How to Reduce Bulldozers' Operating Costs

Of all the machines at XUANHUA, dozers, especially large bulldozers, can vary the most in terms of cost of ownership and operation.

While the initial purchase price of a large dozer is a relatively fixed amount, everything else from there on out can vary significantly. Backhoe owners typically charge by the hour, but bulldozers are also evaluated based on the amount of material they move - tons or yards per hour. Bulldozer owners want to know the tons per dollar, not the dollars per hour.

1. Landing gear(Undercarriage)

The primary value of good dozer maintenance is avoiding costly downtime. The primary value of good dozer maintenance is avoiding costly downtime.

Choosing the right undercarriage and good landing gear maintenance is critical to achieving the lowest operating cost per hour. Ideally, all landing gear components would wear out at about the same time, but they don't. Pins and bushings come first (or need to be turned), usually track plates, then rollers and links. These can be replaced or refurbished in a separate maintenance program, but most contractors don't want to have to pull the machine out of the dirt very often.

The problem is that every choice you make when specifying landing gear ultimately changes operating costs and downtime. There is no one-size-fits-all solution that works for everyone.

2. Operators, productivity and fuel

Wages and diesel fuel account for 75% of the operating costs of the D6T and 79% of the operating costs of the D11T. You can't do much about the price of either, but there is a lot you can do to maximize productivity and the profit you get from these costs. But first, understand that typically fuel burned equals work done. The more fuel you burn, the more material you move, so high fuel consumption is not necessarily a bad thing.

By providing your operators with advanced training in bulldozer technology, you can increase the amount of work they do without increasing the amount you pay them.

3. Maintenance

Soil moisture conditions can affect the life of your landing gear. Soil moisture conditions can affect the service life of landing gear.

In addition to landing gear considerations, it is not worthwhile to try to significantly reduce maintenance costs beyond following good preventive maintenance practices. The goal of good maintenance should be to increase uptime, not cut costs.

The best price/performance for large dozers comes from condition-based maintenance. But instead of pushing components right to the edge of failure, you can also take advantage of telematics monitoring systems that can diagnose problems and alert you to machine performance or component problems long before they start. These early warning systems not only save you from costly and catastrophic failures, they also provide you with greater opportunities to schedule downtime and machine replacements.

4. Additional tips

Specify the correct size dozer for the job;

Reduce packing material in the chassis;

Avoid excess moisture in the field;

Maintain optimum track tension;

Run the narrowest shoe width under conditions;

Avoid high speeds;

Maintain machine balance - equal pressure to the ground;

Avoid backtracking.

These methods can help you to reduce the costs. To learn more message about bulldozer choosing and maintenance, please contact us.