Front Loaders and Bulldozers, What’s the Difference

For many people, big front loaders are special pieces of heavy equipment. They are impressive to look at, as they tend to dwarf a lot of other machinery. Many people confuse front loaders with bulldozers, but they are a very different piece of equipment that performs an entirely different function. First lets look at the similarities between the two and see why they are so commonly mistaken for one another.

Bulldozers and front loaders are both available in a range of sizes. The tractor part of the equipment looks almost identical. You can find closed cabin and open cabin configurations of each, so here they are almost the same. Front Loaders can sometimes be fitted with bulldozer blades to allow them to do light dozing. They are not as good at dozing as bulldozers but they can do an acceptable job when the requirements are not too heavy. Seeing front loaders with bulldozer blades only deepens the confusion for most people. The attachment that is regularly used for front loaders is a bucket. It is designed to scoop and carry loads from one place to another. It looks a bit like a bulldozer blade, but is actually very different. Yes, bulldozers can also be fitted with a bucket.

The difference is a little closer to the ground. If you look at comparatively sized bulldozers and front loaders, the bulldozer will always sit lower to the ground. Front loaders tower over everything because of the enormous wheels that are attached to them. Bulldozers run on tracks. Wheels mean that you can use front loaders almost anywhere. The tracks of a bulldozer can damage paved surfaces, but they give great traction and allow them to drive over very rough terrain.

If you are interested in learning more about front loaders or bulldozers, please feel free to contact us at Associated Training Services.