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Message
re: Operating a bulldozer
Posted on 7/30/15 at 5:55 am to DownshiftAndFloorIt
Posted on 7/30/15 at 5:55 am to DownshiftAndFloorIt
I got a farm and lease my equipment to smaller site work guys due to all my stuff has gps machine control. MC is a hot item and gets jobs done quicker when it comes to accuracy.
I run crawler tractor, 2 excavators, 2 skid steers (kubota), 1 mini excavator (kubota), and case tractors with scrapers that have gps machine control. Tractor run on their own with gps I sit in my cab to make sure everything goes ok.
I do have accounts with dogget, cat rental, and United rents when my stuff goes down. Most these guys won't rent the bigger stuff unless you have and account & insurance to cover loss & damage to the machine.
As far as cat, Volvo, case, and Deere they all have their ups and downs. Most big companies go with one brand due to service plus special programs they receive.
As far as crawler tractors I love my JD 450 with topcon gps machine control. I bought it used from my cousin. I never looked back and sold my cat with Trimble gps.
Cat dozers lanky and not as smooth on hydraulics as the JD 450 which is important when running machine control. You got to have good hydraulics for it to work fast & accurate.
Cat also owns Trimble gps MC which is slow, not as accurate, and sensors breaks a lot more. Plug &
Play on cat is a good idea but super slow where you don't save time or fuel.
I run crawler tractor, 2 excavators, 2 skid steers (kubota), 1 mini excavator (kubota), and case tractors with scrapers that have gps machine control. Tractor run on their own with gps I sit in my cab to make sure everything goes ok.
I do have accounts with dogget, cat rental, and United rents when my stuff goes down. Most these guys won't rent the bigger stuff unless you have and account & insurance to cover loss & damage to the machine.
As far as cat, Volvo, case, and Deere they all have their ups and downs. Most big companies go with one brand due to service plus special programs they receive.
As far as crawler tractors I love my JD 450 with topcon gps machine control. I bought it used from my cousin. I never looked back and sold my cat with Trimble gps.
Cat dozers lanky and not as smooth on hydraulics as the JD 450 which is important when running machine control. You got to have good hydraulics for it to work fast & accurate.
Cat also owns Trimble gps MC which is slow, not as accurate, and sensors breaks a lot more. Plug &
Play on cat is a good idea but super slow where you don't save time or fuel.
0
Posted on 7/30/15 at 6:04 am to DownshiftAndFloorIt
Here is a picture of my Jobsite. My dirtwork subcontractor lets me operate most of their stuff whenever I want which means I can go practice and they will come clean it up behind me. Hardest thing to run out of tractors, track hoe, and Dozer is the dozer. Not to mention I rent a ton of equipment. You're looking at around $500 delivery/ $500 pick up + the rental price. How do you plan on fueling it up? Dozer holds 100 gallons...
My advice is to let someone who is experienced come get it done 5 times faster and a much better job for less money. Plenty of guys with dozers to hire.
My advice is to let someone who is experienced come get it done 5 times faster and a much better job for less money. Plenty of guys with dozers to hire.
Posted on 7/30/15 at 6:20 am to Darth_Vader
quote:
Yes. I work for Caterpillar
same here Darth
Posted on 7/30/15 at 6:37 am to CoachKlein
quote:
quote:
Yes. I work for Caterpillar
same here Darth
Small world!
Posted on 7/30/15 at 6:40 am to samson73103
Operating one is easy. Learning how to move dirt efficiently takes time. 2 of my friends and I were doing work for a non profit museum. We had 3 dozier's.
We need to clear few wooded acres for a parking lot and a 2000' trail. We were very proud of our work which took 3 week ends. Until we were about to finish and needed to grade it for drainage.
We ended up calling my Father in Law (a retire equip. operator) he did the work in 4 hours that we screwed up.
So allow yourself time.
We need to clear few wooded acres for a parking lot and a 2000' trail. We were very proud of our work which took 3 week ends. Until we were about to finish and needed to grade it for drainage.
We ended up calling my Father in Law (a retire equip. operator) he did the work in 4 hours that we screwed up.
So allow yourself time.
Posted on 7/30/15 at 6:44 am to Mud_Till_May
quote:Cat is the best, brah.
by Mud_Till_May
It's funny you say that cats are the best when every big job I've been on they've used either a Volvo or a Hyundai.
Posted on 7/30/15 at 6:50 am to samson73103
yes...62E-20 crawler tractor operator U.S. Army
if you've got the nerve to actually entertain the idea, then you likely got the right stuff to hop in, play with it a bit...figure it out and go get the job done.
what kinda jungle you got?
if there are time constraints, then just pay a pro....
if not, go have some fun
if you've got the nerve to actually entertain the idea, then you likely got the right stuff to hop in, play with it a bit...figure it out and go get the job done.
what kinda jungle you got?
if there are time constraints, then just pay a pro....
if not, go have some fun
This post was edited on 7/30/15 at 6:55 am
Posted on 7/30/15 at 7:37 am to DownshiftAndFloorIt
I rented a 450J a few years back
quote:Truth
Cat dozers lanky and not as smooth on hydraulics as the JD 450 which is important when running machine control
This post was edited on 7/30/15 at 7:41 am
Posted on 7/30/15 at 7:45 am to Hammertime
We run Cat with the Trimble gps and robotic machine control and it out performs our older Topcon system by a long shot. I've never experienced janky hydraulics in our newer dozers, the older ones with lever controls are jerky as hell but the joystick controlled machines are smooth.
