Bredasdorp Steenwerke was a small but going concern when Buks Jamneck took over in 1984. Since then, Buks’ sons, Leon and André, have taken the reins with Kobus du Plessis, now the General Manager.
“We mine our own clay about 2,5km away from the plant and stockpile it outside in order to weather it,” Kobus says when we meet at the plant on the outskirts of Bredasdorp. “The clay is then mixed with coal dust and put through a hammer mill and a roller to reduce the clay particles and again left outside to cure, which improves its elasticity.”
From there, the clay is mixed with water and put through an extruder to produce two distinct brick sizes – a standard-sized ROK and a Maxi brick – upon which Bredasdorp Steenwerke’s solid reputation for quality clay bricks has been built. These ‘green’ unbaked bricks are then stacked outside to dry before being fired in a special new type of kiln, called a Zigzag or Habla kiln.
“We used to stack bricks into what was called a clamp to fire them but found there were too many breakages. Now new technology has been introduced called a Zigzag kiln, of which we have two,” Kobus explains. “It’s a much more environmentally friendly process with the bricks baking evenly in a tunnel concept and through a smoldering process. One such cycle lasts a month and is controlled with the speed of a fan.”
Bricks though, whether wet or dry, remain a heavy product, and even more so when multiples are stacked on pallets. “I haven’t been here all that long but I believe Leon and André saw the value of buying Bell Equipment’s three-wheeled Forklifts many years ago for their robust design and build, and the fact that they could carry the heavy loads over uneven underfoot surfaces,” Kobus adds. “The acquisition of the most recent model though was for a specific purpose as we caught up with more modern technology.”
The technology Kobus refers to is that of robotics. Two years ago, the Jamnecks installed a robot to do the stacking of the green (wet) bricks exiting the extruder. The green bricks are stacked methodically onto pallets, and the robot performs this service relentlessly, waiting for no one.
“While the older Bell Forklifts worked steadily, what was needed to remove the loaded pallets was a newer and nimbler machine to keep the production going,” Kobus says. “The new Bell 225F Forklift, with its four-cylinder water-cooled engine, is that nimble machine and it shows in our production figures as the Bell 225F Forklift removes pallet after pallet during production hours.”
Bredasdorp Steenwerke’s older Bell Forklift fleet consists of three 120A and four 220A machines, all with three-cylinder air-cooled engines. Two of these older machines have raised cabs.
The newer Bell 225F Forklift was bought in 2023 and sold to Bredasdorp Steenwerke by André Jordaan based at Bell Equipment Cape Town. Apart from the new machine dedicated to the extrusion area, others are used to stack green bricks into the kilns, and yet more are used in the export area where they load trucks. Bredasdorp Steenwerke has three rigid truck-and-trailer combinations that are used to transport bricks as far as Hermanus, Struisbaai, Robertson and Swellendam.
“The space inside the kilns is quite confined but, because the Bell Forklifts can turn in such a tight radius, they are well-suited for this type of application where they can stack the green bricks and fetch the ones that are ready to be sold,” Kobus says. “Our whole system is geared around the Bell Forklifts, and we wouldn’t even look at another make of machine and for good reasons too.”
Part of this reasoning is that Bredasdorp Steenwerke has so many replacement parts for their Bell Forklifts, which include several three- and four-cylinder engines, pumps, wheel motors and a host of ancillary items. Another positive point is that their own workshop staff are so at home with their fleet of Bell machines and can diagnose and repair issues quickly. Diligent daily checks before machines are used and strict preventative maintenance regimes have given Bredasdorp Steenwerke the longevity of their Bell Forklifts and, according to Kobus, this is set to continue.
