''steep slopes on dozers''

[monkey]

not sure of the slope, seemed steep to me looking down

 

[Mark Thompson]

When we were doing the tunnel at Dulles airport we picked the bid up for the dirt stockpiles, no spoils were trucked off site and the airport maintained the stock with PMC as the management. When the company took over the stock piles we had to go and re profile three hills as they called them, more like mountains that were maintained out of the flight line. I had to go out and trim and walk the slops in with a D6LGP and the pads were near new, all the slope angles were blown out and I know some were 1/2/- 1 slopes.

While not an expert or anything like that we did walk the slopes sideways at a angle but never side to side, the clay shale was far too slick and I am not that crazy.

 

[turbo8781]

Yair...I have to ask, why do they use straight blades for cutting fire lines?

so the dirt will spill out the edges instead of the cat having to carry all that extra weight from exsess dirt build up such as what you would get with a full U blade. it makes it much easier on the cat and you can push alot faster when you're in a hurry

 

[turbo8781]

Cal Fires' D6 dozers were originally fitted with angle blades which makes sense, as you want to carry the fuel away from the fire. They also used to do pioneering of fire roads, fire breaks and construction of camps. I don't think they do much of that anymore. (The public hates the sight of fire breaks, at least until their house burns down). In the 80s the dozers got cabs after an operator was burned and the blades were changed at the same time. I'm guessing this was due to them not doing much pioneering work anymore but that's just my opinion. Many things are done in gov't by committee without thought to actual use. (L.A. County Fire still uses angle blades on its' new D8R s, proving the point that angle blades are more useful in fighting fire).

100% agree on that

 

[ronnie]

I remember watching a video in school about the construction of the trans-alaskian pipeline, and they used a technique called "yo-yo dozing". This is where two D-9s were hooked together with a length of thick cable, and the first one would start pushing off the top of a sheer mountain, and when he couldn't back up because he had gone vertical, or was completly suspended, the other dozer would pull him back up! Has anyone else heard or seen the video with this info in it??

i'm from western nc and phillips and jordan and alot of other companies around there will yo-yo in a heart beat i been yo -yoed mant times

 

[ronnie]

i have never seen that on a dozer either great idea though

i have a slope meter we mounted it on a peice of flat metal and 2 magnets so i can take it with me everyday

 

[Oxbow]

Sidehill on a 1:1? Even if you could, why? You're not likely to leave a nice looking job. If dressing the slope is the goal working at a slight angle, pointed uphill, and working your way across the slope works best for me. The soil conditions have to be just perfect to be able to even climb a 1:1. Maybe in perfect conditions a smaller tractor (D3/D4 with fixed undercarriage) could stay on a 1:1 sidehill and manage to dress it decently, but anything heavier would gouge the earth so bad with the downhill track, if it didn't slide clear down, that the finished result would not be satisfactory.

I have been on that steep sidehill, but only if I am on a backslope of a ditch or at the toe of a slope where I have earth to hold me there. I use as a rule of thumb a 2:1 slope is the max to work on sidehill and still accomplish a decent finish, and then only if the material is just right.

IMHO there is a better way to accomplish work when a 1:1 or steeper is required. If you are cutting a 1:1 slope and don't have a blade to trim the slopes as you go down, and it needs to be polished rather than using the corner bit in pioneering fashion, then maybe I can see putting a dozer on a 1:1 sidehill with the flat portion of your work holding you on the slope, but only as a last resort. If for some reason (not sure what that might be) you are constructing a fill at a 1:1 and need to dress the lifts after the fill is complete then I would work it as I mentioned at the begining. Even at that you would likely have to start at one end or the other to get an area packed enough to procede across the slope.

I am learning everyday and maybe there are better operators out there that do this, but one thing that I have learned is that with proper planning you can often avoid having to put a piece of equipment in that situation.

Regarding rippers and slopes, If I am on frozen ground or snow I use the ripper to straighten me out vertically on the hill if I start to slide sideways.

Like DP said early on in this thread, I'd like to see a D6 on a 1:1 sidehill.

 

[Vantage_TeS]

Almost, but not quite.

 

[Dozerboy]

So close what is that a D6?

I've been close to side hilling a 1:1 with a Deere 650LPG, but I kept sliding off it. Had to go get a track hoe instead.

 

[Vantage_TeS]

So close what is that a D6?

I've been close to side hilling a 1:1 with a Deere 650LPG, but I kept sliding off it. Had to go get a track hoe instead.

