A SALUTE TO AN CUSTOMER

LANDFILL DOZER

  Solid Waste Agency in Fort Dodge, Iowa, buys new dozer to “take the trouble out of trash”
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Every day, about 300 tons of trash from Webster, Humboldt, Calhoun and Wright counties are brought to the regional landfill in Fort Dodge, Iowa. Since the trucks can’t dump the trash exactly where it needs to go, it takes a small fleet of equipment to push all that material to its proper position in the landfill.

A key piece of that equipment is the dozer. And because of the difficult nature of landfill work, not just any dozer will do.

“In many ways, landfill work is some of the most difficult work a dozer can do,” said Gary Schmidt, Director of the North Central Iowa Regional Solid Waste Agency. “The loads may not be as heavy as in some construction applications and there’s not a lot of ripping, but you’re always pushing or going over material that can tear out a cylinder, poke a hole in a radiator or smash through a window.


The Komatsu D65 “landfill dozer” is specially outfitted with extra guarding, bracing and plating to withstand the demands of a landfill application.

Mike Huth, RMS Des Moines Service Manager; Jim Plathe, RMS Parts Man; Gary Schmidt, Director, North Central Iowa Regional Solid Waste Agency; and Doug Miller, RMS Sales Representative.

It doesn’t take much for a piece of loose lumber to really mess up your machine and possibly pose a safety risk for the operator.”

So when the regional landfill needed a new dozer last fall, it wanted one that would eliminate as many potential problems as possible. The Solid Waste Agency decided on a Komatsu D65 outfitted with a landfill package from Road Machinery & Supplies.

Extra bracing and guarding

The landfill dozer includes numerous extra features designed to protect the machine and the operator, and to make it more efficient in a landfill application. Additional guarding protects the cylinders and radiator. Extra plates under both decks protect and support the underneath. A perforated hood helps keep the radiator clean and the machine running cool. A trash guard on the blade keeps the debris from spilling over the blade and maximizes the amount of solid waste that can be pushed.

“It’s all about making the dozer tougher,” said RMS Field Service Technician Gary Buttz, who installed the landfill package. “There’s a lot of extra guarding and bracing. There are also features that make it easier to clean and take care of.”

“We chose Komatsu because we felt it had the best guarding and protection packages,” said Schmidt. “But equally important to us is our relationship with RMS. We’ve dealt with them frequently over the years. They’ve always been very fair and have provided us with outstanding support.”

The landfill uses the D65 primarily to push construction and demolition waste, but it also pushes regular trash. The machine will run about 2,200 hours per year.