Mitsubishi BD2F about 10,000# I am learning as i go with this dozer. Other than the main blade pins to chassis being worn out it is a fair old dozer. I am having trouble maintaining grade. When I start into a cut the slop in the pins comes in and I compensate for that and get the push going. As i get into a good push the front of the dozer seems to suck down. I can feel in the seat of my pants the rear of the dozer lifting. And the dozer blade starts to dive below grade. So I end up raising the blade to compensate which usually results in the blade coming out of the cut; then if i try to continue it will end up porpasing. I do not think i have ever seen a dozer with weights on the rear. There is no adjustment I can find for degree of blade. Is it me? If so is there something I can do to correct my technique? Some of my work. Benching an area to divert rain water from a building site i am preparing.
... Its you, man. I don't think you can blame that on pin slop, unless you have 3 foot diameter pins.:tong It takes a lot of hours to learn how to keep the blade in one plane, ESPECIALLY if you are trying to teach yourself. Did you think it was going to be easy?:cool2
Use only a corner of the blade unless in very loose soil. Start slow ,keeping the base smooth,even if you have to back off and backblade a bump. Then as the material loads up on the corner of the blade ,it will hold it down thus eliminateing the pin slop. Its a very small dozer,and has the blade a long way forward,and therfore not all that easy. Just remamber that even a D9 will seldom cut with a whole blade,and you would be suprised at how little it takes to ride that blade out of cut. Remember Start slow and wait till the blade is loaded up till increasing spead. A loaded blade is easy to control ,an empty one near impossible. Just give yourself a break and take your time. Your machine may well benifit from some weight on rear also ,but I cannott say without driveing it.
:notworthy Yes i have been working with the corner of the blade. Angle is the only way to steer this beast once you get a cut going. In the bench it is hard to see from pictures i used a lot of tilt also. Yes i try and keep my work area smooth Cannot expect much from the blade if the machine is going up and down over terrain. I have been very slow and careful with the controls. No jerking the blade around trying to make it work. It just seems once it gets the blade full it wants to dive. I have a lot of years on a backhoe It are my favorite tool. No I am not blaming the machine. Right off anyway. Years ago an old hand told me “a real operator is the one who can get the job done with what he has”. I mentioned the pins because there is a lot of slop in that area. When you start your cut the blade drops a good 4”. Like I said; when I start my cut i let that slop take up then ease the blade up to where I wanted it. Yes I do a lot of backblade.
I think part of the problem maybe you are trying to cut and fine grade at the same time. Make your cut, get it to rough grade, and loosen up your material. Then make a second pass while grading with the loose material. Don't try to do it all in one pass.
Hi Amunderdog, I ran dozers for thirty years until I retired. About half those years were on finish dozers. I can tell you that you have a real beast to learn on. Angle blade dozers are capable of some of the finest finish work an operator can produce. I never ran a dozer like you have but I can tell you from running similar ones a real problem you have.The blade is so far away from the front of the tracks that you will be continually frustrated trying to keep a level grade. Another thing I detested on that kind of small angle dozer is the narrow tracks. There should be a law that they can only be sold with wide tracks. As mentioned in previous posts go slow, get a feel for the lever. Also when making a cut take only one half a blade width.That alone will help you immensely to carry a level grade. Good Luck !!
Dozers are a tricky machine to learn, finish dozers especially. A good shovel full of dirt can stall a little 10k dozer. Those little bugger are made for smoothing out around houses not digging basements, but if your patient, you can get it done. Try getting one pass right the wayu to want it, then move ofer a 1/3 of a blase width or so and just keep working it. Others have given good advise as well, especially with understanding the difference between bulk pushing and fine grading.
There has been some great advice given already, all worth keeping in mind as you work. One thing I have to offer is to anticipate what is going to happen. Look at your work area as you go, if you notice a bump, then you know you will need to correct as the machine moves over it. As you have already found out, you have to feel what the machine is doing. As you spend more and more time on it, you will come to learn how it reacts to different things. When you understand how it reacts to a particular situation, you will then know which way you need to move the blade to keep a level cut without having to think much about it. It will become second nature.
Ok i thought it was a finish dozer. There in lye’s half the problem and i are the other half. Together we can make a whole mess. Yes it will slick a place out in a hurry. I will just keep getting to know it, take small bites and try to tighten those pins up.
With the ability to "feel it in the seat of your pants" and some stick time on the machine, you can do a lot with that little dozer. IMOP having the ability to "feel" grade with your rear end is the most important aspect of running heavy equipment. Personally I prefer a track loader, you can fix your mistakes more easily.:cool2
a little angle dozer will whup yer butt harder than a d-11. i was brought to the brink of breakdown by a d-3 as an apprentice. but, with time, instead of it kicking your butt, you wil kick it's butt. trust me. if you can run that, you can run anything.
