Bulldozers Come In All Shapes And Sizes

The concept of a bulldozer is very simple – place a strong motor at one end and blade at the other and then set the equipment to work pushing dirt. Road graders owe part of their original design to bulldozers. Where a road grader differs is in the placement of that blade – instead of being at the front, it is slung beneath the vehicle. A road grader still does the same job, pushing dirt, except it does it with more finesse, and to fine measurements.

You can still find old tractors with blades attached, and for simple tasks around the farm they do fine. Commercially built bulldozers come in a wide range of sizes, including giants that are used in mines and on large scale projects. The world’s largest bulldozer is the Komatsu D575A. This dozer can shift 90 cubic yards of dirt in a single sweep using a standard blade, and 125 cubic yards per sweep using the largest blade available – now that’s a lot of dirt. As a comparison, the most common bulldozer in use is the Caterpillar D9. This machine can move around 22 cubic yards per sweep or about a quarter of the load that a D575A can move.

At the opposite end of the scale is the world’s smallest bulldozer, sometimes referred to as a calfdozer. These are not common dozers although they can be found in underground mines, in forestry areas, and as snow plows, especially around ski resorts.

No matter the size, these bulldozers all have one thing in common – they are designed to push dirt (or snow) around. Furthermore, their operation is almost identical, given that each brand of bulldozer has slightly different operation methods. Once you have learned how to operate a bulldozer, size becomes irrelevant – those skills are easily transferable. What’s you’re preference? Driving a huge D575A, a standard D9, or perhaps a calfdozer? Gain the skills the choice becomes yours.