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Forklift & versalift

225F Forklift

Governed power: 45 kW
Working load limit: 3 500 kg

225F Versalift

Governed power: 45 kW
Working load limit (Fork option): 1 930 kg

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News & Testimonials

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Loyal timber customer Kanyi Ilanga Trading celebrates 21st anniversary

When seeing Elvis Shabangu gaze out over his big timber treatment yard nestled in between vast timber plantations it’s difficult to imagine that this was once a young boy who left school prematurely to help his single-parent mother take care of his siblings by doing odd jobs.

Second Bell-JCB Agricultural Conference fosters a unified dealer network

Bell Equipment Forestry & Agriculture and JCB Agriculture hosted the second annual dealer conference in Richards Bay at the end of March, presenting the dealer delegates an opportunity to visit the Bell factory and gain a better understanding of the Bell-JCB partnership, product range, and culture.

Bell Graders: Impressing operators with precision performance

Production of the highly anticipated Bell Motor Grader range is planned to start in Q3 2025 for Stage 3 developing markets. Designed to meet the evolving needs of the industry, the new machines promise to deliver high productivity and precision accurate control with superior operator station ergonomics and visibility.

Bell provides ideal forestry solutions for Dendatron

When considering the volumes that a contract timber harvester working in pine thinnings in the KwaZulu-Natal Drakensberg area must produce, he is adamant that two Bell Skoggers would be more productive and cost effective than two larger and more powerful skidders.

Bell Skogger is game changer for Harding timber contractor

When Wes Redinger started doing contract timber harvesting for one of the largest timber growers in South Africa, he did it with manual labour. His young company, called Whisky Valley, had three chainsaw operators who did the felling while manual extraction and loading the three-metre timber lengths onto tractor-trailer combinations by hand was the order of the day. It was, however, not sustainable.

Enterprising Eswatini women create opportunity with a Bell Slew Loader

Inhabitants of the Sigangeni community in the northwest of Eswatini traditionally grow their maize between October and May of the following year when it is harvested. The area lies adjacent the Mpumalanga Highveld of South Africa and has winters that are too cold for cash crops like cabbages that could bring in essential additional income, so a group of enterprising ladies devised an ambitious plan.

Major maize operation chooses Bell Tractors

In layman’s terms, two additional cylinders added to a four-cylinder diesel engine should provide more horsepower, but would you believe that those same two additional cylinders can also reduce fuel consumption?

New Bell 2006AF Haulage Tractor delivers more power, more payload

Bell Equipment Forestry & Agriculture is introducing the higher-powered Series V Haulage Tractor, the 2006AF – a robust 200hp (149kW) workhorse – in response to market demand for a more powerful machine capable of hauling a larger payload.

Bell rings in new products and innovation at NAMPO 2025

Bell Equipment will be showcasing three new products at NAMPO, each designed to add value to an operation and make work easier whether you need precision grading, powerful haulage, or versatile material handling.
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Carrying the Bell Legacy

On January 1, 2024, Ashley Jon Bell took the reins as CEO of Bell Equipment Limited, rejoining a sizeable team of third-generation Bell family members actively engaged in the business and stepping up to play an integral role in the future of the company. In a one-on-one with Quarrying Africa, he discusses some of his focus areas, major company milestones, new trends, international growth and the ongoing development and enhancement of Bell OEM products. Credit: Munesu Shoko, Quarrying Africa

Bell to showcase versatile solutions at NAMPO Cape

Celebrating 70 years in business, Bell Equipment South Africa is proud of its roots in the agriculture and forestry industries and will showcase three machines at NAMPO Cape that are designed to make life easier for their discerning farming customers.

Bell expands BETA Parts range and footprint

Less than a year after launching its Bell Equipment Trusted Alternative (BETA) Parts offering, Bell Equipment has expanded its footprint of South Africa, and Zambia to include the major articulated dump truck markets of the European and United States dealer network.

Jetteson Timbers invests in four new Bell Loggers

Nestled in the picturesque KwaZulu-Natal Midlands area of Karkloof is Jetteson Timbers, a quintessential family-owned and operated business. At the helm is Brendon Raw, who is living proof that hard work creates opportunity and you don’t have to be booksmart to be successful.

New Tractor Giants dealership is a winning formula to meet customer needs

Dusty Freudiger believes that if you can advertise your brand on the steering wheel of a Formula 1 racing car, yours must be a brand worth pursuing. And Dusty should know as his own company, Tractor Giants, is used to taking gigantic steps forward in establishing itself as a worthy brand.

