Assignment 1

1. UniMAP is developing a new Sport Complex at Pauh Putra. The area to be

developed is about 500 ha which currently under virgin jungle. The area
comprises heavy clay soil and undulating. Proposed appropriate machinery for
bushes and scrub clearing and earth work such as grading, levelling and landfill the area. Give your reason for choosing such machinery.

A bull-dozer is a crawler equipped with a blade that used to push large

quantities of soil, sand, rubble, or other such material during construction or
conversion work and typically equipped at the rear with a ripper to loosen
densely compacted materials.
Bull-dozers are large and powerful tracked heavy equipment. The tracks
give them excellent ground holding capability and mobility through undulated
field. Due to crawler type, it has a very strong under carriage and has very
high resistance for wear. This makes bull-dozer to work at grades or slopes
with a very strong ability of pull in forward direction even at grades.
Wide tracks help distribute the bulldozer's weight over a large area and
decreasing ground pressure, thus preventing it from sinking in heavy clay soil.
Extra wide tracks are known as swamp tracks or low ground pressure (LGP)
tracks. Bulldozers have transmission systems designed to take advantage of
the track system and provide excellent tractive force.
Bull-dozer comprises of two primary tools: blade and ripper. The bulldozer blade is a heavy metal plate on the front of the tractor which is used to
push objects, and shove sand, soil and debris. The bottom edge of the blade

can be sharpened, for instance to cut tree stumps. For some case bull-dozer
work by forcing trees and brush completely up out of the ground.
The ripper is a long claw-like device on the back of the bull-dozer. It is
used to ripping rock and breaks the ground surface rock or pavement into
small rubble which is easy to handle and transport, thus grading can be take
place after the rock and dirt is been removed. However they are suitable for
rough grading when the haul distances does not exceed 25 meters.
Thus, based on the attribution and component of the bull-dozer, it is said
to be suitable used for developing a new Sport Complex at Pauh Putra. The
track makes bull-dozer able to work under heavy clay soil and undulated area.
While the component of bull-dozer such as blade and ripper are able to
perform brushes and scrub clearing function; as well as earth works such as
grading, levelling and land-fill.

Assignment 2
1. Proposed a machine to extract timber from the cleared area (Assignment 1)
and to construct perimeter fence around the sport complex.
Extraction is the process of transporting cut timber from the place where it
was growing to a point where it can be removed from site. Tractor winches are
used for pulling heavy objects or loads such as timber. A winch is a
mechanical device where timber is extracted by means of moving cables,
powered by a static tractor. Winching attachments on the tractor are generally
run off the power-take-off (PTO) shaft however there is a steadily increasing
number of models that use a tractors hydraulics. The cable is usually 20-30
metres long, though longer reach cables can also be installed. These consist of
a pulley system, one end of which is attached to a tree up-slope and the other
to a tractor mounted winch. The felled logs are attached to a moving carriage
on the cable and the logs are winched down to the roadside.
A post-hole digger can be used to dig narrow holes to install perimeter
fences around the sport complex. There is an auger type post-hole digger
which is auger is driven through bevel gears by tractor power-take-off (PTO).
Generally, it is easier to use and it dig a deeper hole as the entire length of the
shaft can be dug. Besides, the greatest weakness of auger type post-hole can
only dig one size holea hole with the same diameter as the auger's screw
unless the auger blade is replaced by other diameter. The auger blade is
replaceable and come in different shape and size; it normally operated under
80 rpm into a depth of 1.0-15m. There are variety size of auger, normally in a
range of 15-60 cm diameter.

2. Flail-type hedge trimmers are use in trimming light to medium growth on

hedges and also be used for trimming banks. Give your reason why this
machine so popular for above uses.

A hedge trimmer is a gardening tool or machine used for trimming, cutting

and pruning hedges or bushes.it can be classified into two: tractor mounted
and hand-held. Flail-type hedge trimmers are a common tractor mounted unit
which consist of a moveable arm (hydraulic boom) with a flail-hedge trimmer
attachment at its end. The long moveable arm is providing a rough cut to the
inaccessible area and copes with debris and protrusion in verges such as
roadsides and bank. Thus, flail-type hedge trimmers can handle light-medium
growth on hedges and also for trimming banks at below tractor level.
A flail hedge cutter is normally attached to three-point-linkage found on
the rear of most tractors. They work by beating the foliage with metal flails
connected to a central shaft spinning at high speed. The rows of flails are
usually staggered to provide a complete cut. The flails are attached to the
drum perpendicularly and the driveshaft along the tractors axis must be right
angle. If a flail strikes an immovable object, it simply bounces off. Therefore,
there is a safety breaks switch is built in to allow it to swing back if it hits an
obstruction.