Dozer vs. Tractor

[rtimgray]

There really is no comparison between a dozer and a tractor. I had the opportunity to get both of mine out yesterday for working in the front yard. I had to basically cut down a small mound (18") and re-level the yard so that the water drains away. I had worked the yard last year with my Kioti DK 45 and box blade and it took several hours to get the area right next to the house cut down. Of course, last fall I bought my Case 310G dozer.

I used the dozer to peel back the topsoil and put it in a pile beside the area to be cut down. Then I had to push out the clay dirt beneath and push it downhill (I didn't have too far to go - maybe 50 yards for the longest push). Anyway, this little dozer is about 30 hp and weighs about 9,000 lbs. I couldn't dig real deep, but I made some pretty good passes. I did with the dozer in 45 minutes what would have taken all day with the tractor.

I did have to use the tractor with box blade to smooth everything out when I was done - I am not anywhere close to being able to finish grade with the dozer. It just really amazes me what a little dozer can do, compared to a tractor. If you have any amount of dirt to move, stumps to dig, or trees to push, a dozer is definately the way to go (buy or rent depends on the situation).

Take care.

 

[Soundguy]

Too many people think a farm tractor with a grader blade or a box blade is a bull dozer.. then they end up abusing or breaking the farm tractor and are disattisfied with it because it isn't a bulldozer.. etc.

soundguy

 

[Brokermike]

I would love to buy a small dozer for stuff like that as well as to help with some small scale logging around the house. Do you mind if I ask what kind of shape it was in when you bought it (undercarriage etc) and rouhgly what you paid?

 

[rtimgray]

I had been looking for a grey market Komatsu or Mitsubishi when I found this one. I had been expecting to pay $10,000 to $12,000 for the grey market machine, and came across this little Case 310G for $5,300 (plus it was local - I was going to have to travel a bit to find a grey market machine). The undercarriage is about 80% or better.

The fella that I bought it from buys/sells/rents small dozers (had a fleet of 12 when I bought this one). He had gotten it from his brother that is a large used construction equipment parts dealer. It was in poor shape when Joe (who I bought it from) got it. He put on new gauges, seat, key switch, generator, air cleaner, lights and some other minor stuff. It wasn't in good enough shape to add to his rental fleet, so he decided to sell it.

If I have good batteries on it, it starts right up about to 30 degrees F. Colder than that and I have had to use starting fluid and jump start it (the old diesel takes alot of amps to crank over). It smokes just a little on start up, but clears up in a few minutes. It is a manual transmission 3-speed and reverse; I thought this might be a problem because I had only used powershifts before, but it' like second nature now.

This dozer is really the ticket that I had been looking for. I have a lot of woods that I need to clear out and several acres of brush/small tree clearing to do to reclaim some pastures. Make no mistake about it - I could definately use a bigger dozer to clear the pastures. However, I can do almost the same work as I have done with a Case 850, I just have to do it in smaller "bites".

Basically what I meant by starting this thread was that I am still amazed by the difference of tracks vs. wheels. My 30 hp dozer easily out pushes my 45 hp tractor (and probably a much bigger wheel tractor). Of course, my dozer can't run a bushhog, pull a plow or disc, run a post hole digger, etc. It's nice that I have the luxury of two machines. If I had to pick only one, it would be the tractor - put the dozer makes life a lot easier.

And at least I'll never have a flat tire on the dozer after running through the thorn thicket.

Take care.

 

[bz1]

Yes! I too have a small dozer, JD350 which is 42 hp. It has an 8 foot wide blade and will out work any sized skid steer and certainly any small tractor. I also have a reasonable sized skid steer with a 3/4 yard bucket. Whenever I have to move any un-worked dirt the dozer comes out and is used to move or at least pile it up. Then the skid steer can scoop it up and put it into the dump trailer behind the tractor. The perfect combination for a small hobby farmer with lots of landscape work to do. I wouldn't trade that dozer for any other machine as long as I have dirt projects. I won't even bother putting a loader on my 2520 tractor because that would be a toy compared to the skid steer much less the dozer. The only problem with an older dozer is that about every 3 years or so I have some major maintenance. The good think about a small dozer is that you can do all that stuff yourself.

 

[stumpfield]

.........
Basically what I meant by starting this thread was that I am still amazed by the difference of tracks vs. wheels. My 30 hp dozer easily out pushes my 45 hp tractor (and probably a much bigger wheel tractor). Of course, my dozer can't run a bushhog, pull a plow or disc, run a post hole digger, etc. It's nice that I have the luxury of two machines. If I had to pick only one, it would be the tractor - put the dozer makes life a lot easier.

