please help understand 4-way vs. 6-way dozer blade

[stumpfield]

This is a very newbie question.... Can someone help me understand the differences? I guess the 6-way is probably better but what can't you do with the 4-way and how much of an inconvenience is it? Is the 4-way blade obsolete? I noticed the newer model dozers all have 6-way blade. The purpose is to cut new road and clearing brushes. Thanks.

 

[Birdhunter1]

The 4 way will give you up and down and will angle left or right.
The 6 way will do the same but will also tilt either the left or right.

 

[Dirthog]

The 4 way is up-down and tilt 6 way blade has angle

 

[BarryinMN]

To go a little further, a 4 way is going to cut at whatever angle the tracks are flat & level or usually tilted at. A six way the operator simply tilts the blade independently of the tracks & cuts. Speeds up say cutting a road surface on a hillside.

A 4 way can get the job done by creating a landing for the tracks before cutting.

4 way blades can be wider than 6's

 

[Tigerotor77W]

The replies all hit the nail on the head, but let me try to give a graphic description -- hold your right hand so that your palm faces the tabletop and the fingers point away from you. A 6-way blade (also known as a PAT -- Power, Angle, Tilt -- blade) can move in all the directions you can move your hand. If the tips of your are the blade, then the PAT blade can move up/down (moving your hand toward or away from the table top), left/right (keeping your hand parallel to the table, rotating your wrist so that either your thumb or pinky comes toward you), and tilt (tilting your hand so that either the thumb or pinky gets closer to the table surface).

The 4-way blade (dozers with push arms, the long, metal beams that run parallel to the tracks) usually doesn't have angling capabilities.

Smaller tractors are usually equipped with PATs (specifically, VPATS, or Variable PAT, which allows you to manually adjust the angle the cutting edge makes with the ground) because they are designed to do finish grading and other precise manuevers.

 

[EddieWalker]

The big advantage of a six way blade over a four way is in moving dirt. It allows you to pull the blade way back and get a nice angle to spread dirt off one side of the blade as you move foreward. For brush clearing, it's nice to be able to angle the blade back to squeeze between trees when it's tight and you want to minimize the damage to them.

If you have a choice, always get a six way blade. It's one of those things you don't need all the time, but it sure is nice when you do.

Just to confuse you a little more, my dozer has an 8 way blade. I can change the angle of the blade itself for better cutting when digging or flatten it out for spreading dirt. Not a must, nor something I'd pay for, but it's part of the dozer.

Good luck,
Eddie