I used to think you had to run a dozer blade flat for a clean finish

For years on residential pads in Phoenix, I'd keep my blade level and just make more passes, but a mentor showed me how a slight tilt forward cuts way better in hardpan. I switched my method about three months ago and now I'm done in half the time with less wear on the machine. Anyone else find that the 'textbook' way isn't always the fastest way on the ground?

3 comments

3 Comments

troy_ross11d ago

Honestly, I've seen guys tilt forward and just dig trenches. Keeping it level gives you way more control.

iris_mason8826d ago

My buddy Jake was building a driveway up in Flagstaff last year and kept fighting the rocky clay. He was running his skid steer blade dead level like the manual said, just spinning his wheels. An old timer at the supply yard told him to pitch the blade forward a hair to bite in. Jake said it was like night and day, he stopped just scraping and started actually cutting. Saved him a full day of work on that one job.

walker.grace26d ago

We had a site in Buckeye last summer with that same hardpan. Tilted the blade forward like you said and it just bounced off the caliche layer... ended up rounding the cutting edge. Level blade with more down pressure and a slower travel speed worked better for us there.