Huge scope for JCB’s agriculture range for Trophy Tractors in Letsitele

The small farming town of Letsitele in the Limpopo Province, close to Tzaneen, has a name derived from the Northern Sotho phrase meaning “valley of death”, believed to refer to the many deaths that malaria caused in this area in bygone times.

New George dealer proud to represent Bell and JCB equipment

George is said to be the second largest city in the Western Cape where it lies between the towering Outeniqua mountains and the blue Indian Ocean. This pretty town surrounded by many forests and farms is where we find S. Haddad Agricultural Services, a newly appointed dealer for Bell Equipment’s Forestry & Agriculture Division.

Lezmin Landini excited to represent market leading backhoe loader brand

When you hear the vernacular reference to any make of backhoe loader as being a ‘JCB’, then you know that is a brand that will almost sell itself due to that most effective form of advertising, word of mouth.

Newly appointed M & F Tractor Parts sells its first JCB

The everlasting value of learning at a father’s knee, even in the case of selling tractor and implement parts, has held true for Bryan Taylor, owner of M & F Tractor Parts in Marburg, Port Shepstone’s light industrial area on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast.

JCB and Bell agriculture dealership secured for Kokstad and Underberg

Marc Tolmay, by his own admission, is a great fan of learning new things. Marc is the owner of Dorning Motors, the newly appointed dealer for Bell Equipment Forestry & Agriculture and JCB Agriculture in the Kokstad and Underberg areas of KwaZulu-Natal and says he first learnt important business-related insights from his accountant.

‘Hay day’ for Trekland as Bell and JCB’s latest agriculture dealer

Some eighty kilometres southeast of Johannesburg lies the town of Balfour. It wasn’t always called that having started out its life as the proclaimed town of McHattiesburg, after Frederick Stuart McHattie who owned the farms on which the town lies. The town was renamed to Balfour in 1905 after a visit by the then Prime Minister of England, Arthur James Balfour.

OVK Bethlehem and Hopetown join dealer network

The mechanisation division of a market-leading player in the retail agricultural space is excited at being appointed as a dealer for Bell Equipment Forestry & Agriculture and JCB Agriculture as it will enhance the mantra of the company being a one-stop shop for its existing and potential new customers.

Bell and JCB bring new harvesting head and Loadall concept to NAMPO

Bell Equipment Forestry & Agriculture, which plans to launch a harvesting attachment in 2025, has revealed that the prototype will be on show for the first time at NAMPO 2024.

SAFCOL’s investment in three Bell 225F Loggers pays dividends

The delicate balance of investing today to save in the long term certainly holds true for the forward-thinking management of the Timbadola Sawmill. What gives this balancing act a real homegrown flavour is that the spend was directed at a proudly South African company that produces a uniquely local yellow machine product.

Bell Forwarder streamlines operations for Buhle Betfu

Timber forwarding is often thought of as the unglamorous link in the timber supply chain. Felling trees, extracting and cross-cutting them gets the adrenaline going as it’s mostly noisy and busy. However before the timber reaches the long-haul transport, done by either road or rail, it must be moved from the roadside to a loading depot. This must happen continuously, efficiently, and above all, safely.

Indonesian sugar operation sees huge benefits in UltECO6

The first Bell UltECO6 4-WD Slew Loader arrived in Indonesia in late 2022 and has made a strong impact by bringing valuable advantages compared to competitor machines.

Bell 225F Logger sustains sawmill production for Rance Timber

Traditionally Bell Loggers have been known as quite simple yet robust machines, which is probably why they have become the industry standard as a loading and timber handling tool. But, as robust as they are, they can also display the odd quirk as the workshop and transport manager of a leading South African timber group will attest to.

Bell Cane Loader makes a good first impression in Grenada

José Carlos Rocha Filho, Marketing and Commercial Manager at Latin Equipment Norte, describes his experiences as he explores new frontiers in the Caribbean region to support customer success and sustainability-related goals with Bell Cane Loaders.

Bell Equipment appoints Ashley Bell as new CEO

Bell Equipment Limited has appointed Ashley Jon Bell (41), grandson of the company’s founder Irvine Bell, as the new Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) effective from 1 January 2024.

Bell launches new Bell Heavy Industries division

With almost seventy years of demonstrated expertise in complex engineering, heavy fabrication, and machining for its own range of material handling equipment, Bell Equipment is now offering these specialist services to all industries in the country through its newly formed division, Bell Heavy Industries (BHI).

Bell Loggers support renewable energy creation at Coega Biomass Centre

There is a lot of good news emanating from the Coega Special Economic Zone (SEZ) north of Gqeberha on South Africa’s vast Eastern Cape Coast.

