Anyone here have bulldozer experience?

[EddieWalker]

I own a Case 1550 dozer with an 8 way blade. It's 170 hp and weighs 40,000 pounds.

I'm not a pro, or ever very good with it, but I get by and since it's my land and my project, I make it look like what I want it to.

Going slow is super important when starting out. You CANNOT go too slow. The problem with a dozer is you have to pay attention to the outer tip of the blade on BOTH sides. Your eyes cannot focus on both sides, the blade is too wide. So you have to go back and forth CONSTANTLY!!! Most common mistakes will be from zoning in on one side and not paying attention to what the other end of the blade is doing.

Next most common error is adjusting the height of the blade as you go and expecting the finished result to look smooth. You just made a step that is very noticeable and very time consuming to fix.

Set the blade, set your angle so the material flows out towards the way you are working and start pushing.

Make your second run with the blade lined up with the middle of the piled up material from the past run.

The more often you get off the seat and look at everything from the ground, the faster you will get it. What it looks like from the seat isn't even close to what it looks like when you walk over what you have done.

8 hours on a dozer is pure torture. It will beat you up and rattle your brain. 6 hours is bad enough. Be sure to pace yourself on how long you operate it at a time. Too much in one day and you will be fried the next day!!!

 

[ovrszd]

I don稚 see much danger of getting the dozer stuck. They致e already worked it with a wheel loader.

Me neither.

 

[dodge man]

I can say I have about 10 minutes of seat time on a JD dozer that would be very similar to a D5. I obviously do not have any experience but I can comment on the controls. Amazingly simple. It had twin joysticks and a six way blade so it was very instinctive on how the controls worked. It was a co workers machine and he said hop on and try it. Of course I was scared to death but after a few minutes I am sure I could have done useful work with it, just not well. The only tricky thing was it had a decelerator pedal. It was like a gas pedal on the right but as you pushed it down it slowed the machine. I didn’t even need to use it.

 

[DJ54]

Crashz is right. As my supervisor used to say. "A good dozer operator's brains, are in his *****." You've got to sense/feel what that machine is accomplishing, through the seat. I was a heavy equipment operator for the last 18 years for ODOT here in Ohio. The first 15 was working in the county operating the backhoe, and backup operator on the road grader.

The first dozer I operated was a old cable army surplus D-7, w/pony motor. We were cutting out road slips, and just hogging out dirt. The other operator was running the newer Fiat-Allis 14C. There were times we'd push side by side, and the old D-7, although a little slower would stay right with the newer one, pushing the same amount of dirt, after I got the hang of it. When the cut got deeper, and steeper to climb out of, we'd do a double header, me pushing (The Fiat had a bulletproof Carco 80 winch on the back), while cutting/pushing overburden Roy up out of the hole. I learned more from him, just watching what he was doing, and asking questions when I was having problems. Going from a cable machine, to one with hydraulic tilt was the difference between night & day. You can't appreciate hydraulic tilt, until you've started a bench on a slope, with a cable machine.

So many simple tricks that make it easier, if you just pay close attention to a good operator. When backing up to get another blade of dirt, once a bench is established, set the blade down on the ground, just before stopping. Your blade is at the level you want it. Just give the down pressure a nudge when you take off, and you'll start making your cut. Load the blade as quickly as you can, yet still smoothly moving forward. A loaded blade is easier to carry grade. When the blade gets fully loaded with clay, you can push down on the blade, as far as it will go, and it will not pick up any more dirt. Watch the dirt moving on the blade, if you're hogging dirt. As the bossman said, rolling dirt moves a lot easier, than stuck to the blade. Just barely creeping upwards, before tumbling over is the perfect push. With the semi U blade on the Fiat's, we could have dirt riding up 2' -3' higher than the hood, tumbling forward. That's when it gets fun. When you've got that much dirt ahead of you, and in the seat, it feels like seeing a duck waddle, yet still moving forward, you're pushing all she'll push. You can push down, and literally ride that blade to the spoil pile, and it won't pick up no mo'dirt.

