Dozer vs Track Loader

[Welder Dave]

I had to make a small swale one time and the foreman(carpenter) from the contractor asked why I did it that way. I went at 90 deg's. to where the swale was going and dug a bit of a trench to set up the angle so I could then go lengthwise to make the swale. I'm looking at my 5' flat skid steer bucket and thinking how the heck else am I going to get on an angle to make the swale? I could have made a 5' wide trench I guess (don't know what I'd do with the extra material dug out) with a really wide swale but the swale was mostly so water drains away from an electrical box on the property. I think the guy thought I could magically tilt the bucket to make the swale. Bobcat does make a tilt attachment that would make swales easier but I'm not sure if they if have an indicator to tell when the bucket is perfectly level.

 

[Willie B]

I looked at a dozer once with only up down hydraulic. I vaguely remember I could adjust tilt manually. I commented I would prefer a 6 way blade. He said "All you gotta do is back up on a rock to get started, then it cuts the road to shape."
I believe it can also be done backing off the edge of the road to start, come on diagonal. Even a 6 way blade, you run the edge parallel to the tracks as soon as the road under the machine is tilted.

I believe a six way blade is useful, but not essential. Angling the blade is not often used. Angle the blade more than a little, I can't see the corners of the cutting edge. My friend is magical on a small dozer, he explains angling the blade slightly avoids the digs & humps you will create affecting both tracks at once. Next pass angle the other way, tends to reduce the digging & piling.
Tilting the blade only happens at first when you crown a road. As soon as the tractor is tilted one side of a road, you go back to parallel with the tractor.

I have friends, they are highly skilled people. They get the job done with the machine that is there. Kenny, (61 years of age) is still a kid in the eyes of his father (82 years), can do more with a machine than I could believe. If they had a track loader on site, they would crown a road. If a dozer with a 6 way, it'd be more efficient. Each project brings 8? 12? machines. They do the job, ever conscious of the cost of bringing, then removing each machine.

One special tool is some of the International Harvester track loaders (175) in the fleet had Drott Skid Loaders. A Drott bucket allows you to doze & load.

 

[skyking1]

175 was the first "big" machine that I ran. I was 20, and I rented it from Verlon Payne to stump an orchard for a friend, load out some topsoil and place some big boulders.
Verlon worked with my dad in the woods in the 60's. It was pretty cool that he trusted me with it.