Bell introduces middle-range BETA Parts

Identifying a need in the market for a middle-range parts offering, Bell Equipment has launched Bell Equipment Trusted Alternative (BETA) Parts to give its customers a convenient and competitive alternative, endorsed by the OEM, for their more mature Bell machines or when faced with budget constraints.

Bell Loggers provide a unique solution for truck stop construction

Two brothers, both engineers, have hit on a novel idea to create a solid underfoot surface at the two new truck stops they’re developing and are using non-traditional loading tools to handle concrete products.

KRC Farming – one of the first customers to buy Bell Series 5 Tractors

In January 2019, a tornado hit a farm near Panbult in Mpumalanga and blew flat standing timber that ranged in age from eight to twenty-five years, breaking the trees off as if they were matchsticks.

MTO upgrades aging fleet with new F-series Loggers

An upward growth spurt for a leading South African timber growing company has seen it turn to a preferred supplier of timber handling equipment to replace its fleet of older machines.

Skogger with felling head provides an ideal solution for Umvuni Solutions

When a well-established timber harvesting contractor in the Mpumalanga Lowveld wanted to speed up infield bunching and presentation of felled timber, his solution created the imaginary comparison to when a featherweight boxer takes on a heavyweight rival in the same ring.

Landmeg Landini grows their one-stop-shop with Bell and JCB Agriculture

“We believe that farmers and other customers working in the farming space would prefer to buy their equipment, spares and related accessories from a ‘one-stop shop’ such as the one we own in Cradock,” says Jean Nel. “It is also here at Landmeg Landini that customers have access to the full range of Bell and JCB Agricultural and Forestry products.”

JWL Landbou Voorsieners sells Bell Logger for a unique application

As commercial farms in South Africa are getting larger and smaller farms are getting fewer, the one factor that keeps growing consistently is mechanisation. And in both Ermelo and Standerton, a dealer who is a distributor and an importer firmly believes it is the local farmer’s partner in mechanisation.

Alpha Agri excited to add ‘yellow metal’ to its offering

Tiens de Bruin sees big potential for especially JCB’s Backhoe Loaders, Skid Steers and agriculturally specified Loadall equipment in his company’s agricultural target market and he and his young team are excited at the prospect of selling and backing this new equipment offering.

Warmbad Landini looks forward to growing its customer base

“A farmer without a JCB Backhoe Loader can’t call himself a real farmer” is what William Fullard believes and he should know as most of the customers of their family business are farmers around the town of Bela-Bela, previously known as Warmbaths.

Former JCB dealer pleased to be back in the fold

When Johnny Scholtz and his company, JBJ Machinery, couldn’t sell any more of his favourite JCB machines due to local distribution rights changing hands to Bell Equipment, he so missed the experience that he actually wrote a letter to Lord Anthony Bamford, the Chairman of JCB, to plead his case.

TTS Plant keeps the JCB flag flying in Polokwane

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.

Providing solid service is Edge Equipment Specialists’ mantra

When Danie Scheepers and Mike Cowie first started developing the concept of opening an outlet that would serve amongst others, the forestry industry and dairy farmers in their area, their collective thoughts told them that they wanted to be more than just a chainsaw dealer.

JCB machines seal the deal for Drakensberg Agricultural Services

“We don’t think there is a better Backhoe Loader or Loadall on the market than those made by JCB, and we would have said that even if we weren’t the official JCB Agriculture and Bell Forestry & Agriculture dealer in this area.”

People buy from people at Van Breda Agri

Today, the late Irvine Bell’s company Bell Equipment, although now a large multinational company, has not lost its personal touch much the same as Kobie van Breda’s Van Breda Agri has kept in close touch with its customer base in the Cape Winelands and Southern Cape.

Bell brings Weskus Meganisasie onboard in Western Cape

Nicky Russouw’s purpose in life is to empower people, which is why at the height of the initial panic that accompanied the first lockdown period in South Africa in 2020, he had his younger members of staff at all their branches, come in to work to still service the company’s large farming customer base.

Upington dealer thrilled to retain JCB product line

Seen from the air, the mighty Orange River snakes its way across the arid Northern Cape Province while on its banks, emerald green vineyards and orchards belie the harsh sunlight that creates so much sweetness in the various fruit grown here.

ALM Tractor World thrilled with Bell dealer appointment

The planets must have been aligned on the day in 2022 that De Wet Dannhauser, Sales Manager at ALM Tractor World, called Charles Inggs to enquire about whether Bell Equipment, the South African distributor for the well-known JCB brand of yellow metal, perhaps needed an outlet that focused on agriculture.

