A thread posted today got me wondering about the float position on a dozer joystick. Does anyone use it? What do you use it for? Have I been ignoring a feature that improves efficiency all these years?
Back blading rough ground, saves time and allows the use of the dozer going both ways, when you're not looking for a perfectly smooth grade just want the high spots knocked down into the low spots.
As mentioned above, I use it for fast back blading when you just want to pull the loose material along, letting is kind of spread and level as you go. Also use it on hard surfaces to do 'less' damage when scraping something clean. Works well for plowing snow if the ground is frozen hard. Basically all the same uses you'd use float on a loader for. All that being said, I'd say it's a feature more used on dozers with a 6 way blade.
Lot of jobs require just a skim... in that case one can do that by floating the blade, either forward either backwards, as the blade conforms and does not bite the corners, Loading dirt is also a nice feature, but for that high skils are needed as the blade need to be tunned for the right angle carry, so that the dirt weight forcing the blade dwn is just the in right balance. but if u don´t have it , not really an important feature.
Another use it for light touch up work like on a gravel road. Back drag using float for a gentle grading action without moving too much material. Sometimes I'll also angle the blade while doing this to move a little material to the center.
It also works to remove track marks. Some jobs they want completely smooth.