The bigger the dozer the easier it is to run. Some time when you are walking around kicking rocks you might consider some new grouzer bars to go along with taking the slop out of your blade.
hi, just thinking can you shim the blade to make it cut/carry? my d3c has a ture buckle to change the lay back . its way more ezy to trim with it laying back. also dont try to trim with your blade square on its ezyer to trim with sum angle on. good luck with all these tips thay are all very good.
Bd2f HI Underdog, Those Mitsy dozers are great little machines .Armed with a light ripper & tidy Running gear,they are a very handy dozer.I always felt that scarifying your ground before blading,gives a better outcome. The blade lift function seems to be very touchy,so you need to really be gentle.Not sure if this is because of a lightweight blade or great hydraulics...or both.Also,as you probably noticed,they ride rough too... Even a good,seasoned operator needs to adjust to these little dozers. Books can be got thru Rhine Equipment.I also make copies. Good luck.
If this little tractor has a fixed trackframe ,that will also not be helping you. Just be patient with yourself and forgive the little dozer its sins,and all will work out. Sound to me like your doing pretty well anyway. Regards.
You peoples are great:bouncegri Thanks for all the advice - knowledge - tips - understanding rofessor Yes it has a rigid undercarrage. I think it has a 6spd Manual crash box / no shuttle. Forward or reverse you have: slow - medium and If you put it in high you better have your hat screwed on tight. You will think it is just going to tear itself apart. Yes the controls are very touchy and fast once you get the RPM's up to working level. You are absolutly right. It wants to follow the other equipment and clean up. Sadly my track loader is still out of commision. This is the one of the first places that it was the only machine that i have that could get into. Took the hoe and ripped up the big stuff and let the little feller eat. I will try to get some other pictures later (if you promise not to laugh) Time has not been to kind to the fiberglass sun shade.
One thing I would like to add, don't travel faster than you and the hydraulics can react to the conditions, or to the changes in elevation. I have seen a lot of guys jump on and try to go full bore, and washboard everything they do,and then wonder WHY? I am not saying this is what you are doing, just offering my opinion. And as it has already been pointed out, don't try and do it all at once. Good luck, Heath
I would definitely get some grouser stock welded on the little beast as well. I agree with everything these guys have said. the little ones are a pain to get used to running but once you have the"bad touch" down you won't have any problems.
Much good advice given.Something that may help you in your fine grading.Throttle down just to the point where you feel the machine pushing rather than grabbing for a bite.Learning to finish with a dozer is not easy but it is a skill once acquired that is very valuable.Keep at it,you`ll learn a little every day and one day look back and chuckle at this thread.
BD2F Picture Underdog, Here's a picture from Australian eBay....a nice little F model,fitted with extras. A couple more BD2F thrown in too Jim
Some SERIOUSLY Frustrating Stuff, and the more Annoyed you get the worse it becomes. Give Yourself a break, it'll take TIME, maybe a couple weeks, even. When you get to be One with that particular machine you'll KNOW. It's like pulling on an old, comfortable pair of work boots. The more you stress over it, the Harder it gets. I had to change my thinking to catch on, I was focussed on Production, and when I decided to just Have Fun it came on it's own. Fixed track frames(no equalizer bar or leaf spring) plus long C-frame or push arms equals Automatic Scallops. Panic Not, you'll get it in time. KY Jim
I'm a relatively new and inexperienced operator - about 200 hours in the seat of a Cat D3G machine, working land clearing, access road development, and similar small projects on a 100+ acre RV park in Central Texas. The terrain is mixed, ranging from river sediment, gravel, hard rock, heavy clay soil, etc., sometimes all within a few linear feet of each other. Finishing is an art - starting level, staying level, maintaing grade and avoiding porpoising the blade took me about about half of my first 200 hours to figure out. I got some tips from an experienced operator, mostly about keeping the blade partially loaded, moderating my speed, and chanting "nose up, blade down, nose down, blade up" and trying to feel the machine's transitions from level in the seat of my pants. I can do a fair job now, but still need some work on terrain transitions, i.e. where I'm moving from very soft material to very hard material/vice-versa. I'm avoiding the urge to back-drag, and try not to blame the machine for my own lack of skills... The VPAT capability is both a blessing and a curse, but I'm slowly learning to "think like the blade" to maintain a level cut.
Keep plugging away. You're going to get better as time progresses
I found the best way to finish is to **** your old lady off, grab a case of beer, and do very little at a time. That way your not in hurry to go home and if you don't get the blade down far enough you won't care you just back up and try it again.
Hey amunderdog. All I can add is that it takes time to get it all woring together. From what I can gather you haven't been running the tractor very long. That being the case you'll get it in the end buddy, just keep at it and learn by your mistakes. All the best guys running dozers now started out the same as you creating something a motor crosser would be happy to ride over. Before you realise you'll be dozing and cutting grade like a pro. Good luck buddy.