Timeline for Why are bulldozers so slow?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
27 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Jan 11 at 18:48 | comment | added | Jon Liebermann | Plus speed would beat the track rails and rollers to death. | |
| Mar 30, 2023 at 13:50 | answer | added | Duane | timeline score: 2 | |
| Mar 30, 2023 at 8:50 | comment | added | Paul_Pedant | On-road, a high-speed tracked vehicle will tear up the surface, have an unacceptable stopping distance, and deposit mud and stones generously. Off-road, it will throw mud and stones in unpredictable directions, including onto itself and its operator. Imagine a monster trick with steel wheels for the general idea. | |
| Mar 30, 2023 at 3:33 | answer | added | niels nielsen | timeline score: 3 | |
| Mar 29, 2023 at 19:26 | comment | added | Fattie | There is utterly no connection, in any way, to "suspension" etc. (It is / would be absolutely trivial to make a tracked, non-suspension vehicle that happens to be incredibly fast.) bulldozers are slow because they need to be, it's that simple. | |
| S Mar 29, 2023 at 13:41 | history | suggested | Peter Mortensen | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Copy edited. Fixed the question formation - see e.g. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4yWEt0OSpg&t=1m49s> (see also <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kS5NfSzXfrI> (QUASM)).
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| Mar 29, 2023 at 5:58 | comment | added | A. I. Breveleri | Dirt does not mind waiting. | |
| Mar 28, 2023 at 20:02 | comment | added | Criggie | Ask the opposite question and it becomes clear - "why are racecars so fast?" Becuase that's what they need to be to do their job. Same answer applies here. | |
| Mar 28, 2023 at 18:34 | comment | added | user13416 | @petercordes I was speaking in general. The portion about forces transmitted to the undercarriage covers the tracks interacting with rocks in the ground. | |
| Mar 28, 2023 at 18:01 | comment | added | Peter Cordes | @ToddTakala: Oh, you meant contacting rocks with the treads, not the blade. I misread your first comment. So you're confirming what others are saying about the lack of (independent) suspension for the rollers being a showstopper for higher speeds, I think. | |
| Mar 28, 2023 at 17:49 | comment | added | user13416 | @petercordes As someone who has actually operated this equipment for an occupation, I can tell you that you will be rattled to death from the rocks. | |
| Mar 28, 2023 at 16:42 | comment | added | Turbo | A good question is. . . should they go faster? They're already pretty dangerous, even with a skilled operator. Though I'd love to see a bulldozer do a sick flip off of a ramp. . . | |
| Mar 28, 2023 at 12:54 | answer | added | Michael | timeline score: 6 | |
| Mar 28, 2023 at 10:29 | review | Suggested edits | |||
| S Mar 29, 2023 at 13:41 | |||||
| Mar 28, 2023 at 7:16 | answer | added | fraxinus | timeline score: 26 | |
| Mar 28, 2023 at 6:57 | answer | added | jpa | timeline score: 8 | |
| Mar 28, 2023 at 2:42 | comment | added | Peter Cordes | @ToddTakala: That's the reason you wouldn't want to use a high gear (if one existed) while the blade was down, but the OP wasn't suggesting that. They were suggesting having a higher gear for just driving between places where bulldozing needs to be done. ("for mobility"). The "why not" answers to that question are different (but do exist). | |
| Mar 28, 2023 at 0:28 | comment | added | Austin Hemmelgarn | @Transistor For tanks the answer is generally yes (barring some very early designs), though the suspension for each wheel is not always fully independent of the other wheels (see for example the vertical volute spring suspension or Horstmann suspension systems used on many WWII-era allied tracked vehicles). Bulldozers typically instead have fixed rollers and idlers because this results in a much simpler (and easier to maintain) design. | |
| Mar 27, 2023 at 22:50 | comment | added | user13416 | Bulldozers are meant to provide fine control of the blade when cutting grade, ripping or pushing other equipment. They often encounter rocks in this work, which lead to high forces transmitted to the undercarriage, frame and blade. The momentum of contacting rocks at high speed with certainly damage the operator or the machine. | |
| Mar 27, 2023 at 20:20 | history | became hot network question | |||
| Mar 27, 2023 at 17:29 | comment | added | Transistor | Am I correct in thinking that tanks have suspension on each wheel and bulldozers generally don't or have fixed wheel arrangement? | |
| Mar 27, 2023 at 14:55 | answer | added | Chris_abc | timeline score: 44 | |
| Mar 27, 2023 at 13:00 | history | edited | Transistor | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
SI units are lowercase when spelt out.
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| Mar 27, 2023 at 12:47 | history | edited | Triceratops | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
edited body
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| Mar 27, 2023 at 12:23 | answer | added | Solar Mike | timeline score: 8 | |
| S Mar 27, 2023 at 12:19 | review | First questions | |||
| Mar 27, 2023 at 14:55 | |||||
| S Mar 27, 2023 at 12:19 | history | asked | Triceratops | CC BY-SA 4.0 |