‘Go anywhere, do anything’ with Bell Equipment’s Tracked Carrier

Geared for the short haul and to provide access to difficult-to-reach remote areas, South African OEM, Bell Equipment, will introduce its Tracked Carrier concept to the local market at NAMPO 2023.

Bell Forestry & Agriculture appoints its first independent dealers

Bell Equipment Forestry & Agriculture is in the process of expanding their distribution and support network where they have recently appointed a dozen independent dealers covering 19 branches. This is part of the company’s strategy to expand its existing product offering with the JCB Agriculture range and create new markets in agriculture, where it is already an established and respected supplier to the sugar farming and forestry industries.

Bell Equipment’s new range of Graders set to deliver next-level performance

Designed to meet the emerging needs of the grader industry, Bell Equipment has expanded its mining and construction OEM product range to include motor graders. With several units running in diversified applications, production has been set to begin as early as Q3 2024.

Bell delivers solid performance on the back of strong demand for ADTs

Richards Bay, 31 March 2023 – JSE-listed Bell Equipment (Bell), a leading global manufacturer, distributor, and exporter of a wide range of heavy equipment for the construction, mining, quarrying, sugar, and forestry industries, today released final results for the year ended 31 December 2022.

Bell 225F Forklift is the machine of choice for UCL Sawmill

Sawn timber is deceptively heavy and to move it around safely within a large storage area or loading bay, on sometimes uneven surfaces, taxes any machine’s mettle to the limit.

Cousins succeed at contract harvesting with Bell forestry fleet

What do a pharmacist, an agronomist and an accountant have in common barring the fact that they are all related as cousins? Probably nothing you’d say unless all three are partners in a business venture such as that doing contract forestry harvesting, which started out as a timber transport company.

Kobelco and Bell are a winning combination for J & B Timbers

Barend Steenkamp faced a somewhat unique problem in his felling, extraction and loading of pine thinnings operation in forests in the west of Eswatini. His contract called for full tree-lengths, up to fifteen metres long, to be loaded onto specialised stinger-steer truck-trailer combinations, but there was not enough space in the narrow roads between forest compartments to do this safely.

Eswatini’s Top Technics expands with Bell Loggers and Skogger

When Cedusizi Dlamini wanted to start his own forestry contract harvesting business, he turned down a lucrative loan offer from a family member as he didn’t want to risk any disharmony in his family that loaned money may cause. Instead, he did it the hard way, paying back a substantial loan from another party over a mere twelve months.

Timrite grows its fleet with Bell Forklift and JCB Wheel Loader

A marked saving in fuel consumption has justified the purchase of new and more efficient material handling equipment for a Mpumalanga-based manufacturer of timber products.

Roseleigh Estates achieves in-trailer compaction with CanePro

The old saying that time is money rings very true for a KwaZulu-Natal sugarcane grower as a new cane loader drastically cuts loading time while maximising the usable space in a cane trailer.

Kobelco Excavators and Bell Loggers drive mechanisation at GDH Harvesting

Excavators using hydraulic technology have come a long way since Sir WG Armstrong & Company first used water to drive an excavator when building the Hull docks in England back in 1882.

Bell Logger proves invaluable to Timber Express’s operation

Word of mouth is said to be one of the most powerful forms of advertising and to Danial Rana’s ears this certainly held true when his family’s business wanted to buy a timber handling machine in the past year.

Bell and JCB – parallels that create a synergetic partnership

Bell Equipment and JCB were established almost a decade apart on opposite ends of the world, yet with their similarities in terms of timelines, family lineage, philosophies, and product pedigree it is small wonder that these companies have now forged a growing partnership in South Africa.

Bell to drive agriculture renewal with JCB Agriculture

Bell Equipment Group has reached agreement to distribute and support the JCB Agriculture product range in South Africa.

Bell onboard as RBRC’s associate sponsor

After two cancelled seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic the Richards Bay Rugby Club (RBRC) has reason to look forward to the 2022 season. This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Club, and it is the first time in several years that it has received financial sponsorship towards the season’s expenses.

Triple celebration as Thuthukani opens ‘Play-to-Learn’ Centre

Friends of Thuthukani Special School in Empangeni gathered recently (10 November) to celebrate the school’s fortieth anniversary, introduce ‘Changing Lives’ as the school’s new motto and officially open the Gary Bell Play-to-Learn Centre, sponsored by Bell Equipment.

