We believe excavators have mainly taken over the bulk of the work on farms around New Zealand, leaving the Bulldozer to more specific larger land clearing tasks. It is becoming increasingly popular for farms around NZ to have their own digger to be utilized whenever needed.
The reason for this is that excavators are a lot more versatile, being able to perform a much wider range of tasks. While the bulldozer is more suited to the specific heavy tasks.
Excavators (diggers)
Some reasons for Excavator being a lot more common is that they are able to do everything that a bulldozer can do plus more, such as cutting tracks, shaping, water tabling, installing culverts, cleaning out dams, tree work, cleaning out cattle yards and even burying a horse! (or cow).
Other reasons the Excavator has become popular is that they don't cut up the ground like a bulldozer does and they are less likely to get stuck (as they have their arm to pull them out of any sticky situations).
The Bulldozer
All of this does not mean the bulldozer is not good for anything! It certainly still does have its place as it is a lot quicker on cutting tracks. They are great for cleaning up miles of farm tracks, and are excellent for large land clearing projects and bulk earthmoving!
A Compromise?
There is a compromise if you are looking for this! It comes in the way of a Kobelco Blade Runner. This is a great digger that features a full 6-way blade mounted on a 20 ton undercarriage with a 12 ton top! These are great for farm work as you can push large amounts of earth like a bulldozer but you can also use the arm to do your digging work.
What could take over from excavators (if anything)?