D6R XL, it went steeper for a bit and then flattened out.

 

[theironoracle]

i'm not an operator but correct me if i'm wrong i swear i have seen a d8n with suspension stay on a sidehill better than any fixed bottom roller swingframe cat, excellent picture with the slope gauge vantage_tes......theironoracle

 

[queen of spades]

Is there an advantage for these dozers going backwards down this pipeline hill?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HX50uBgArmY

 

[ih100]

So close what is that a D6?

I've been close to side hilling a 1:1 with a Deere 650LPG, but I kept sliding off it. Had to go get a track hoe instead.

1:1 sideways is possible, as I've said before I've done it, and if the material is good you can get a good finish, especially if you don't work for some dinosaur who thinks back blading is on a level with robbing old ladies' purses. If you work down a lift at a time so the lower track is running against a berm of material, there's no chance of slipping, and there's a few more degrees in hand before you tip. It is hard on the chains, though, no getting away from that. I've found dry-ish clay best for cutting side slopes, as you can sit on a 1:1 without sliding. Tried it on sand and couldn't get much better than 2:1.

 

[kevin37b]

Iwould think one of them jockeys would knock that knob off the break over ?That is where you fill your skivies .

 

[ditchbitch]

I have done this with our D5K numerous times. You just have to have some experience and a set of bigger balls. :notworthy

 

[ditchbitch]

hi, folks.
As i have mentioned before, the main problem with keeping most dozers on steeper slopes, especially steeper than 1.5:1 is that they want to slide down the slope. I have worked batters a bit in my career and i have yet to find a dozer that would stay up on any slope steeper than 1.5:1 without a substantial windrow below the machine to hold it from sliding. Ususally, the only way to get such a windrows is to final cut the batter as you come down, so that the bottom track is actually riding the bottom edge of the batter and the windrow has flat ground to sit on.

Now i'm not saying that it is impossible to side-cut steeper than 1.5:1 because i have done it - with an anchor dozer on top of the batter to hold me. I'll just say that i'd like to see a dozer side-cutting a 1:1 batter and not sliding down the slope. This tendency to slide is not a characteristic of any individual make or model of machine. It is a fact of life to do with slip angles, traction, adhesion, grouser pattern and a few other things as well. Width of track guage doesn't have much at all to do with sliding, only with the machine's tip angle.

I have run various d4's, a d5b wide gauge, various d6's and d7's, d8h's and d9g's on 1.5:1 batters and you do have to be a little careful. It is extremely hard to do on fill slopes, a little easier on cut slopes, for relatively obvious reasons.

I have been side-cutting 2:1 batters with a cat 943 the last couple of days, quite happily. There were a few places where the batter got a little steeper. It got a little hairier in those places but the 943 is still standing, greasy side down and i don't have any really dirty underwear to wash today.

Rtengineering, i once took a cat d9g with hydraulic angle blade and no ripper up an 8 foot high vertical cut wall in an iron ore mine in western australia one night in february, 1968. The jug of beer that i won tasted really nice too, better than any i ever bought while working there. Mind you, i don't recommend it for beginners or even for experienced operators, but i have done it.

Having said that, i'm with you about side-cutting 1:1 batters.

wow aren't you just a regular ba. I want your autograph!!!!!

 

[terrasmooth]

A good operator can work a 1:1 slope sideways... depending on
1. material
2. Height of slope (if your downhill track is at the toe you can get steeper than a 1:1 depending on the material, just don't end up with more material than you can push.
3. Keep your blade slightly uphill... be prepared to go for a ride sideways, it will happen
4. Watch out for large rocks getting under you uphill track.
5. Always wear your seatbelt.

 

[Shimmy1]

Is there an advantage for these dozers going backwards down this pipeline hill?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HX50uBgArmY

Zombie Thread! So they don't kiss the windshield???

 

[Cam85]

Hey feller's just bought an old post back to the front how to angel cut a hill side have a read of it I've gorne in to a fair amount of detail on how to do batter work in there and diddent want to rewritte the whole thing.
It's times like this I wish I had taken photos of my handiwork I have proven that a dozer will hang up on 1 in 1.
The tape measure and the spirit level don't lie and yes I know how to measure.

On the subject of batter boards they have been replaced by percentage levels simply put one on the dash do some math and cut down what u want simple no?

 

[jughead]

not in this life time. started too old and never got over it.