South African heavy equipment manufacturer Bell Equipment launched its complete range of E-series large articulated dump trucks (ADTs) in September at its facility in Jet Park, east of Johannesburg.

The E-series range of ADTs incorporates 35 years of experience in ADT design and manufacturing, exemplifying the fruits of a research and development investment of R800-million over seven years, points out Bell Equipment group CE Gary Bell. “We chose to go with an evolutionary type of process with the E-series to bring durable and reliable products to the market. As a benchmark, the development and testing of this range was about ten times what was spent on our D-series.”

He adds that Bell Equipment does not rely on its brand name to sell machines, but instead relies on its products’ performance. “Our E-series trucks are capable of taking on any competitors, anywhere in the world.”

While the D-series has a “proven reputation for good performance, low lifetime operating cost and reliability”, Bell explains it is currently timeous for the company to make advancements in terms of performance and improved capacity, as well as deal with emissions requirements, particularly for the company’s northern hemisphere markets.

“We have been able to move our durability and reliability up a couple of notches and our three years of experience with our E-series small trucks has shown that the reliability factor that has been built into the trucks has taken us a good way forward from the D-series,” he notes.

With the E-series ADTs, Bell Equipment has incorporated more “intelligence” into the vehicles, states Bell, adding that the systems and information the company provides with its new machinery offers more sophistication than in the past and “paves the way for more autonomous control in the future”.

Further, other aspects, such as some of the safety features used in the E-series ADTs are “way above” what the rest of the market has at this time, he boasts.

A number of other value-added electronic features improve operating costs and reliability of new machinery from Bell Equipment.

Limited production of the flagship ADT in the E-series – the B60E – is under way with the first shipments to the US having already been fulfilled.