Operating a dozer on slopes

[Jag]

E-Mats, I now have about 500 hours seat time on my JD-450C. I have worked it on a side slope of about 32-35 dregees, not on purpose that is just the way it ended up. I hung a hole and slid off a bank just above my fence. If I had gone another 2-3 feet down hill I would have been in ditch on it's side. I was able to turn it around and get it back up hill with only taking out 2 posts, never busted the wire. Have push brush over into a 12-16 deep ditch and gone down into it at a little over 45 dregees and backed back up with no problem.. When talking to my father-in-law (35+ years of full time heavy operation) said a dozer will take a lot more than you would think, and they will slip, specially working the side of the slope, before a dozer will flip , as long you do not hang a root or rock. In my linited experence you will be way scared long before get there....

 

[ernemats]

I have a JD 550 with a manual 6 way angle blade. I only have about 20 hours running it . I have had it on side slopes of 20 to 25 degrees and it has not felt uncomfortable . On lesser slopes with my tractors it feels a little iffy. The 550 has a full cage and brushguards and I always use the seat belt, I don't think I am experienced enough to go on slopes in excess of what I have been on already, and don't know if I want to try. Thanks for the input all of you.

 

[Dozernut]

Hey Jag, where have you been hiding. I hope you didn't jump off one of your cliffs and skin your tukus /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif! Sounds like you got that 450 backup and running again. If my memory hasn't completely failed me, you were getting ready to rebuild the steering clutches. 500 hours, you have been doing a little work. Don't be jumping that Deere from the cliffs /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif, later dude.
RB

 

[Jag]

HI, you Dozer Nut you. Man I have really missed you guys. This site is getting so big it is hard to keep. Just been real busy, too many irons in the fire and you would think there was little room left with my big rear staying in the fire most of the time. No-- the 450 is still down, blown head gasket, but that should change this next week or so. I have to clear and level off a place and get a place for a barn before the end of May when my wife brings in the horses. I got about 200 hours seat time on a friends 450. Man getting paid to pay on someone else dozer, what a great life...

E-Mats, what model is the JD-550 and do you have hydro drive.. Keep us up to date on the learning curve...

JAG

 

[ernemats]

tHE JD550 IS A MODEL 6410, AN OLDER MODEL NEW IN 1979 WITH A 3 SPEED POWER SHIFT CONVERTER DRIVEN TRANS. i DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT LEARNING CURVE WILL BE LIKE, HOPE IT GOES FAST. I SURE WISH THE DOZER HAD A 6 WAY POWER ANGLE BLADE AND i HAD SOME EXTRA HANDS FOR ALL THE LEVERS (BLADE, CLUTCHES, TRANSMISSION)

 

[Egon]

No problems with the hands.
Left hand on powershift to 1st. for begining work' then on to clutches along with left foot for brakes, right foot on decelerator and the right hand on the blade controll. Have fun.

Egon

 

[wroughtn_harv]

<font color="blue">No problems with the hands.
Left hand on powershift to 1st. for begining work' then on to clutches along with left foot for brakes, right foot on decelerator and the right hand on the blade controll.</font>


Hmmmmmmmmm, back in 96 I got to operate a Vermeer cable plow about the size of JC550. It was tough. There was the steering wheel and the two gauges on the dash. The object of the excerise was to use the wheel to keep the two needles on the gauges vertical. If one lost vertical it meant that side track was losing power and needed a little help via the steering wheel.

Back in the early eighties I was following a cable plowing crew in California. Cat D-7 cutting through dirt and rock outside of Bakersfield. More than once I saw the operator plowing in along a road with one track on the roadside and the other floating in space. He had unbelievable faith in the strength of the plow and his own ability.

BTW bulldozers and grades are just the opposite of motorcycles and hill climbs. Many is the time I've climbed a hill with a bike that I'll never live long enough to grow the cajones to ride down. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[DKinWA]

ernemats, I've wondered the same thing too, but for a slightly different reason. Every time I see a dozer or an excavator hanging on to the side of some hill I wonder how on earth all of those bearings in the engine stay lubricated. Do the big diesel engines on these machines have some special system for ensuring oil gets pumped throughout the engine when working on these steep slopes? At some of the angles I've seen dozers working I'm not sure the pick up tube for the oil pump doesn't wind up sucking air at times.

 

[jfall]

2:1 slope is possible to trim,but you better have your blade in the ground,and it better be good dirt.
im going to demo a new john deer 764 high speed dozer tomorrow,and i'd like to know what slope its good for.
i ran it today for a few hours,its a cool *** machine,despite how gay it looks.
i dozed up a 2:1 no problem,but it seems a bit narrow to be trimming anything more than a 2:1/2 or 3 to 1 safely,but ive heard the centre of gravity is very low.
sitting in the seat,its pretty hard to tell,your feet are about a meter higher than the top of the blade.

 

[LBrown59]

2:1 slope is possible to trim,but you better have your blade in the ground,and it better be good dirt.
im going to demo a new john deer 764 high speed dozer tomorrow,and i'd like to know what slope its good for.
i ran it today for a few hours,its a cool *** machine,despite how gay it looks.
i dozed up a 2:1 no problem,but it seems a bit narrow to be trimming anything more than a 2:1/2 or 3 to 1 safely,but ive heard the centre of gravity is very low.
sitting in the seat,its pretty hard to tell,your feet are about a meter higher than the top of the blade.

Did you expect your post to apply to a 6 year old thread?
Jus wunderin.