Dozer Blade

G'day fella's, I've posted this in the attachments section, so sorry if I should just keep this there!

I've been checking out dozer attachments recently & have been thinking it could be a good investment we have a large rural community & gravel driveways etc a plenty.

Been looking at the digga model, looks pretty cool. I'd really like to hear any thoughts on one of these, what to look out for, what are the must haves & the should nots! Cheers

are you just after a blade or the whole machine?

G'day Nick, THIS, or similar attachment for my Komatsu SK 818 is what I was thinking. Cheers.

Dozer blades can be very useful, but I think that you will find that you won't have a long enough wheel base...1m on your machine and that it will struggle to be effective. This is based on my experience selling skid steers for over 8 years and seeing many customers try them. A CTL is ideal for running one of these. A 4 in 1 bucket is much better for grading.

Dozer/Grader attachment for skid steer

yamaman said:

G'day fella's, I've posted this in the attachments section, so sorry if I should just keep this there!

I've been checking out dozer attachments recently & have been thinking it could be a good investment we have a large rural community & gravel driveways etc a plenty.

Been looking at the digga model, looks pretty cool. I'd really like to hear any thoughts on one of these, what to look out for, what are the must haves & the should nots! Cheers

Click to expand...

Hi Yamaman.

I was interested in the same thing a year ago. The research I did and the experiences I have had showed that a dozer blade on a skid would push stuff but did not lend itself to doing a smooth job for driveways, roads etc due to the short wheelbase of a skid steer.

So I got one of these from eBay




With the wheels out front and independent control of the blade which has its tow point at the front it works like a good grader should. The longer wheelbase enables you to cut the high spots on a road and fill the low areas. It will not dive in in soft soil and then ride over the hard stuff. Mine will push a good bladefull and is good for roads, driveways, building sites, spreading gravel/fill etc. This combined with a 4 in 1 bucket will really give you a versatile setup.

Let me know if you want more info.

Regards AusDave

AusDave said:

Hi Yamaman.

I was interested in the same thing a year ago. The research I did and the experiences I have had showed that a dozer blade on a skid would push stuff but did not lend itself to doing a smooth job for driveways, roads etc due to the short wheelbase of a skid steer.

So I got one of these from eBay
View attachment 67750

View attachment 67749

With the wheels out front and independent control of the blade which has its tow point at the front it works like a good grader should. The longer wheelbase enables you to cut the high spots on a road and fill the low areas. It will not dive in in soft soil and then ride over the hard stuff. Mine will push a good bladefull and is good for roads, driveways, building sites, spreading gravel/fill etc. This combined with a 4 in 1 bucket will really give you a versatile setup.

Let me know if you want more info.

Regards AusDave

Click to expand...

That would be far better than a standard blade. The extra length would be key. That 1CX is about the same weight and wheel base length as the SK- 818 as well, so if it works for you it would probably work.

Well, there's some food for thought! Thanks fella's, I'd not ever seen a grader attachment, awesome! So you think using a 4 in 1 as a dozer & then final trim with the grader attach?

Dave, any info on that machine you could send my way would be great thanks! Cheers

I bought one a few years back and honestly hardly ever use it. Maybe its just me but I find a plain ol' bucket and a few teeth to do a better job. However if you are going to buy one for using on roads I feel that the grader attachment will do a better job than the dozer blade. As someone mentioned the dozer blades do have a bad tendency to dive in softer dirt and raise up over the harder stuff.

looks better than a standard blade

TERM - the blade you have, does it tilt? I'd imagine a tilting blade would be fairly useful?

Dave - that grader looks the goods. A lot of machine hanging out the front though. I guess I'm worried about it being too long!

A lot of the work we do is in hilly/rock country, so driveways bend & twist a bit. That machine looks like it'd be awesome on a flat straight run, how does it go when things get a bit tight?

Thanks for all the responses so far, it's great to have so much first hand knowledge to tap into, cheers.

Gday mate I have one I run on my CTL its a good thing for cutting swales, pathways, terraces etc they arent very good for fine grading due to the short wheelbase as mentioned. I find the grader a little too bulky for tight work and tend to use my Harley rake for driveway work as it does a great job quickly. If you are keen to get one though I would like to sell mine as I would like a tilting 4 in 1 for an upcoming contract.

If you are interested gimme a call on 0411049898

John

yamaman said:

TERM - the blade you have, does it tilt? I'd imagine a tilting blade would be fairly useful?

Dave - that grader looks the goods. A lot of machine hanging out the front though. I guess I'm worried about it being too long!

A lot of the work we do is in hilly/rock country, so driveways bend & twist a bit. That machine looks like it'd be awesome on a flat straight run, how does it go when things get a bit tight?

Thanks for all the responses so far, it's great to have so much first hand knowledge to tap into, cheers.

Click to expand...

Hi Yamaman. Long is good. That's what makes it easy to get a smooth job done just like a real grader which you'll notice is really long. You can even set the grader blade up with a laser to grade to a level.

Here's a video doing a job in a confined space

YouTube - JCB 1CX and grader attachment landscaping a yard

If it's really f$#@ing tight then a Harley rake style takes up a bit less space and requires less pushing power. But more moving & wearing parts adds to the cost. If you don't have much room, a 4 in 1 bucket can do as you're not trying to get levels over long distances. I rough out a lot of my work with a toothed 4 in 1 and even need a ripper at times. Then I grade to a level finish. Works good for me, but everywhere is different.

Regards AusDave