producer of bulldozers, making over 10,000 units that year or two in five crawler-type dozers made in the world. The next-largest producer by number of units is Caterpillar Inc., which produced 6,400 units. Komatsu introduced the D575A in 1981, the D757A-2 in 1991, and the D575A-3 in 2002, which the company touts as the biggest bulldozer in the world.


History of the word

* A 19th-century term used in engineering for a horizontal
forging press Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compressive forces. The blows are delivered with a hammer (often a power hammer) or a die. Forging is often classified according to the temperature at which ...
* Around 1870s: In the USA, a "bulldose" was a large dose (namely, one large enough to be literally or figuratively effective against a bull) of any sort of medicine or punishment. *By the late 1870s, "to bulldoze" and "bulldozing" were being used throughout the United States to describe intimidation "by violent and unlawful means", which sometimes meant a severe whipping or coercion, or other intimidation, such as at gunpoint. It had a particular meaning in the
Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...
as a whipping or other punishment for
African Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
to suppress black voter turnout in the
1876 United States presidential election The 1876 United States presidential election was the 23rd quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 7, 1876, in which Republican nominee Rutherford B. Hayes faced Democrat Samuel J. Tilden. It was one of the most contentio ...
. * 1886: "Bulldozer" meant a large-caliber
pistol A pistol is a handgun, more specifically one with the chamber integral to its gun barrel, though in common usage the two terms are often used interchangeably. The English word was introduced in , when early handguns were produced in Europe, a ...
and the person who wielded it. * Late 19th century: "Bulldozing" meant using brute force to push over or through any obstacle, with reference to two bulls pushing against each other's heads in a fight over dominance. * 1930s: applied to the vehicle These appeared as early as 1929, but were known as "bull grader" blades, and the term "bulldozer blade" did not appear to come into widespread use until the mid-1930s. "Bulldozer" now refers to the whole machine, not just the attachment. In contemporary usage, "bulldozer" is sometimes shortened to "dozer", and the verb "bulldozing" to "dozing", thus making a
homophone A homophone () is a word that is pronounced the same (to varying extent) as another word but differs in meaning. A ''homophone'' may also differ in spelling. The two words may be spelled the same, for example ''rose'' (flower) and ''rose'' (pa ...
with the pre-existing verb " dozing".


Gallery

File:Cat D11 View 2.jpg,
Caterpillar D11 The Caterpillar D11T is a large bulldozer, manufactured by Caterpillar Inc. in East Peoria, Illinois, and mainly used in the mining industry. Primarily designed as a bulldozer, it is also used for push-loading scrapers, and ripping rock overburden ...
N with a double shank ripper File:Poti Seaport, Georgia — Receiving of New Bulldozers for Solid Waste Management (03).jpg, Bulldozer for solid waste management File:QRH Challenger 2s in Estonia MOD 45167094.jpg, British
Challenger 2 The FV4034 Challenger 2 (MOD designation "CR2") is a third generation British main battle tank (MBT) in service with the armies of the United Kingdom and Oman. It was designed and built by the British company Vickers Defence Systems (now known ...
tank fitted with dozer blade, 2020 File:Cabless Cat D8.jpg, Caterpillar D8 bulldozer without a cab File:First Tractor Company - old working model - 01.jpg, A
First Tractor Company The YTO Group Corporation is a Chinese agricultural machinery and construction machinery manufacturer part of Sinomach, a comprehensive machinery conglomerate. Although composed of many subsidiaries and divisions, the company is best known for m ...
bulldozer still operational in 2012 on
Xinbu Island Xinbu Island () is a coastal island located directly to the east of Haidian Island in Haikou, Hainan, China. This island, located at the mouth of the Nandu River, has a population of approximately 4,000 people. Xinbu Island effectively splits t ...
, Hainan, China File:Zettelmeyer ZD 3001.jpg, Zettelmeyer ZD 3001 wheeled bulldozer


See also

*
Acco super bulldozer The Acco Super Bulldozer is the largest and most powerful tracked bulldozer ever made. It was built in Portogruaro in northern Italy by the Umberto Acco company. The Acco super bulldozer was constructed mainly of Caterpillar parts; however, man ...
, largest bulldozer manufactured * '' Athanas'' for the 'bulldozer shrimp' (from the way it pushes sand about)

References


External links


The mechanism of a bulldozer
(Short illustrated explanations, with flash animations, suitable for kids)
Old engine Bulldozer pages photos

When Bulldozers roamed the earth
{{Authority control Construction equipment Demolition Engineering vehicles Heavy equipment Tracked vehicles American inventions