The Story of Bell Equipment An African Legend

I recently visited the beautiful coastal town of Richards Bay and neighbouring Empangeni in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa.

I found it to be a hive of economic activity servicing the country and the world at large. The northerly orientation makes it an export hub also home to global players such as the Bell Equipment head office. I was privileged to visit the plant and also experience a Bell B40E Articulated Dump truck.

Certainly Africa’s best automotive story, it all began pre-World War II in Empangeni with Irvine Bell and his early fascination with tools and machines. Passion driven, he pursued a trade apprenticeship as a fitter and turner at a northern Natal colliery and later served five years as a military engineer during World War II.

After the war, Bell returned to Zululand and applied his skills when he manufactured a homemade water boring machine and began drilling bore holes for a living.

In 1954, he started an Agri-machine repair workshop on a sugar estate, quickly becoming renowned for repairing even the most dilapidated machinery, all while manufacturing his various inventions.

Four years later, Bell built a new workshop on his small holding where he was joined by his brother Robert and brother-in-law Malcolm.

The company’s moment of grace came when Bell invented the unique self-loading sugar cane trailer and the tri-wheeler machine that could pick up and load harvested crop, revolutionising the labour intense cane industry. Patented in 1964, the Bell cane loader is still the most popular machine in the industry.

Under Bell’s leadership and later his sons’, the brand has developed into a world leader in heavy duty equipment. The Bell product portfolio has since grown to include: Articulated dump trucks (ATDs), articulated and rigid haulage tractors, dozers, compact rollers, graders, excavators, tri-wheelers and a range of customised equipment for the mining, construction and forestry industries, to name a few.

Bell B40E Articulated

Dump Truck

Bell produced its first ADT in 1985, followed by the D-series in 2002 – breaking the record as the world’s largest ADT. Our featured E-series was introduced in 2016 and is the latest from Bell. Classified by tonnage, 40 tonne in this case, the B40E competes against ADTs by Hyundai, Volvo, Terex, Caterpillar, Case and Komatsu.

At first sight, the B40E is massive, intimidating and bold yet exciting, and its bright yellow is ideal for high visibility and safety. At a certain level of application, function prevails over form as design is not a strong selling point. More relevant to a would-be buyer is performance and on-board features such as the sound-suppressed cab, fatigue-beating controls, a climate controlled cabin, high visibility, an air suspension seat, tilting steering and a high output CD player.

Starting at the press of a button, it became obvious that it’s also a technology monster as dials lit up and this includes a 10-inch full colour screen monitor, automotive mouse interface, advanced diagnostics monitor with a sealed switch module – there is just so much power at your command.

This kind of vehicle is run by a hydraulic system serving steering, body tipping and brake functions; the B40E is as effortless as a VW Polo to drive.

A Mercedes Benz 12,8 litre custom engine moves the tonnage effortlessly and it’s quite nippy for its size – it has to be so that as much tonnage is ferried between various points. A colossus of a machine moving at 52km/h is comely.

The engine has a gross output of 380kW, 510hp at 1 700rpm and a gross torque of 2380Nm at 1 300rpm. These vehicles have a monster thirst to go with them and so it has a fuel tank capacity of up to 352 litres. Bell claims industry-leading consumption thanks to 6×6 technology resulting in more output for less fuel.

Watching it run is even more amazing; it’s extremely versatile and flexible as it is made for the likes of open pit mines. I saw it tackle extreme terrain with each tire suspended independently and it mimics a spineless many-legged creature stopping at nothing, thanks to an oscillating frame and high floatation tires. Bell also has the best-in-class rear suspension resulting in unparalleled off-road ability.

Other features of the B40E include: Hill assist, auto park application, an on-board weighing system, automatic traction control, an industry-leading seven-speed planetary transmission with a torque converter maximising efficiency and dual circuit wet disc brakes offering superior performance.