bulldozer

Vtg Williams White Catalog Bulldozers Machine Tool | eBay thought I knew what a bulldozer was...........I have never heard or seen one of these

does it come in caterpillar yellow

A form of upsetter. How do you suppose all those heads got to be on all those rail road spikes? - and similar jobs - like forged tee bolts for machine shops (200,000 miles of track in the USA consumed 2.43 BILLION spikes)

A smaller volume use comes to mind. Between 1927 and 1948 Ford made at least TEN MILLION rear axle shafts with INTEGRAL axle gears. Guess how that was done. (Ford was well experienced - having used such machines in the making of the FIFTEEN MILLION Model T front axles from 1 3/8" round bar.)

During the age of the radial aircraft engine, hundreds of thousands of HOLLOW Nitralloy forgings were consumed by the engine makers for cylinder barrels. Each had a flange about mid way along - a natural job for similar machines

I have a picture of one of these still in use. When I get home I will post it.
Joe

I have been in several shops that have these.
I have always wanted one, myself, but not enough to pay what they go for.
They were never made in big volumes, or by lots of manufacturers- in fact, I think all of them I have seen are WW's.
So they are not like an old lathe, where a new one comes up for sale every day.

And they are big and heavy- 10,000lbs is a pretty small one, 20,000 is more common- so just scrap value and rigging costs mean that you dont find one for 200 bucks.
One just vanished near me- a third generation shop in Snohomish Wa. got liquidated this year, I sure hope the bulldozer didnt get scrapped.

Especially for forging and doing hot bending, they are really great. I know a dozen blacksmiths who could put one to use tomorrow.

Space, money, and power, though are all limiting factors for me. Plus two kids in college right now means that big "fun" purchases are not allowed.

There are new, small, hydraulic bulldozers now being made, mostly in Europe, that come with smart integrated tooling that is easy to change up and do all kinds of things with. They are spendy, sure, but not that much more than buying a used 20,000lb machine, moving it, putting in a foundation, wiring it, and fixing hundred year old broken parts.

Like this-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-A2GMuR-8k
this is the exact same principle as a bulldozer- a horizontal press- but cnc, built to easily take a wide variety of tooling, incredibly useful, and on casters no less. People are buying these, and making money with them.


Here is a crummy vid of an old style bulldozer- notice the fact its resting on its own 20" thick slab- no weight mentioned, but my guess is ten tons is at the low end.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khBh0IedWBs

Here is the big dog- this is what my friend Larry at Monster Metals wants- a 400 ton WW- with remote pendent, no less. my guess is this one weighs more in the 40 to 50 ton range, and that 60 hp motor aint gonna run on no home made phase convertor, either. Not a home shop tool. But if you have the work for it, its eager.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-33uT-lC2wA

Here is a nice picture on shorpy of one in use, 1904. Go to the full size picture, you can clearly read the name on the connecting link. The guys on the left.
Shorpy Historical Photo Archive :: The Blacksmiths: 1904
Rob

Williams and White is still around. They make stamping presses. They are still in an ancient building in downtown Moline.

He is making parts for these. It is light colored in the photo, just coming down from forging heat.

Rob F. said:

Here is a nice picture on shorpy of one in use, 1904. Go to the full size picture, you can clearly read the name on the connecting link. The guys on the left.
Shorpy Historical Photo Archive :: The Blacksmiths: 1904
Rob

Click to expand...

Bulldozer at Seagrave

Here is a bulldozer in operation at FWD Seagrave in Clintonville WI. It is used to make radiator stay rods for the firetrucks, basically flattening the end of a 5/8" rod.

Joe

The Shorpy photo that Rob F posted is one of the greats; we have discussed it here previously;

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/antique-machinery-history/1904-blacksmith-shop-240393/

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/antique-machinery-history/shorpy-shot-photo-better-view-244657/

The conclusion arising from the second thread was that the shop management liked to employ twins.

jdavi581 said:

Here is a bulldozer in operation at FWD Seagrave in Clintonville WI. It is used to make radiator stay rods for the firetrucks, basically flattening the end of a 5/8" rod.
View attachment 115289
Joe

Click to expand...

Looks like it is good at holding coffee cups also... Glad to see it earning its keep and thanks for sharing.

Charles

I think that is what I needed for forming Barnes Lathe velocopede cranks! Very cool!

Mike

A bulldozer is like a bar automatic or a chucker - they all do the job very well.

It makes 140 rods a year, a nice retirement plan. Coffee cups are the big unknown however.
Joe