Bulldozer Weathervane

Our fully 3-D  Bulldozer Weather Vane was commissioned as a 40th birthday surprise for the husband of a very thoughtful woman. He had just finished building a bulldozer barn for his ‘baby’ and had mentioned that he wanted to put something really special on top of it. One morning, after contacting us about the project, she snuck out into the field where he was working and took pictures of him on his bulldozer. We used these images to create the new weathervane. His Bulldozer Weathervane now sits proudly atop ‘its’ barn.

Most of the weathervanes we make here at West Coast Weather Vanes are swell-bodied, meaning that while they also have dimension, their two separate sides are intentionally kept narrow for aerodynamic purposes. Three-dimensional weathervanes are spectacular, but they require more design engineering and greater internal structural support because they are wider, and more wind resistant than their sleeker, swell-bodied counterparts. They also take considerably longer to make.

With our fully 3-D weathervanes, we usually offer our customers the option of Basic, Standard or Deluxe versions. With Basic 3-D designs, details are kept to a minimum. With Standard 3-D, more details are added to the exterior but the interior is left very basic. With Deluxe 3-D weathervanes, we also add full details to the interior, even though the interior is typically not visible when displayed on top of a roof.

This weathervane is an example of a Standard fully 3-D weathervane. It has a fair amount of detail, but we could go much further with a Deluxe 3-D vane, or we could remove the driver, etc. to create a more Basic 3-D weathervane. As shown here, we made the weathervane in a combination of copper and brass. If desired, we can also add optional nickel silver, gold and/or palladium leaf to bring out details and give it additional visual interest as it moves through the patina process.

We are often able to reduce the design fee for our more mechanical weathervane commissions if detailed schematic drawings are available. Also helpful, are detailed photos of the actual vehicle, including insignia, detailing, interiors, etc., especially if you want personalized enhancements to your weathervane. Detailed photos of the underside are often overlooked, yet this is an important view when looking up at a weathervane. If actual scaled down models are available, we often find them helpful guides during the fabrication process.

A bulldozer is a crawler (caterpillar tracked tractor), equipped with a substantial metal plate (known as a blade), used to push large quantities of soil, sand, rubble, etc, during construction work. The term ‘bulldozer’ is often used to mean any heavy engineering vehicle, but precisely, the term refers only to a tractor (usually tracked) fitted with a dozer blade.