How to Push With a Bulldozer Blade?

Bulldozer blade attachments can be fitted to many types of outdoor equipment, such as tractors and skid steers. Whether it is a conventional bulldozer or an accessory blade fitted to a tractor, the principles by which dozer blades are operated and used to move earth are identical. The only major differences arise from the platforms to which they are attached. While a fully tracked vehicle like a bulldozer or skid steer has great traction and can turn in place, a tractor or other wheeled platform cannot. This difference should always be kept in the operator's mind: Wheeled vehicles require more room to maneuver and cannot safely be used on slopes as steep as those a tracked vehicle can.

1. Raise the blade by pulling the blade control lever back. Lower it by pushing the lever forward. Tilt the blade to the left by pushing the lever left, and tilt it to the right by pushing it to the right. Whenever the hydraulic cylinders that manipulate the angle of the blade have reached the end of their strokes, center the lever in the "hold" position (where it started). Use this position to keep the blade oriented at the angles you desire.

2. Lower the blade until it is biting into the soil slightly, and start the vehicle forward, pushing the earth ahead of you. Always remove earth in relatively thin layers (thinner for wheeled vehicles than for tracked vehicles, which have more traction), and be careful not to let earth collect ahead of the blade until it spills over the top. When you reach the end of a run, reverse the vehicle to the beginning of the area you are trying to clear and then remove another layer. Tilting the blade left or right will let you conform it to the terrain, or help you build the earth into the shape you desire.

3. Adjust the angle at which the dozer assembly is mounted to the vehicle if you need to angle the blade more than you can with the pistons alone. This allows you to remount the blade to the vehicle at an angle, which allows the blade to reach the desired angle when added to the angle created by the motion of the cylinders.