Just be careful with the dozer if you have a steep drop off into water. Dozer grousers are straight across. On a side hill, especially if the soil or clay is wet, they can slide sideways. You don't want to end up in the water.
Dozers will generally slide sideways long before they will tip. Know a professional owner/operator, with probably 25 years experience at the time, was finishing a steep bank. Dozer did not tip, but instead slid sideways. Problem was, when it hit the bottom of the embankment, then it tipped over. He ended up with a hydraulic lever through the side of his mouth and a bunch of teeth knocked out. Lived to doze again but he was out of commission probably 6 months. Bad deal, and he was considered one of the better operators in the area.
I ALWAYS make any operator I have chain down the dozer on our lowboy. You would think, heavy as they are, they would just sit up there. Well they will, but go around a corner and have the grousers on steel or even wet wood............ I have seen and heard of more than one dozer slid off the edge of a trailer where "they were just going a little ways".
Just be careful on sidehills where there is something below where you don't want to be. My sphincter muscle starts warning me anything over about a 3 to one on dry dirt. Wet clay better keep it to 4-1. Or flatter.
As far as even it out, unless you need to to compact it, I prefer a rough bottom.
Last edited by snrub; 12/21/15 12:21 PM.
