Bulldozer

1. Introduction

Bulldozers are versatile machines; frequently use for:

• Stripping top soil and clearing vegetation

• Shallow excavating

• Pushing scraper

• Maintaining haul roads

• Ditching

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• Opening up pilot road

• Moving earth for short haul distances, up to 100 m

• Backfilling trenches

• Spreading and grading

• Ripping

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2. Type of Bulldozer

Track bulldozer Wheel bulldozer

Can work on a variety of soils.

Sharp-edged pieces not as destructive to
track bulldozer though fine sand will
increase gear ware
Can work almost any terrain
Can work on soft ground and over mud-
slick surfaces; will exert very low ground
pressures with special wide tracks and
flotation track shoes
Good for short work
Can handle tight soils
Slow return speeds, 8-11 km/h
Can push large blade loads
Good on firm soils and concrete and
abrasive soils which have no sharp-edges
pieces
Best on level and downhill work
Wet weather, causing soft and slick
surfaces will stop operation
The concentrated wheel load will provide
compaction and kneading action
Good for long travel distances
Best for loose soils
Has fast return speeds, 12-30 km/h
Can only handle moderate blade load

3. Blades (bilah)

3.1 Introduction

Bulldozer (jentolak) blade must matched the expected work task

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Basic earth-moving blade:

• Curved in vertical plane – to boil material

• Cutting edge: replaceable hard steel plate bolted along the bottom length

• Raise and lowered by hydraulic ram (bicu)

Three possible blade adjustments

Tilt Vertical movement of a blade end

Movement of the top of the blade

Pitch
toward/away from tractor

Angling Blade is not perpendicular to direction

4. Blade-tractor performance

Bulldozer pushing potential is measured by two standard ratio:

• Horsepower per metre of cutting edge.

This indicates the ability of the blade to penetrate and obtain a load.

The higher the ratio, the more aggressive the blade

• Horsepower per loose cubic metre of material retained in front of the blade.

Measures the blade’s ability to push a load.

A higher ratio means that the bulldozer can push a load at a greater speed.

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5. Type of Blades

Straight “S”
• For excavation work
• No curvature in it length
• Heavy duty – can penetrate into hard material
• Can be tilted and pitched

Angle “A”
• Wider than S blade
• Can be operated straight or angled up to 25o
• Cannot be pitched, designed for side-casting
material

Universal “U”
• Wider than S blade
• Edges are canted – to reduce spillage
• Efficient for moving loads over long distances
• hp/m ratio is lower than S
• hp/lm3 ratio is lower than S – best suited for
lighter material
Cushion “C”
• Mounted on large tractors for pushing loading
scrapers
• Rubber cushions and springs mounted on the
blade
• C blade is shorter than S – to avoid pushing the
blade into the rear tyres of the scraper;
facilitates manoeuvring behind scrapers

6. Bulldozer Production Estimating

• Bulldozer has not volumetric capacity

• Amount of materials being move by a dozer = Quantity of material in front of the

blade during pushing

• Factors that control the dozer production

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 o Blade type
o HP
o Type and condition of material
o Cycle time

6.1 Blade type

Each blade type has different characteristics:

• S blades roll materials in front of the blade

• U blades holding material within the blade
• Same type of blade comes in different sizes

∴blade’s capacity is a function of blade type and physical size.

6.2 Type and condition of material

Soils do not exhibit the same heap or swell properties

6.3 Blade load

• Method to estimate blade loads:

o Manufacturer’s blade rating

o Previous experience (similar material, equipment and work conditions)

o Field measurements

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6.3.1. Manufacturer’s blade ratings

Vs = 0.8WH2
Vu = Vs + ZH(W − Z)tanx o

Where:

Vs = capacity of straight or angle blade, in lm3

Vu = capacity of universal blade, in lm3
W = blade width, in metre, exclusive of end bits
H = effective blade height, in metre
Z = wing length measured parallel to the blade width, in metre
x0 = wing angle

6.3.2. Previous experience

Properly documented past experience is an excellent estimating method

6.3.3. Field measurement

Procedure for measuring blade loads:

• Obtain a normal load

o The dozer pushes a normal blade load onto a level area

o Stop the dozer’s forward motion. Create a symmetrical pile of the blade
content

o Reverse and move away from the pile

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 • Measurement:

o Measure the height (H) of the pile at the inside

edge of each track

o Measure the width (W) of the pile at the inside

edge of each track

o Measure the greatest length (L) of the pile.

• Computation:

The blade load in loose cubic metre (lcm) can be calculated using the following
formula:

Blade load (lcm) = 0.3753HWL

Example 1

The measurement from a blade-load test were H1=1.49m, H2=1.58m, W1=2.10m,

W2=2.13m and L=3.84m. What is the blade capacity in loose cubic metre for the
tested material?

