Those rates decline in thicker vegetation. ![]() That's considered optimal ouput according to national fireline production rates. Still - that's a lot of line! For comparison, a Type 1 handcrew (such as a hotshot crew), in short grass, should be expected to cut 1,122' of handline per hour. Needles to say, those conditions rarely exist, and line construction rates of between one and three miles an hour are more realistic. Eight miles of line in an hour?! Obviously, that sort of production only happens under ideal conditions (flat terrain and light fuels (like grass)). According to CAL FIRE, a dozer can cut line at a rate of one to eight miles an hour. But for situations where the fire is reasonably accessible by road, and the terrain is manageable, you can't beat the production of a bulldozer. And, speaking from personal experience, a handcrew can cut line on some pretty damn steep terrain. They can hike over nasty terrain, or they can be inserted via helicopter. A handcrew has the advantage of being able to get in to places where a bulldozer can't. And when it comes to cutting line, you only have two options: a handcrew or a bulldozer. If you want to catch a fire, you need personnel on the ground, getting after it. There simply are not enough air tankers and helicopters available to rely on slurry drops and bucket drops to contain wildfires. (note: if you’re working with a federal fire service, the job is formally titled “Engineering Equipment Operator.” The jobs are tough to get and competitive. On any given year in California, there might be some 200 dozer operators crawling through the mountains on CAL FIRE's 61 dozers. Still sound like a good job? Most of you are probably grinning ear-to-ear right now! "Of COURSE it sounds like a good job!" ![]() You’re operating an enormous piece of equipment, 30 tons or more, in unfamiliar terrain, often at night, right next to a raging wildfire, and oh yeah, you’re sitting on a 100+ gallons of fuel. The Acco Superdozer moved under its own power onto the trailer that took it to the new location.Courtesy of CAL FIRE San Luis Obispo Unitīesides piloting an air tanker or a helicopter on a fire, serving as a dozer operator requires the next amount of training and qualifications. īy the end of May 2012 the dozer had been moved away from the abandoned Acco facility and is now safely stored at a gardening company in the same town, to be preserved and eventually put on display. Beginning in 2008, Acco's former main and secondary shops slowly turned into a dumping ground for surplus earth moving machinery, including the super bulldozer and its brother, a 200-ton super grader. They left no legacy for managing the Acco company. Īcco ceased to exist when its founder Umberto Acco died and his son died shortly afterward. This bulldozer has never been put to any operational use and was put into storage where it was built. ![]() As a direct consequence of these trade restrictions, the completed Acco Dozer was never shipped to its intended destination. As the Leader of Libya, Colonel Gaddafi, was heavily involved with international terrorism at that time, the United States imposed a trade embargo on that country in 1986. This bulldozer was initially built to be exported to Libya in the early 1980s to help in land development. ![]() The ripper alone is about 10 feet (3.0 m) tall, being powered by huge hydraulic rams. The super bulldozer has a blade that is 23 feet (7.0 m) wide and 9 feet (2.7 m) high, whilе the total length of the bulldozer is over 40 feet (12 m), from the tip of the blade to the ripper on the rear. This bulldozer has a gross weight of 183 tonnes and is powered by two 675 hp (503 kW) Caterpillar engines placed horizontally opposed, which deliver a total combined output of 1,350 hp (1,010 kW). The dozer blade, for example, is bigger than anything Caterpillar has ever made. The Acco super bulldozer was constructed mainly of Caterpillar parts however, many other components were specially adapted. It was built in Portogruaro in northern Italy by the Umberto Acco company. The Acco Super Bulldozer is the largest and most powerful tracked bulldozer ever made.
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