Ripping Frozen Ground with an Attachment for Dozers.

Ripping of hard and frozen ground is commonly done by using crawler tractors with rear-mounted rippers that are usually a permanent part of the machine. Ripping is an attractive alternative to other methods of breaking a hard surface layer that restricts excavation, since it utilizes existing equipment and personnel, and a tractor that can be used for the excavation project. A simple ripper attachment for use on the blade of a dozer was used to determine if this easily installed tool could provide some ripping capability when machines with rear-mounted rippers are not available. This ripper attachment was used in a range of frozen soils that could not be excavated with a dozer, and was used on tractors ranging in size from small commercial dozers to a large military dozer with a suspension system. In all cases, at the sites used, the ripper attachment provided the machines with some ripping capability. The ripper was also easy to install, with no modifications required to the tractors or the rippers.