Bull Dozer Rentals

Learn About Dozers

In 1923, a young farmer named James Cummings and a draftsman named J. Earl McLeod made the first designs for a bulldozer.

Over the years, when engineers needed equipment to complete large scale earthworks, firms like CAT, Komatsu, Fiat-Allis, John Deere, International Harvester, Case, Liebherr, Terex and JCB started to manufacture large tracked-type earthmoving machines. They were large, noisy, and powerful, and therefore nicknamed "bulldozer".

The best known maker of bulldozers is probably the Caterpillar Tractor Company, which earned its reputation for making tough durable reliable machines. Although these machines began as modified farm tractors, they became the mainstay for big civil construction projects, and found their way into use by military construction units throughout the world.

The first bulldozers were adapted from farm Holt tractors that were used to plow fields. Their versatility in soft ground for logging and road building, lead directly to them becoming the armored tank in the first war.

By the 1920s, tracked vehicles became common, particularly the Caterpillar 60. To dig canals, raise earth dams, and do other earthmoving jobs, these tractors were equipped with a large thick metal plate in front. This thick metal plate (it got its curved shape later) is called a "blade". The blade peels layers of soil and pushes it forward as the tractor advances.

Several specialized blades have been developed: for high volume loads such as coal, rakes to remove only larger boulders, or blades with razor sharp edges to cut tree stumps. In some early models the driver sat on top in the open without a cabin.

These attachments, home built or by small equipment manufacturers of attachments for wheeled and crawler tractors and trucks, appeared by 1929, widespread acceptance of the bull-grader does not seem to appear before the mid-1930s, and the addition of powered down force made them the preferred excavation machine for large and small contractors alike by the 1940s, by which time the term "bulldozer" referred to the entire machine and not just the attachment.

Through the years, bulldozers got bigger, more powerful, and more sophisticated. Important improvements include more powerful engines, more reliable drive trains, better tracks, raised cabins, and hydraulic (instead of early models' cable operated) arms that enable more precise manipulation of the blade and automated controls.

As an option, bulldozers can be equipped with a rear ripper claw to loosen rocky soils or to break up pavement (roads).

The best known model of the Caterpillar D9, was also used to clear mines and demolish enemy structures.

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