The history of Bulldozer started in 1923 at Morrowwville Kanas, on the site of a pipeline being built by the Sinclair Oil Company. For many decades, bulldozers have been getting bigger and more powerful in response to the demand for heavy equipment suited for ever-larger earthworks.
A young local farmer named James Cummings noticed that, while the trenches for burying sections of the pipeline were excavated by steam shovel, the ob of backfilling was still done with a pair of mules dragging aboard.
He approached the oil company, suggesting a machine might perform this task, and was encouraged to develop his idea. Therefore, with the help of local draughtsman Earl McLeod, Cummings scoured scrap yards in the area for parts and built an earth-moving machine.
They based it on a steam-powered caterpillar farm tractor manufactured in 1904 by Benjamin Holt, who went on to found the Caterpillar Tractor Company. To this basic vehicle, they attached two tools: a wide earth-moving blade at the front and a ripper, a claw-like device on the back, to break up surface rock or impacted soil. To maintain the heavy machinery, some spare parts are also needed from time to time, such as a 2005 mercury mountaineer egr valve.
The bulldozer was an instant success. Sinclair contracted Cummings and McLeod to backfill the entire length of the pipeline. Thereafter, more powerful bulldozers were developed for building sites and road construction projects. While small versions were built for work on restricted-access sites, heavy-duty earth-moving vehicle, running on massive tires rather than caterpillar tracks in a quarry.
The Brief History of Bulldozers For many decades, bulldozers have been getting bigger and more powerful in response to the demand for heavy equipment suited for ever-larger earthworks.
Armored Bulldozers?
A huge bulldozer fitted with armor-plating bulletproof cabin glass and metal grilles covering the windows to protect the driver from attack is used by several armed forces for combat operations. These vehicles, notably the massive D9 manufactured by the Caterpillar Company, have become controversial weapons of war.
In both the 1991 Gulf War and the 2003 invasion of Iraq, US forces were accused of using them to bury enemy conscripts alive in their tranches. The same vehicle has been widely used by the Israeli Defense Forces to destroy the homes of Palestinians accused of terrorist offenses. US peace campaigner Rachel Corrie was crushed by an Israeli D9 protesting against these operations in 2003.