1.49 + 1.58
H= = 1.54
2

2.10 + 2.13
W= = 2.11
2

Blade Load = 0.3753 × 1.54 × 2.11 × 3.84 = 4.68 lcm

6.3.4. Cycle time (masa kitaran)

• Cycle time is a complete dozer cycle = sum of the time required to push,
backtrack and manoeuvre into position

• It not advisable to use machine’s performance chart to calculate time required to

push and backtrack:

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 o Dozing is generally performed at slow speed 2-3 km/h, even slower for
heavy cohesive soil

o Chart only identifies instantaneous speeds, maximum speed can only be

achieved if the travel distance > 30m and the ground condition is
relatively smooth and level

• How to determine cycle time?

7. Production 1 – (Formulas, Field Measurements)

Formula to calculate dozer production in loose cubic metre per 60 min hour:

60 min × blade load

Production (lcm per hour) =
push time + return time + maneuver time
Example 2

Assume that the blade load of a 200 HP tracked tractor, with power shift, equals the
value calculated in Example 1. The tractor will be used to push a silty sand material.
The average push distance is 27 m. What production can be expected in loose cubic
metre?

Blade load = 4.68 lm3 (from Example 1)

Push time: 2 km/h average speed (1st gear)

27 1
Push Time = × x60 = 0.81 min
1000 2

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Return time: assume 2nd gear because less than 30 m, maximum speed 6 km/h

27 1
Return Time = × x60 = 0.27 min
1000 6

Tractor must accelerate to attain 6 km/h speed, because the change in speed is very
small, an allowance of 0.05 min is made for acceleration

Return time (0.27+0.05) = 0.32 min

Manoeuvre time = 0.05 min

Production (lm3 per hour)=

60 min× 4.68lcm
= 238 lm3/hr
0.81min+ 0.32min+ 0.05min

Actual production cannot be based on an ideal condition - 60 min hour; difficulty of the
work will affect job efficiency. Normally we use 50-min to calculate production.

Example 3

Assume a percent swell of 0.25 for the silty sand of Example 2 and job efficiency will
equal a 50-min hour. What is the actual production that can be expected in bank cubic
metre?

Production (bm3/hr):

238lcm 50 min
= ×
1.25 60 min

= 159bm3 / hr

……the final step is to compute the unit cost for pushing the material

Example 4

The machine in Example 3 has an owing and operating cost RM35.00 per hour.
Operators in the area were the proposed work will be performed are making RM9.50
per hour. What is the unit cost for pushing the silty sand?

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 RM35 per hour + RM9.50 per hour
Unit cost =
159bcm / hr

= RM0.28 per bcm

8. Production 2 – (Manufactures’ Production Curves)

• Manufacturers provide production curves for estimating the amount of material

can be pushed

• Manufacturers production curves are based on set of ideal conditions:

o A 60-min hour (100% efficiency)

o Power-shift machines with 0.05 min fixed time

o Machine cuts for 15 m, then drift blade load to dump over a high wall

o Soil density of 13.5 kN per m3 (lcm)

o Coefficient of traction:

Track machines – 0.5 or better

Wheel machines – 0.4 or better

o Hydraulic controlled blade

∴To calculate field production rate, curve values must be adjusted

Production (lm3 per hour)

= maximum production from curve × product of the correction factors

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 Figure 1

Figure 2

Example 5

A D7G crawler dozer with a straight blade is to be used in a slot-dozing (penolakan

alur) operation. The material is a dry noncohesive silty sand and is to be move a
distance of 90 m from the beginning of the cut. Dozing down hill on a 10% grade. The
operator will have average skill, the tractor will have a power-shift transmission, and
both visibility and traction are assume to be satisfactory. The material weighs 17 kN/m3

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in bank state and is estimated to swell 12% in the loose state. Job efficiency is
assumed to be equivalent to a 50-min hour. Calculate the direct cost of the proposed
earth-moving operation in RM per bm3. Assume that the owing and operating cost is
RM 45 per hour and the operator’s wage is RM 10 per hour.

Solution:

D7G with straight blade:

From Figure 1 ideal production for 90 m push is 130 lm3

Correction factor (From Table 1)

• Operator (average, tracked) = 0.75

• Material (type) = 0.80
• Slot dozing = 1.20
• Job efficiency = 0.83
• Grade (Figure 3) = 1.24

Material weight correction:

Bank weight = 17kN/bm3

Swell is 12%;

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∴ loose cubic metre = = 15.2 kN/lm3
1.12

Standard condition = 13.5 kN/lm3

13.5
∴ material weight correction = = 0.89
15.2

Production factors:

= 0.75 × 0.8 × 1.20 × 0.83 × 1.24 × 0.89 = 0.660

Production:

= 130 lm3 /hr × 0.660 = 90 lm3 /hr

or
90
= = 80 bm3 /hr
1.12

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Cost:

O& O = RM45 per hr

Operator = RM10 per hr
Total = RM55 per hr

RM55 per hr
Production cost =
80 bm3 /hr
= RM0.688 per bm3

Table 1

Figure 3

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Coefficient of traction:

Usable force = Coefficient of traction × weight on powered running gear

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