Rubber tracks on a Dozer?

In some of Fastdirts photos he has pictures of rubber blocks that bolt onto the tracks on his excavator so that he doesn't tear up cement, asphalt and other hard surfaces. I'm wondering if there is anything like that available for dozers.

I can just hear people going what the heck would you want to do that for? Well, we are looking to add a cement bunker silo on the farm, cement walls and floor. I'm looking at a D5 or D6 size dozer for some fence clearing, and other dirt work projects. It would be really slick to use the dozer to push silage. One of the neighbours used one when they fed cattle, worked great. The problem is that the tracks would tear up the cement. I don't want to spend the money on a pad, only to rip it up with a dozer.

My other option is to buy another tractor for pushing silage, while I'd probably find other things for it to do, its a pricey venture to find something reliable with a dozer that hasn't been beat all to heck.

Start here:

http://www.tufpads.com/trackpads.html

http://www.tufpads.com/trackpads_artliner.html

farmers use dozers all the time for silage just don't back down on the concrete always keep about a foot on top of the pad let the trucks dump on it . they also use dozers in large trash transfer stations and always keep a layer of trash on top of the concrete to run on till the end of the day. you could always push the little bit on the concrete up with a tractor at the end of the day.

Another option would be a farm tractor on rubber tracks. Depending if you can justify it or not, I guess.

Andrew

like said before, when pushing silage i always left about 6 inches on the pad and it never scratched the pad ,

Thanks for the information guys. I still wouldn't feel comfortable leaving a bit on the floor, its going to cost north of $200,000 to build these pits and I don't really want to take any chance on causing any damage. I know I would be careful as its my money going out, but if I have to hire someone to run it, well my experience with hired guys hasn't been good, so I want to remove as many ways of damaging things as I can.

Andrew_D said:

Another option would be a farm tractor on rubber tracks. Depending if you can justify it or not, I guess.

Andrew

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I have been thinking about that for a while, but If I were to get a bigger main tractor, it would probably end up on the chopper. Running at 100-110% power on the unit we have now and more power would be nice. 250hp in 18 ton/ac barley is pretty much max. I would like a MT775 challenger but with feedlot rebuild, its going to have to wait. But the problem is that Ag equipment really isn't built heavy enough for the clearing that I need to do. We have neighbours who tried that with Quad tracks, Deer and Challenger 2 track units and they pretty much trashed them. In at the local case dealer I saw there quad in there getting a new rad, front grill and fan because they had pushed a 3 inch tree threw them. In the bush they had issues with some line that keeps tension on the track getting broken, and punching holes in the tracks. Apparently they were mad a degelman for making there dozer blades to light, as they had punched holes threw it when they were pushing "tree and construction" debris. More like chunks of concrete, sucker rod and drill stem. While this isn't something that I would even think about doing, I still feel that I would be better off with an actual dozer for this type of work. I have a friend whos family owns a small oil field construction company, and with the down turn, things are looking so good for them. So I may be able to pick up a lower hour D5 or 6 off them for a good deal and when things pick up, we are talking about me either selling it back or leasing it back to them if I don't have work for it and they do.

How well would the rubber track pads hold up on a dozer doing fence line clearing and how much would they decrease traction? Also when you're packing silage will the dozer be the only machine pushing and packing or will you have another blade tractor there as well? If you plan to use another tractor I'd do like the guys are saying above, keep a layer of silage on the bunker floor and keep the machine on that, let the tractor do the work on/off the pile. Also a D5 won't have a very big blade compared to a 14-18' blade on a FWA or 4WD tractor and would take a few more passes to push up a cart or semi load. The dozer will also have much less ground pressure so your packing ability won't be to great either I wouldn't think.

Mark13 said:

How well would the rubber track pads hold up on a dozer doing fence line clearing and how much would they decrease traction? Also when you're packing silage will the dozer be the only machine pushing and packing or will you have another blade tractor there as well? If you plan to use another tractor I'd do like the guys are saying above, keep a layer of silage on the bunker floor and keep the machine on that, let the tractor do the work on/off the pile. Also a D5 won't have a very big blade compared to a 14-18' blade on a FWA or 4WD tractor and would take a few more passes to push up a cart or semi load. The dozer will also have much less ground pressure so your packing ability won't be to great either I wouldn't think.

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I talked to a couple of different manufactures of road pads and they are removable so I would be able to remove them when doing dirt work. There would only be one packing unit on the pit. Right now I use a Bi Directional new holland with a 10 foot blade, thats about 2 feet tall. With a dozer I would add a top plate and possibly side plates to the blade to carry more. Packing force with a tracked unit, isn't a problem. A lot of guys around here use Case Quad track and they have a comparable ground pressure. Even big FWA or 4WD with duals don't have much more ground pressure. I have seen a friend only use there dozer for silage and it worked out very well. The key is to lay think layers, and not to stop packing.
The tractor I'm using now has about 140hp and weighs about 21,000 pounds the hydrostatic transmission is nice but I think it takes more power than a gear transmission. If needed I could put it on the pit with the dozer for additional packing, but then again I'd have to hire someone and its hard to find temporary help for a few days at a time.

I put some time on a 8 ton excavator last year that had road liners on it, the traction was almost non existent. I would imagine it would get to be a pita taking the pads on and off all the time. I would almost bet the steel tracks wouldn't tear up the concrete as bad as you think it would..

another option is to put 1/2 flat bar on its side in the concrete floor so the edge is level with the top of the floor about 18 inches apart .
that is what Caterpillar had at the crawler tractor plant so when the machines came off of the line and out to the yard it would not eat the concrete .

Thanks for all the input. Actually had the opportunity to run a D6N for an after noon, after we had a truck get stuck. Winch is nice. Pushed and packed things way better than I expected. This unit didn't have ice cleats welded to the tracks and I was surprised at how little it tore up the ground. I think If we can swing everything, I might try with out rubber pads on the tracks. Another thing I did learn, otter box won't stand up to a dozer. Had my phone on my belt and must have caught it on something, that popped it off. Saw phone after I drove over it, twice. Had pictures and a video of the results and stuck truck, not anymore.

Yair . . . .

Google some Cat testing videos and their skid pan . . . D6's cutting donuts, forward to reverse at full speed and power. they're doing that on bare wet concrete you will have a covering of silage

I believe there are additives to put super hard toppings on a slab . . . I have set rail track flush the the top of slabs in workshops much as suggested by caterpillar13 with flatbar.

Cheers.