Flogging ?
Well, long as we're flogging the subject. Let me flog it some more.
" For mine, a 'finish dozer operator' just isn't a FINISH dozer operator until he or she can do it with whatever is available that will fit into the work space with room to work "
I do not know of any female dozer operators here. They all want to run loaders,compactors, etc. Rubber tired equipment.
It takes a skilled operator , meaning talent(Operating Skills) plus dirt moving experience, to create a finish grade. The different soil types, sand,gravel,clay, rock,organic, all need to be worked differently. It takes talent and experience to cut finish grade for floor slabs,building pads,with tight tolerances. Those same skills are necessary in clean up and topsoil spreading,for hyway work. Got to have an eye for drainage. Remembering no duck ponds or bird baths when you are all done. Balance the material and make it fit. All comes with experience, little by little.
Then the talent or creativity , some people just have it and other never do. To clean up a borrow pit , or road job, where it looks like a bomb had went off or war took place, into something beautiful, scenic, and eye pleasing , takes some thought. Challenging to say the least.
Then of course machine selection for the task, is important to say the least. It's got to be able to fit ( Size) in the work space, required, and also be productive (Size again).
Well, I almost missed touching on the GPS,Laser guided dozers. Yes, they shorten the time required for task, but it still takes spatial skills , understanding how the job is to look when done.
Well , in summary, 'Spatial Skills" is the key word. Understanding how the job is to look when done.
I always thought my high school Plane Geometry, was most valuable in my career. Definitive form and free form, just in understanding those mathematical terms.
