How to Use Your Dozer Blade

Use your dozer blade to level the dirt in your yard or garden.

A bulldozer blade is useful in the home garden for tasks that normally take hours or even days to complete: knocking down dead corn stalks, old vegetable gardens, brush or unwanted ground cover or plants. It also can be used to level areas of your uneven yard. Such tasks are reduced to a few minutes when operating a tractor with a dozer blade. With some training and practice, you can learn how to best use your dozer blade to increase garden productivity.

Things You'll Need

• Tractor
• Dozer blade attachment
• Garden rake (optional)
• Wheelbarrow (optional)

Instructions

1. Attach your bulldozer blade to your tractor with the assistance of a tractor mechanic.

2. Operate your bulldozer blade by pulling the lever on your tractor all the way back toward you to raise the blade. Push the lever forward to lower the dozer blade. Hold the lever at the center position to hold the blade in its position. Allow the blade to hover above the ground. To lower the blade, push the lever forward all the way past the "lower" position on the lever.

3. Choose which area of your garden you would like to level using your bulldozer blade. A dozer blade is useful to clear out old crops such as corn stalks, vegetable plants damaged by frost, scrub brush or dead ground cover. Make sure the area is clear of irrigation systems so as not to damage your valuable equipment.

4. Operate your dozer blade following Step 2; push your control lever down to lower the blade into the earth and drive forward, pushing the earth in front of you to clear debris, old plants or level the area. Turn your tractor, pushing the earth with your dozer blade until an outline has been smoothed out and debris forms a pile.

5. Push away earth by driving your tractor up and down rows with the dozer blade in the down position until your garden is smoothed out.

6. Rake away any debris cleared by your dozer blade, using a metal rake and wheelbarrow.

Tips & Warnings

• Operating heavy machinery such as tractors and dozer blades should be undertaken only by those with previous experience and proper education on operating such equipment.

References

• Parts Hangar: Operate Bulldozer Blade

Resources

• The National Association of Heavy Equipment Training Schools
• Leon's Manufacturing: Dozer Blade Units
• YouTube: How to Use a Dozer Blade