When two brothers in Limpopo’s provincial capital, Polokwane, saw a gap in the market for the repair and servicing of construction and agricultural machines, little could they know that some twenty-eight years later, they would be part of a distribution network of market leading JCB yellow metal equipment as well.

Johan Venter had qualified as a surveyor and civil engineer while his younger brother, Danie, had technical skills as a diesel technician. Together these energetic and ambitious siblings had the urge to be self-employed and set about opening their own business, Truck & Tractor Specialists, trading as TTS Plant.

“This was in 1995 and our aim was to service the market with repair and maintenance of construction and agricultural equipment as there seemed to be no one else doing that here in Polokwane,” Johan Venter says. “An agency for an Indian-built truck series landed with us, which we ran for 18 years before selling it to another company.”

Johan runs the marketing, sales, and finance of the company with Danie in charge of the workshop, field-servicing, and parts department.

“In 2004, we were fortunate enough to secure the rights to sell and maintain JCB construction equipment from the previous South African distributor,” Johan says. “We sold many JCB construction machines, especially Backhoe Loaders as this machine had proved itself to be the market-leading Backhoe Loader in the country over a long period.”

According to Johan, JCB’s equipment aimed at the agricultural sphere entered the South African market in 2017 and in 2022 TTS Plant eagerly took on an additional agreement to include this equipment in their offering as it had long been their dream to fill those gaps in agriculture. TTS Plant runs a comprehensively equipped workshop at their Polokwane premises where four qualified mechanics with six trained assistants see to customers’ repair and maintenance needs. The company boasts three fully equipped vehicles for field servicing that covers the entire Limpopo Province and three sales representatives drive equally far on their marketing rounds.

“When the JCB distribution agreement for South Africa changed hands just more than a year ago, we did our homework and heard that Bell Equipment would be the new licensee, which was good news to us,” Johan adds. “We went and signed a memorandum of understanding with Bell Equipment so that we could continue selling and servicing JCB equipment as before. This agreement was formalised in November 2022 when we met with Charles Inggs, Bell Equipment’s Business Development Manager: Forestry & Agriculture.”

“We are proud to say that we could therefore seamlessly continue with our service in both sales and servicing to our loyal existing and growing customer base. This in effect makes us the longest serving JCB agent in the whole of South Africa.”

Johan mentions that their top selling JCB Backhoe Loader has been the JCB 3DX Plus model but cautions that the JCB 3DX Pro machine is fast gaining ground as it has more features while being extremely operator-friendly, leading to less operator fatigue and safer operations. Both machines have all-wheel drive.

Sales of JCB Loadalls, especially the JCB 530-70JR model are increasing steadily as more farmers look to increase their mechanisation and with the multi-purpose functions of this machine, it is predicted to be a winner in the agricultural market as it’s priced well. Although sales of JCB Skid Steers are slower, more farmers specifically are recognising how these compact machines can be best used for a variety of tasks as they can be fitted with other tools like mulchers and augers. TTS Plant has found that the higher specified JCB 155T3 Agri Skid Steer sells better due to its bigger engine producing the desired hydraulic oil pressures to run add-on tools.

“To say we’re excited at the prospect of working with Bell Equipment would be an understatement,” Johan says. “We’ve been impressed by the level of support we’re getting from JCB through Bell Equipment, which we’ve never experienced before. This gives us so much confidence for sales and technical support as it creates a win-win situation that benefits us but ultimately our all-important customers.”

Brothers, Danie and Johan Venter from TTS Plant.