What are the tips for operating a dozer? The most important thing to understand if you’ve never operated a dozer before is how the machine should seem, feel, sound, and smell (yes, smell) when it’s in good working condition. Don’t give up if you don’t notice results immediately away since this takes time. After a few days behind the wheel, you ought to have a solid understanding of how the vehicle ought to function. Here are some tips on how to operate a dozer to keep you safe and your equipment running as efficiently as possible in the interim.
- Complete the gaps.
When working in the slot, it’s important to doze from front to rear. The quantity of debris or material that falls from the blade is reduced when working in the slot. Additionally, it can help to boost the blade load by 30%. When excavating a slot, continue digging until you reach the blade’s height, then go on to the following slot. - Work your way backward from the front.
If you want to improve productivity and lessen undercarriage wear, we recommend sleeping front to back. Working backwards minimizes the amount of time required to operate the vehicle in reverse, and the less time you spend driving backward, the less track wear you will experience.
How to accomplish it is as follows:
- Get started about two tractor lengths back from where you want to chop. Operate the dozer in first gear on the initial pass, working to swiftly load the blade and begin a spoil pile (if using a small or medium-sized tractor, transfer to second gear). A good objective is to fill the blade in two tractor lengths or less. Once you’re two tractor lengths behind where you began the first pass, turn the machine around to start your second pass. As you go through the second pass, steer the machine through the identical slot as you did in the first. To get the necessary slot length, repeat this procedure, extending your starting point before reversing it.
- Retrace your steps when you’re prepared to begin the second slot until you’re about two tractor lengths from the spoil. Then, with the machine in your hand, slide it to the first slot. Keep the edge and the first slot apart by around one-third of the blade’s width.
- Sleeping in reverse can save the amount of time you spend driving by 38%. You must back up for the length of the prior push plus two tractor lengths rather than the whole cut.
- Verify the track’s tightness.
Track chains may deteriorate three times more quickly than they otherwise would if they are overly tight. If your track incorporates a carrier roller, the sag should be at least two inches; nevertheless, you should check the requirements in your operator’s handbook.
Here’s how to calculate the sag’s size:
- Slowly stop—don’t use the brakes suddenly.
- Lay a straight edge across the grousers or stretch a rope from the idler to the sprocket.
- Calculate the distance between the lowest point of the sag and the tip of the grouser.
- Determine the average of each valley’s lowest places on both sides of the carrier lower.
Track-chain tension adjustments should be adjusted anytime the weather or environmental conditions change, even if they are not necessary on a regular basis.
Check the track-chain tension, for instance, if any of the following circumstances arise:
- Outside, it’s raining.
- The wind picks up speed.
- The machine bumps into puddles of water.
- The air’s temperature increases.
- Due to these circumstances, mud or debris may amass in the sprockets. By adjusting the chain tension, you can prevent the slack chain from snagging in front of the idler.
- Undercarriage wear can be reduced by 50% by maintaining proper track-chain tension. However, 20% of the tracks, as determined by Caterpillar’s field evaluations, are too narrow.
- Employ short cuts
Dozer operators frequently believe that longer cuts are preferable, however this is untrue. There is a limit to how much dirt a dozer blade can hold at one time. Once the blade is finished, if you continue moving ahead, the dirt will fall to the sides of the blade, creating windows that you will need to clean later. Additionally, after the blade is finished, you won’t be able to cut anymore; instead, all you’ll be able to do is shovel dirt in front of the blade. Long cuttings also use gasoline, cause track to slide, and worsen undercarriage conditions. No of its size, a bulldozer must be able to stack a complete blade load in two tractor lengths or less.
Utilize shorter cuts, and make each operational hour matter. You’ll be able to do this to save time and effort.
- Whenever possible, climb and descend hills.
Operators of crawler dozers should take their time and keep attachments low when working on hillsides since doing so might be dangerous. Additionally, we advise working up and down hills to prevent rollovers. While newer machines employ hydrostatic gearboxes, older machines use torque converters, which may or may not feature an automatic holdback. As a result, it’s best to stay in neutral and cruise downhill rather than changing gears. - Check the coolant and oil every morning and evening.
Even though this is more maintenance-related, making a routine of checking the coolant, engine, and hydraulic fluids each morning before work is a smart idea. Check the engine oil and gearbox again after the workday. During this operation, inspect the swing frame zerks, air filters, and grease fittings.
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