Depending on the job site, you’ll find a wide range of construction equipment and tools to help you and the rest of your crew get the job done right. While some pieces of equipment have similar functions, many are vastly different. Learning more about what each one does will better help you see which type is the best fit for your job. This article will explore the differences between bulldozers and graders.

Bulldozers

A bulldozer, typically referred to as a dozer, is a type of equipment which can be used to push material, such as dirt, sand or debris on construction sites. Dozers are often found on job sites including:

• General construction;
• Road work;
• Mining;
• Forestry; and
• Other types of infrastructure.

Dozers can either be tracked or wheeled. Tracked, or crawler, dozers are ideal for moving over rough, off-road landscapes. Wheeled dozers are often operated via a four-wheel drive system with articulated steering and an articulated blade.

Dozers usually have two key components: a blade and a ripper.

• The bladeis the large metal plate that is attached to the front of the dozer, and is used to push materials. Straight, or “S,” blades are shorter with no curve or side wings, and are often used for fine grading projects. Universal, or “U,” blades are taller, have a curve, and have side wings to accommodate larger loads. Semi-U, or “S-U,” blades are a happy medium between the two, with a shorter height, a less curved blade and smaller side wings. S-U blades are used primarily in quarries to push loads of rocks.
• The ripperis shaped like a claw and can be found on the back of the dozer and can be used to rip surface rock, cement and more into small pieces.

Graders

A grader, which is also known as a motor grader or a road grader, is a piece of wheeled equipment that contains a long blade used to make a flat surface while grading. The blade on a grader can be adjusted to the correct tilt the surface needs.

Graders are used to:

• Create the base layer for paved roads;
• Set the foundation for the base of large building projects;
• Create inclines;
• Sometimes to make drainage ditches; and
• Remove snow.

Graders are often used in conjunction with grade control technologies, which help create a more precise grade control on job sites. While there are certain companies, such as Topcon Positioning Systems, Trimble Navigationand Lecia Geosystems, that make these technologies for operators to use, equipment manufacturers have begun integrating these types of systems into their machines.