I also have a little 30 hp dozer. Nortrac NB3500. This one has a 3 pt hitch and "CAN" run all those cat 1 implements...

 

[rtimgray]

How do you like the Nortrac dozer? I had not really considered that route when I was looking just because I thought that they would be too small (of course, I ended up buying a baby dozer and am very impressed with the capability, so there goes that line of thinking). Do you use the 3 point hitch much? I would think that it would be handy - just think, then I could bushhog the thorn bushes with a dozer and still not get flat tires!

I've never seen a Nortrac dozer personally, but I have seen several Chinese tractors. The ones I've seen seem a little rough around the edges, but certainly servicable, especially for the price.

 

[joe48]

"And at least I'll never have a flat tire on the dozer after running through the thorn thicket."

tHAT'S TRUE JUST DON'T THROW A TRACK OR YOU'LL WISH IT WAS A THORN IN A TIRE, BECUSE IT'LL BE A THORN IN YOUR B_TT!!! BTDT.

 

[plastikosmd]

I love little crawlers. I have had a couple of small ones that are just for really light work (struck, and the current mead that I am fixing, here mead in truck )
the little trackmaster I have is a beast, only 12.5hp wisconsin, weight is prob a bit over 2000 lbs, not sure..but it can push! (series of pics-before and after)
Crawler 1

 

[Gelu Botezan]

Hi Guys,
need some advice

I finally got out of the tractor vs dozer dilema and decided for a dozer, mini, tiny dozer! the work is on small properties like 1/2 1/4 acres, confined spaces around buildings, moving earth, planting material etc.
I found the struck corp's Magnatrac machines. Surprisingly I could not find recent threads about these tractors in order to get some user input on the matter.
Are these machines reliable for commercial use, like daily use or rental?
they would be used in Romania at the bottom of Europe.
Hope I do not disturb much.

 

[stumpfield]

How do you like the Nortrac dozer? I had not really considered that route when I was looking just because I thought that they would be too small (of course, I ended up buying a baby dozer and am very impressed with the capability, so there goes that line of thinking). Do you use the 3 point hitch much? I would think that it would be handy - just think, then I could bushhog the thorn bushes with a dozer and still not get flat tires!

I've never seen a Nortrac dozer personally, but I have seen several Chinese tractors. The ones I've seen seem a little rough around the edges, but certainly servicable, especially for the price.

This little beast works great especially for cutting ATV trails on the hillside. I use the front blade to cut and pull a boxblade in the rear to smooth things out. I can do it in a single pass on gentle slopes. I haven't bushhog with it yet but don't any problem using it. The quality is like any other chinese tractor. It's on the rough side and not very well engineered. I wish I have the time to use it more often and do some mods like re-routing the hydralic hoses that gets in the way. Mine has a steering problem right now. The nortrac does have very good warranty coverage. Mine has 3 1/2 years extended warranty.

 

[flusher]

There really is no comparison between a dozer and a tractor. I had the opportunity to get both of mine out yesterday for working in the front yard. I had to basically cut down a small mound (18") and re-level the yard so that the water drains away. I had worked the yard last year with my Kioti DK 45 and box blade and it took several hours to get the area right next to the house cut down. Of course, last fall I bought my Case 310G dozer.

I used the dozer to peel back the topsoil and put it in a pile beside the area to be cut down. Then I had to push out the clay dirt beneath and push it downhill (I didn't have too far to go - maybe 50 yards for the longest push). Anyway, this little dozer is about 30 hp and weighs about 9,000 lbs. I couldn't dig real deep, but I made some pretty good passes. I did with the dozer in 45 minutes what would have taken all day with the tractor.

I did have to use the tractor with box blade to smooth everything out when I was done - I am not anywhere close to being able to finish grade with the dozer. It just really amazes me what a little dozer can do, compared to a tractor. If you have any amount of dirt to move, stumps to dig, or trees to push, a dozer is definately the way to go (buy or rent depends on the situation).

Take care.

On the other end of the size range, my neighbor uses an old D7 Cat dozer on his 30 acres of alfalfa field. It has a 10-12-ft wide laser-guided scraper box to level the field (he uses surface irrigation so the field has to be flat and properly graded for drainage) and a big tandem disk that he pulls with his dozer. He claims that this 32,000 lb/115 hp (drawbar) monster actually compacts the field less than his MF-294 tractor that weighs 6700 lb.

