Bulldozers – The Big Movers in Grading Work!
A familiar machine found at any construction site, bulldozers provide much of the brute force needed to move large amounts of debris dug up by other equipment to get it out of the way.
Though they began as little more than a strong engine with a large blade on the front, today’s bulldozing equipment has a lot more going for it.
Traditional Use of the Bulldozer
With their huge front blades and rear rippers, bulldozers have traditionally been used for two jobs on the construction site.
- The blade is made using a variety of designs to make them more functional and is used to collect and push large amounts of debris like dirt, rocks, and stumps away from active worksite.
- The lesser-acknowledged ripper on the back is designed to dig up large rocks and break apart cement and other surfaces.
As such, a dozer is one of the staple pieces of construction equipment that every contractor doing site preparation depends on.
Expanding the Use of Today’s Bulldozers
As expensive as excavation equipment is, contractors are always looking for innovative new uses that expand the utility of their machines.
It seems only natural that some bulldozer companies will use the blades on their dozers to do ground leveling and minor grading work.
Though they are not as precise as a grading machine may be, many times the degree of ground leveling that can be performed with the blade of a standard dozer is more than enough to eliminate the need to bring in an actual grader.
Advanced Technology Turns Dozers Into Graders
Given the commonality of contractors using their dozers in this additional role, some equipment manufacturers have now taken that cue a step further by adding that functionality to their designs.
Using new technology that gives bulldozer operators more precise control of the blade and more advanced blade designs, some machines can now be used for grading more precisely.
With the ability to set the blades to specific angles, this new grading control technology allows site preparation services to use this one machine throughout the entire process, from ground clearing and debris removal to site leveling and precise surface grading.
Many companies using this equipment are also finding the increasing popularity of this technology especially easy to adapt to as a new generation of tech-savvy operators are replacing those now retiring.
Getting the Most From Today’s Bulldozers
Acknowledging these more recent developments in excavation equipment technology, today’s contractors and bulldozer companies have a more useful machine to work with these days.
Properly equipped with this technology, bulldozers can now be used in place of grading machines in many instances.
It increases the utility of these machines when they can be used in this capacity, making ground clearing and site preparation faster and more cost-effective!