Posted on 7/30/15 at 8:00 am to samson73103
You can get this work done by a contractor for much cheaper than renting something. An experienced operator will save you much time and headache, and you will wind up with a much better end result.
Posted on 7/30/15 at 8:03 am to samson73103
quote:
Has anyone ever operated one? Considering renting one to do some cleaning up around my property. Is there any special knowledge required and what brand is best?
I did, and it was not difficult. That said, be safe, avoid kids, don't try it in tight spots, etc
I wouldn't worry much about the brand of dozer you rent.
Posted on 7/30/15 at 8:04 am to Darth_Vader
quote:
Yes. I work for Caterpillar
same here Darth
Small world!
I worked for Cat right after I got out of the navy. I was down in Morgan City doing engine work on offshore vessels.
Posted on 7/30/15 at 8:07 am to samson73103
Yes. If you can figure out Grand Theft Auto controls on an XBox, you can figure out most dozers. Any idiot can push some dirt around and clear out land.
Now if you want to do fine grading and shaping, thats a whole other story.
Now if you want to do fine grading and shaping, thats a whole other story.
Posted on 7/30/15 at 8:09 am to Mmackl1
quote:
My advice is to let someone who is experienced come get it done 5 times faster for less money. Plenty of guys with dozers to hire.
^^^^^This^^^^^
Posted on 7/30/15 at 8:10 am to terd ferguson
quote:
I worked for Cat right after I got out of the navy. I was down in Morgan City doing engine work on offshore vessels.
I deal with earthmoving and forestry divisions. I've not had much dealings with the Marine division. From what little I've seen, it's a whole different world.
Posted on 7/30/15 at 8:13 am to Darth_Vader
Pretty much nobody down here runs CAT forestry equipment. 9 times out of 10, they use big green
Posted on 7/30/15 at 8:15 am to Darth_Vader
quote:
I've not had much dealings with the Marine division. From what little I've seen, it's a whole different world.
Mostly rebuilding the larger engines (which is what I was used to). Every single job was CRITICAL... b/c when these boats were down the company was losing serious money.
Many days I'd go in at 0730 and get sent down to Port Fourchon to start working... and end up working through the night until the next crew came to relieve me the next morning. I did lots of 24+ hour shifts.
CAT bought out some German company called MAK. Have you ever seen one of those engines? They're literally the size of a small building.
Posted on 7/30/15 at 8:16 am to madmaxvol
quote:
quote:
My advice is to let someone who is experienced come get it done 5 times faster for less money. Plenty of guys with dozers to hire.
^^^^^This^^^^^
Probably the best advice you'll get in this thread. Yeah it's easier to clad brush with a dozier (or as we call them, track type tractor) but if you don't know what your doing, you can still get into a world of trouble. One good example is stumps. I see guys all the time who do extensive damage to the blade, blade controls and mountings, and even the hydraulics when they try to take on too big of a stump and go at it in the wrong way. You can do thousands of dollars worth of damage to the machine in a matter of seconds if you don't know what you're doing.
Posted on 7/30/15 at 8:17 am to Agforlife
I ordered Cat D6 a few years ago with Trimble mc. It was so bad the dealer didn't even have guys that knew how to fix it or operate it. I had to call the local Trimble dealer. They mixed old and new sensors and it didn't match with the control box. I was so mad I took junk off. That system was close to $40k back then.
I took new bids for mc with geoshack, western data, and sms. Geoshack selling topcon was slightly higher maybe by $3,000 but the system was 100% better. Haven't looked back at Trimble/cat after that and probably never will. That put a bad taste in my mouth CAT dealers selling mc and they didn't even know how to work it, service it, and my salesman didn't even know what it did.
I took new bids for mc with geoshack, western data, and sms. Geoshack selling topcon was slightly higher maybe by $3,000 but the system was 100% better. Haven't looked back at Trimble/cat after that and probably never will. That put a bad taste in my mouth CAT dealers selling mc and they didn't even know how to work it, service it, and my salesman didn't even know what it did.
Posted on 7/30/15 at 8:17 am to madmaxvol
quote:
quote:
My advice is to let someone who is experienced come get it done 5 times faster for less money. Plenty of guys with dozers to hire.
^^^^^This^^^^^
As someone in the industry, I generally agree with this statement on most things. Even this, if you aren't comfortable with heavy machinery or have never been on a piece of equipment before, I highly recommend hiring someone to do it. You can do a lot of damage very quickly on a piece of equipment.
That being said, Dozers are so much fun to operate. If you have a good clear work area, feel confident you can avoiding killing anyone, have the money to burn, and arent looking for precise grading or dirt work, have at it. Get rolling on one and you'll be grunting to yourself like Tim Taylor before you're done. Not much that will make you feel more manly than driving a powerful machine like a dozer.
Unless you're Darth whos driven a Tank. (downvotes expected.)
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