Never Get On The Wrong Side Of A Bulldozer

Bulldozers are the real brutes of heavy equipment. The amount of power contained in even the smallest bulldozer is amazing. They can push tons of earth around very quickly; for example, they can totally clear a home building lot in half a day – trees and all. Bulldozers gain their power through a combination of a tough engine and a set of tracks instead of wheels. The blade at the front is designed to both cut into the earth and push it to one side.

Most people think of bulldozers in that light. They push dirt around. While that is their primary role, I wouldn’t want to be standing behind one when fully rigged. You see, bulldozers have attachments that can be added to the rear. These are mean looking attachments too, and come with the apt of name of ‘ripper’ attachments. Traditionally, these attachments are either a single claw, or a triple claw.

The single claw, as the name suggests, is a claw-like attachment that is used to break up the ground. You can think of a ripper as a larger and much tougher farmers plow, pulled by a machine that is far stronger than a farmer’s tractor. Rippers can make short work of hard clay soils, areas where tree roots are still present in the ground, and rocky terrain. The bigger the dozer, the bigger the ripper, and so the bigger the rocks and tree roots it can handle. Rippers are also handy for breaking cement blocks as part of a demolition job.

There is far more to a bulldozer than just pushing dirt around. Some bulldozers have specialized blades attached to the front that can ‘grade’ an area in pretty much the same fashion as a dedicated grader. Bulldozers are often called upon to deal with snow clearing in winter, fire breaks (and fire fighting) during the fire season, and demolition work. The life of bulldozer operator is far from boring, so if you’re interested in a career operating a bulldozer, check out your training opportunities through our heavy equipment training site. A rewarding and interesting career as a bulldozer operator awaits you.