Sand is the hardest to put a finish on. It will dribble out in low spots before you know it. It's better to keep a good blade full in front of you, and leave a pile, and not spread it all out. Go back, and get another load, and you'll pretty much be on grade when you hit that pile. In clay, you'll feel the front end raise a bit when you hit that pile. If you just keep going, it will more than likely just stick to the blade. If when you feel the front raise a bit, and nudge the blade down, it will, as we called it "squirt" that dirt off the blade, and start it tumbling, then you can nudge the blade back up a smidge. It will also put a slight surcharge on the spot, and you'll glide right across,staying on grade. Different soils, or even the same soil, whether damp, or dry can push differently. Somewhat like finishing concrete, you want a little cream in front of the trowel, for a good finish.

All of our tractors had aggressive corner bits on them, for the type of work we did. New, they'd stick down maybe an inch below the center blade. It was tough to get a pretty finish with new corner bits, until they wore down even with the rest of the blade. Our Super told us anyone can drop a blade, and back up. You WILL cut it to grade going forward. The 6-way blades on the small tractors were a blessing for finishing. As mentioned, yourself on the windrow with the angled blade. The should keep dirt from spilling out on your finished passes. Rolling/tumbling dirt will carry across, and fill in the low spots.

Like everything else, it just takes lots of seat time. There were years, when I'd be in the seat for 10+ hours a day, when working daylight till dark, 6-7 days a week doing catastrophe work. Only out to get a drink, lunch, or relieve yourself, then back at it. Normally, the day actually passes pretty quick. I'm not sure how many times, someone on the support crew would comment that that looked so boring doing that all day. But that they don't see, is that you're watching that dirt, to make sure you're getting a maximum push, like feeling a rock under the blade, when you see the dirt isn't tumbling. Stop, back up, and get under that rock, to get that dirt tumbling again. You can actually "feel" that rock under there. Hitting a tough bit of clay, pulling you to one side, can be corrected by a slight tilt of the blade, using the blade to steer, until it pushes straight again.

Lots of eye/feel to hand coordination going on, that most don't realize. becomes second nature after awhile. Your hand reacts to what you are feeling underneath you, to correct it, if needed. Same goes with a hydraulic excavator/track hoe. After so many hours, that bucket 20' out in front of you, becomes an extension of your hand.

Come April, it will be 15 years since I retired from that job. Several times I have gotten back on a dozer, working for a neighbor, or helping a buddy for a while. After getting familiar with the machine, it's pretty much like riding a bicycle, you never forget.

 

[caver]

I had loads of experience before my teens on my Tonka dozer

 

[Shopmaster]

All I will say is................it ain't as easy as it looks. That is all.

 

[Sonny580]

NOT something you can just jump on and go! ----I started out on my uncles D-7 when I was 10, by 12 he had me running it by myself. Trust us when we say " harder than it looks"! lol! Takes years to get decent on one.

 

[Big Barn]

I don’t know about you older guys like me, but I find my eye/hand/foot coordination isn’t nearly as good as I’d like to think it is (or was).

 

[Fuddy1952]

If you could find a dozer operator, depending on how much you need to do, you'd be better off paying him.
This past summer I had a day and a half dozer work to be done. The fellow was in his 70s...thousands of hours experience.
He worked non-stop. Second day he lifted me in the bucket so I could chain saw cut a few big limbs.
His bill was $1,200.
He never used a transit, but when through the contractor checked and an area about 100ft x 60ft he was within 1/2" of level.

 

[ovrszd]

If you could find a dozer operator, depending on how much you need to do, you'd be better off paying him.
This past summer I had a day and a half dozer work to be done. The fellow was in his 70s...thousands of hours experience.
He worked non-stop. Second day he lifted me in the bucket so I could chain saw cut a few big limbs.
His bill was $1,200.
He never used a transit, but when through the contractor checked and an area about 100ft x 60ft he was within 1/2" of level.

Or rent the machine. Then hire a local dozer operator to run it. Pay him handsomely. Maybe $50 per hr?? You might get it back by only having the dozer one day rather than all weekend?