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JD-8
02-06-2000 06:48:45
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Re: Pro's and Con's of hydraulic vs. cable operated dozer blade in reply to Frank, 02-05-2000 20:50:44
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The hydraulic blade is a little better if it has downpressure, ie, you can use it to lift up the front of the tractor. This will put more weight on the blade and cause it to dig in more forcefully. However, cable blades on large machines, such as a D-7, can be very useful too. Also you may be able to buy a large cable dozer for much less than you could buy a comparably sized hydraulic dozer. For any dozer over say, 20,000 lbs, a cable blade is usually heavy enough to dig in enough to do some worthwhile pushing. You can quite often pick up an old cable-drive D-7 or D-8 for $2-5,000. Don't pay more than $5,000 for a cable machine, no matter how good a condition it's in. There will always be another one you can have. Other good cralwers in this size category include the IH TD-20, TD-24, and TD-25 as well as the Allis Chalmers HD-14, HD-16, HD-19, HD-20, and HD-21. The cats are usually easier to find parts for, though. Good smaller hydraulically operated dozers include the D-5, D-6, TD-14, TD-15, HD-7, HD-10, and HD-11. These machines are generally much more useful with hydraulic blades than with cable setups because they are in the 14-20,000 lb. category.
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