Emma Radebaugh
While every bulldozer might look the same to laypeople, construction crews, engineers, and contractors know better. Did you know that there are different types of bulldozer attachments?
Foreman and engineers decide on the type of bulldozer based on factors like the terrain, the work they’ll be doing, and the size of their budget.
Learn more about the kinds of bulldozer attachments and how these workers select them!
Bulldozer Attachments
Jobsites need bulldozers to dig, push, and excavate material. There are three main types of bulldozers: crawler, mini, and wheel. They can all accommodate different attachments:
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S-Blade
Workers use the S-Blade to level off soil, filling, and stumping. The blade is the shortest with no wings and works best with fine to medium grade material.
U-Blade
A curved blade with massive wings, the U-Blade pushes and handles soft materials like soil. The large wings keep material from escaping when it’s moving.
S-U Blade
An S-U Blade is very narrow with proportional side wings. These blades also move soil and ditching.
Angle Blade
The Angle Blade moves debris, like snow or gravel, with its 30-degree angle blade. There are no side wings.
PAT Blade
If you need versatility at your job site, the PAT Blade maneuvers easily and in multiple directions. These blades can do a lot: scraping, leveling, filling, and grading are some common tasks.
Bulldozer Selection
How do the men and women working at these job sites know which bulldozer attachment to choose? They need to consider a few different factors to find the right one:
Tasks
What kind of work will you be doing? Thinking about the tasks ahead of you will determine if you need a bulldozer to move material or dig into the ground.
Jobsite
How big is the job? You don’t want to select a dozer that’s too big or small for the job site. Too big and it won’t fit; too small and it won’t be efficient.
Budget
The budget is where you’ll have to decide if you should rent or buy the bulldozer you need. From there, you can choose the attachment you need.
Maintenance
Maintaining ground engagement equipment is important, but you’ll need to find a bulldozer with a maintenance schedule that won’t add unnecessary downtime.
So many industries use these different types of bulldozer attachments to create buildings, mines, and clear snow from our roads. They help to make the world we know!
