G'day guys has any one used Bell machinery before? we are looking at one of there bulldozers and one of there dump trucks. just wondering what peoples experiences are with them.
drove bell 30 tonne dumper last week 2000 h turbo blew ??
What engine was it running? was it well finished machine?
The Bell trucks are decent enough built artic truck, the Deere trucks are built by Bell. Only model I have experience with is the 25 ton. On those models the Bell truck uses a Mercedes engine and the Deere truck uses the Deere engine. Aside from that, pretty much the same truck. We have a Bell B25D on rent, puked the turbo well over a week ago, still waiting on parts. At least in my area, parts for the Deere trucks are much easier to come by. And working on the Deere engines seem to be a bit easier than the Mercedes. I had to change the fan belt on that B25D, total PITA the way it's designed.
The Earlier Bell Trucks & John Deere C Series Was Build By Bell . John Deere D & E Series Trucks Are Built In Davenport Iowa . I Have A JD 250C & Its Built In Africa By Bell . Had Problems With It But Installed New Mercedes Engine & Its A Totally Different Truck ! If I Was Buying Again I Would Buy A D Series . I Think John Deere Is Building Bell Trucks Now
Merc engine. "well finished" ? Also replaced rubber suspension blocks on the back.
I did not use bell machinery yet. One of mine friend was telling me few days ago that he had over all good experience with bell machinery. Well it also depends upon the particular model that you are using.:tong
I did quite a lot of Line Boring on Bell trucks before Hitachi got them and painted them Orange. They were well made. They required less work in the articulation than the Cats did. The ones we worked on all had Mercedes engines but the rocker covers had Bell marked on them
Only experience w/ Bell I have is the old 3-wheel feller-bunchers (mo-bells). They were built by Bell and first sold by Morbark, later sold as Bells. They were good machines, I can't remember for sure, think they had Cummins in them, haven't seen one since about '98.