Got these pics a while back, they are of the South African made Bell L2306C wheel loader at work
And some more...
And the last lot, including some really boss tipers and a not so boss one...
When I worked for Bell in Savannah Ga. they brought 2 loaders over, but couldn't compete pricewise with all the other foriegn loaders. Nice loaders though.
They are very decent loaders. The fellow who runs this one has two of them, I actually got a chance to operate one of them a while back, and they are very good. Extremely powerful and well made, and very comfortable. I wish that Bell would still make them, because they were very popular. It was such a pity to see the factory close, in favour of peddaling JD loaders.
I didn't know that the factory had closed. I worked for Bell for 9 years and made two trips to Richard's Bay. Pretty Country, great folks. Did they go out of business entirely or just switched to Deere. I was at Bell when deere decided to take the trucks on. I also spent a lot of time with the 3 wheel feller Bunchers over. They were quite popular, I still get an occasional call about some that are still running.
The Bell factory never closed, they just shut down the wheel loader line. Bell is still going strong, just switched to Deere. As for the triwheelers, probably the best selling Bell machine out. They just recently launched the E series of loaders, they have enclosed cabins and what not, though the feller buncher set-up is very rare here, I have never seen it before, but I have seen a Hyena debarker on a triwheeler though, somewhere near Sabie. The ADT trucks are made in Richard' Bay, but the cabs are made by a company called Global Composites. If you drive past their factory, the cabs are all that you see.
Glad to hear that, a lot of great people worked there. I went to a logging equip show at Sabie on one of my trips. Interesting that they use Eucalyptus for pulp where we use pine. They used to build a feller buncher/delimber on tracks, same basic power train as the three wheelers.
Yeah, Pine is for planking wood, for coffins and what not, eucalyptus is for pulp, I think they use the bark for the tanning industry, and Blue Gum is for telephone poles and other post things. Track version?
The track version was called a T12B, either had a felling head made by Bell same as on the three wheelers or an after market combination felling, debarking, and cut to length head, all computer operated.
Sounds very interesting, do you have any pics?
I'll have to scan some, but not until next week. I'm getting ready for drill this weekend. I command a unit of US Naval Sea Cadets (age 12-17). South Africa has a Sea Cadet Program too. You could probably search the internet and find it.
Cool, thanks. I'll be very interested to see those pics.
Hello everyone, I can not post a new thread yet so I appologise if I ask this question in the wrong place. I am wondering if anyone knows what is the smallest size wheel loader that can lift 10000 lbs with forks. I need to be able to lift empty 40 foot shipping containers. I do have a forklift, but do not lift them enough to have it just for the containers. A wheel loader would be much more useful to me. ANy suggestions. Thanks Bryon
The lift capacity is less important. What you have to consider is how far out in front is the center of gravity on a bulky container, with that in mind you have to worry about front axle and tire capacity and how much counterweight you will need to keep the loader from going nose down. A 10,000 pound loader may be able to lift but it may take a 15,000 or 20,0000 pound loader to lift safely without overloading the front end.