 

[POC]

He could be right. I'll bet the Cat has more than 6X the surface area in contact with the ground than the tractor does. That should offset the difference in weight.
I was looking seriously at a Struck dozer, but the fact that they are just SO slow really took it out of the picture for me.

 

[GuglioLS]

Rtimgray -

I'm not sure this thread should be titled "dozer VS tractor"? Maybe "Dozer compliments tractor"? Each have their advantages over the other.

How about some pics of you and your dozer in action?

I agree having a Tractor and a Crawler to compliment each other is the way to go, especially if you have any amount of land and want and need to work it. As long as your at it, you might as well add a Dump Trailer to the mix. Here are a couple of pics and a videos of my Komatsu D20A-6. I picked it up just about a year ago. It a super nice machine and gets many jobs done in no time flat. I built a dump trailer and use the dozer to haul the trailer around. With the Dozer and tractor, I am my own one man construction crew.





Try doing this with a tractor:











Larry

 

[sandman2234]

I think you guys should drop the discussions about dozers! I don't have the funding in place to purchase one, nor the work to justify it, but it has always been a dream to own a tracked vehicle. Either you guys have to quit talking about it, or I am going to have to quit reading these posts, lol, cause SWMBO isn't going to allow funding for a dozer till she gets a new car. Some people have no sense of the correct priorities in life!!!
David from jax

 

[EddieWalker]

Larry,

Great pics!!! I agree, the dozer compliments the tractors, but it is so specialized that in my opinion, the tractor is still king. On certain things, my dozer is just amazing, but I've also come to learn that when used for the wrong things, it creates more work for me. Clearing roads is a good example. I started out tearing through the woods, taking out trees and making a huge mess. Then I spent allot of time cleaning it up. With the tractor, I can take out the trees and move them to the burn pile in about a quarter of the time that it takes to do it with the dozer first.

I'm comparing a 168hp dozer to a 80hp backhoe tractor.

Eddie

 

[stumpfield]

Larry, Great post and pics. You gonna make everybody want to have both dozer and tractor I'm still shopping for a tractor... I'd love to have something with a loader on it.

Tom

 

[meadowlarkponds]

I like the view that says dozer compliments tractor.

As a property owner who isn't getting any younger, I've found so many tasks that a small dozer can do better than a tractor and that I could never do myself before. I now consider it a mandatory item on my place. When I bought it(Case 450 c), the plan was to use it on specific projects and then sell it....that was several years ago and that plan has changed....no sale.

I can easily see, down the road a few years, where the small dozer will make the difference in allowing me to continue to live on and maintain this place vs having to sell out and move back to town. The small dozer will extend my stay in the country by several years, all other things being equal...the small dozer is invaluable and a perfect compliment to tractors for folks with property.

 

[jmolwitz]

Hi Guys,
need some advice

I finally got out of the tractor vs dozer dilema and decided for a dozer, mini, tiny dozer! the work is on small properties like 1/2 1/4 acres, confined spaces around buildings, moving earth, planting material etc.
I found the struck corp's Magnatrac machines. Surprisingly I could not find recent threads about these tractors in order to get some user input on the matter.
Are these machines reliable for commercial use, like daily use or rental?
they would be used in Romania at the bottom of Europe.
Hope I do not disturb much.

I'm just about finished with restoring an old Struck Mt3000 from 1986 . I think for the size it is a great machine . It is very serviceable and strong . The biggest weakness is having oilite bushings on the pins instead of rolled bronze which means you cant run a hammer all day . The bushings are easy to change and cheap . Majority of the steele is 3/16 not crazy heavy but plenty strong . If you buy the good tracks they will last forever (originals are still good)

James

 

[Gelu Botezan]

I'm just about finished with restoring an old Struck Mt3000 from 1986 . I think for the size it is a great machine . It is very serviceable and strong . The biggest weakness is having oilite bushings on the pins instead of rolled bronze which means you cant run a hammer all day . The bushings are easy to change and cheap . Majority of the steele is 3/16 not crazy heavy but plenty strong . If you buy the good tracks they will last forever (originals are still good)

James

Thanks for the hint, I just do not understand why most people ignore the Magnatrac. The bad thing is that I am not living in the US and a false purchase could be very costly