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True to the company’s pioneering spirit, Bell
Equipment will introduce its groundbreaking
60-ton truck concept at Bauma Africa in
September. The B60, as it is known, takes ADT
design and innovation into a new league, opening
up opportunities for the ADT specialist in a domain
that was previously only contested by rigid haulers.
According to Bell Equipment’s Chief Engineer, Wynand
van der Walt, the concept of a larger articulated truck is
the realisation of a vision that Bell Equipment Director,
Peter Bell, has held for many years. “It has been our
intention to build a larger truck and concepts have been
in development for some time but with the economic
downturn the project was put on hold. At the beginning
of last year it was revived and our Advanced Research
and Development team started the full design process
and developed prototypes for application testing.”
Explaining the B60 concept, Van der Walt says: “The
idea is always to grow the size of the machine so that
more dirt can be moved. We have identified a growing
need amongst contractors who usually run rigid trucks
in the 60 ton range. We have adopted the two-axle
concept of a rigid truck, with the difference that the
front axle is also driven and the front and rear chassis
are independent. This makes the truck a complete
4x4, unlike the conventional rigid trucks, which are 4x2
with limited suspension and poor ability to negotiate
unmaintained areas along the route or at the load and tip
areas.”
“By combining the ADT concept as we know it with
the single rear axle, we’ve come up with a
unique machine configuration. It’s a
4x4 with full articulation steering and oscillation joint and
that gives us the ability to keep all four driving wheels on
the ground and fully utilise the traction that’s available.
This gives the B60 more off-road capability than any
conventional rigid truck.”
Continues Van der Walt: “An advantage of our truck
would be the significant added flexibility from a single
fleet. A contractor could use this truck on less maintained
roads when starting a new mine; for the initial works
before well maintained haul roads have been built.
After establishment, when the mine is in operation, the
capacity and performance of the truck would then allow
for it to be placed directly into a production cycle. The
off-road capability also means that, in a wet environment
for example, a customer would benefit from quite a few
extra days a year that he can operate, which would’ve
otherwise been lost with a rigid truck.”
Bell Equipment’s design philosophy has always been
driven by creating lowest cost per tonne equipment
solutions and the B60 is no different. “We saw with the
increase from the B40D to the B50D that you don’t pay
the same proportion for fuel and other operating costs
as you get in payload. We expect to achieve similar
economies of scale with the B60 whereby customers
will be moving 10 tonnes more than the B50D without
the same increase in fuel consumption. We know our
drivetrain is very efficient and we expect much lower fuel
consumption than a traditional rigid truck.”
Bell engineers have stuck with the tried and tested B50D
for the front end of the new truck. “We’ve deliberately
chosen to go that route because the B50D has proven
itself well and is running with proven componentry and
New Bell 60-ton truck proves
‘bigger is better’
systems. We’ve also made sure our weight distribution
is such that we don’t strain the front end any more than
we do with the B50D minimising any risk with the new
layout,” says Van der Walt.
The only tweaks to the front end are the engine and
transmission. While the B50D and B60 share the same
capacity V-8 turbocharged Mercedes Benz OM502LA
engine, the power output has been increased from
380kW to 420kW in the B60. Engineers have also
opted for a 7-speed Allison transmission rather than the
6-speed transmission of the B50D, finding the close ratio
box better suited to the larger truck.
The most visible differences are at the back end. The
back axle is a dedicated 70t truck and haulage axle from
Kessler, Germany in keeping with the Bell philosophy of
selecting the best components and technology available
on the market.
To achieve the 60-ton capacity the bin is much wider
than an ADT and more resembles a conventional rigid-
type bin. Telescopic cylinders tuck under the bin to push
it up in stages during the tipping process.
Says Van der Walt: “The rear chassis and suspension
are distinctly different from an ADT concept. A cradle
supports the rear axle with struts being used to create
active shock absorption for a controlled ride.”
Testing has demonstrated that the chassis and
suspension configuration creates a smooth ride, laden
and unladen, that rivals the B50D in the operator comfort
stakes.
However, the B60 is aimed at a slightly different market
than the flagship B50D. Bell Equipment Product
Marketing Manager Llewellyn Roux says the B60 is
better suited to hard ground applications typical of South
Africa’s hard mines and quarries with tight turns. He says:
“In these applications you don’t need the flotation of an
ADT so the single rear axle can take the full load and
deliver the benefits of having one less axle, such as no
scuffing of tyres and improved manoeuvrability.
“The real niche is where weather can change conditions
significantly for shorter periods and the rigids would have
to stop production. Additionally less maintenance of the
ground conditions at the load and dump side, normally
required to prevent rigid trucks from getting stuck,
would also deliver significant savings to a customer.
The fact that the machine has four wheel drive and the
ability, through the incorporation of an independent front
and rear chassis, to keep the wheels on the ground is
a huge advantage for just about any high production
application.”
Van der Walt says the B60 mule has been run extensively
at Bell Equipment’s off-road test track and at a mine in
Northern KwaZulu-Natal, giving engineers an opportunity
to refine the concept. “During this time we invited
customers to come and get a feel for the truck and make
sure we’re on the right track. We took their comments
onboard and in general they were pleased with the
concept and keen to test it on their own sites.”
After Bauma Africa the company aims to test the B60
further afield in Southern Africa and plans to build more
units next year for testing on various customer sites.