Subject:
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Re: Origin of "Bulldozer"
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.technic
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Date:
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Mon, 14 Feb 2005 23:01:13 GMT
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Viewed:
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3389 times
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In lugnet.technic, Benjamin Ventura wrote:
> In lugnet.technic, Nathan Bell wrote:
> > Does anyone know where the name "bulldozer" came from? Is it because they do
> > the work that bulls on a farm used to do and therefore give the bulls no other
> > alternative but to "doze" (sleep) all day?
>
> It is a shortened version of "a bull's dose" meaning a large amount of
> something. . i always wondered this too, and recently got a good coffee table
> book on heavy machinery that said that is where it came from.
>
> Bulldozers were invented and used long before tractors were around, they were
> originally just a blade mounted on two wheels and an axle, drawn by horses.
>
> I don't know how many californians are out there, but caterpillar tractors where
> actually invented here, in stockton, another cool fact. .
>
> -Ben
Wow. I never knew it was a term that could have negative connotations. An
engineer I work with said the term might also be related to a "cow catcher"
mounted on the front of early trains, which essentially had a similar shape as
some 'dozer blades.
Did you know that when the earliest bulldozers were built, there was not a
technology in existance that allowed them to steer with the tracks? They had a
wheel mounted on the front end that steered it.
Hydraulic drives really come in handy! I found that out when designing my bulldozer and excavator. A forward and reverse gear for each track is insufficient for the real thing because it does not allow for different forward and backward speeds. Of course, one could design one that had two transmissions (one forward/one reverse) for each track. I would imagine that the inventors at caterpillar tried "my idea" when developing their designs, and it probably failed because the design is just too bulky and inefficient. However, my design might come in handy in outer space (on another planet or moon) or Antarctica where hydraulic fluid could potentially freeze. I wonder if NASA has tried applying that same idea?
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Origin of "Bulldozer"
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| (...) It is a shortened version of "a bull's dose" meaning a large amount of something. . i always wondered this too, and recently got a good coffee table book on heavy machinery that said that is where it came from. Bulldozers were invented and (...) (20 years ago, 14-Feb-05, to lugnet.technic)
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