I'm very new to heavy equipment. I'm shopping for a small dozer to clear brush/smooth drive and remove some small trees. I currently have a Ford 4 wheel drive tractor that is 29hp and weighs about 2500lbs. The tractor wont push things around like i want. In looking for a dozer is it the horsepower or the weight or both that make these machines so great? Any suggestions on size/weight/make for my small place? Thanks in advance.
Look at the mitsubishi bd2 machines or komatsu d21 these are roughly 45 horse and 5 tons. You will be amazed how much they can do compared to that tractor. They get there power through gearing not raw horsepower.You should be able to find one in decent shape for around 10k.
Any year of a 450 John Deere with a PAT blade
hP will push the dozer and the wieght puts the grousers in the ground. dozers often put less pressure on a certain piece of ground but will push better because the contact patch is bigger. the JD 450's are good little dozers and are surprising for the work that can be done with them. I don't really know what you plan on using the dozer for so that's about the best i can do. :beatsme
Traction A simple rule of mechanics says that no tractor (or any other vehicle) can give a greater traction force than it´s own weight. That means that a tractor weighing 10 tonnes can have a maximum traction force of - 10 tonnes. That is: traction force = tractor weight x coefficient of traction. Coefficient of traction is usually less than 1, typically 0,5 up to app. 0,9 in best conditions Hope that makes any sense....