R&B Timber Group impressed with quieter F-series Loggers

A family-owned business, R&B Timber was established in 1952 by Bob Armour. Today this family business operates at corporate level with his grandson, Simon Armour, as the chief executive officer and the fourth generation being groomed to carry on the proud family legacy.

Long services awards for Bell employees

Bell Equipment made up for lost time last week when it acknowledged and celebrated one hundred and fifty-eight local employees who reached long service milestones during 2020 and 2021 at functions held over two days at its Richards Bay factory.

Kobelco Excavator-based carrier solutions are a popular choice

When Bell Equipment became the exclusive dealer of Kobelco Excavators in southern Africa in 2017, part of the appeal was the strong standing the Japanese brand has in forestry elsewhere in the world. Since then, Matriarch Equipment, now a division of Bell Equipment, has had great success providing a professional and thorough approach to the conversion of Kobelco excavators for the local forestry industry.

LFC Logistiek reaps the benefits of Bell Haulage Tractors

A well-known Free State maize farming family is enjoying the versatility that using a fleet of Bell 1734AF Haulage Tractors offers while lowering their all-round production costs and increasing efficiencies.

Timber Logging Solutions sees the benefit of running its own Bell equipment

How does a qualified mining engineer who rose to the level of a general manager change tack so radically as to get into the timber harvesting field? In the case of Mandla Nxumalo, the answer is almost by accident. His subsequent success though is based on two disciplines: that of finding an experienced mentor for guidance and listening to what people in the know say about getting the correct tools for the job.

Somusa Forestry sold on Bell Timber Forwarder’s safety features

Timber harvesting is a fascinating field and in Southern Africa it is an industry that is seeing ever growing mechanisation. Large machines are now felling and cross-cutting trees while stockpiling and loading timber onto interlinked rigs for haulage to sawmills and pulp and paper plants is totally mechanical.

Repowered Bell Series V Tractor geared to meet customer expectations

After four years of development and testing of the new Bell Series V Haulage Tractor, the company’s Product Marketing Manager: Forestry and Sugar, Ettienne Terblanche, says “this latest version of an old stalwart is our best ever”.

FASTfell and Skogger enable GDH Harvesting to branch into thinnings

Two experienced foresters and partners in a contract timber harvesting company have for a while considered undertaking thinnings as a profitable business opportunity but they felt it prudent to wait to find the correct tools for the job.

Lowest cost per tonne productivity has Tomahawk sweet on their UltECO 6

South Africa’s picturesque Nkomazi district lies tucked in between the borders of Eswatini, Mozambique and the Kruger National Park and, with its abundance of fertile soils and water, it’s a really good place to grow sugar cane and a host of choice fruit and vegetables which are mostly exported.

First Matriarch Skogger proves successful in Latin America

Latin Equipment Norte has recently introduced the first Matriarch Skogger into the Americas where it is working in a thinning and clear-cut operation in teak plantations in the remote woods of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.

Bell launches global pre-owned equipment website

Bell pre-owned equipment can now be shopped online thanks to the launch of a dedicated global website, pre-owned.bellequipment.com, which is also accessible from the company’s website.

Matriarch machines are a sweet success story at 4×4 Boerdery

A cane grower from Pongola in northern Zululand has found that shortening the time it takes to load a cane haulage truck bound for the nearby mill, has a direct positive impact on his bottom line profit and believes he has Bell Equipment to thank for this.

JCB appoints new dealer in key South African market

JCB has appointed one of the most respected companies in the construction equipment sector to be its distributor in the key South African market, the company announced today.

ES Forestry invests in new Timber Forwarders and a Wheeled Excavator Loader

Lessons learnt early in life about perseverance and loyalty have stood Elvis Shabangu and his company, ES Forestry, in good stead when relying on one brand of timber handling and haulage equipment.

Richards Bay’s Julio Ritchie lands annual Bell Reel Kids prize

Sixteen-year-old Julio Ritchie from Richards Bay is the proud owner of a new Shimano rod fitted with a Tiagra 50W reel as the overall winner in the Ski-boat magazine’s annual ‘Reel Kids’ competition, sponsored by Bell Equipment.

Bell Care Package – caring for the customer, caring for the machine

Bell Equipment is introducing the Bell Care Package, which has been thoughtfully designed to satisfy our customers’ need to look after the servicing of their assets, manage costs and increase flexibility to better respond to today’s uncertain and challenging environment.

Bell Equipment develops a mulcher for South African conditions

Bell Equipment will showcase the best of local at NAMPO 2020 displaying a Bell 315SL TLB, a modified Bell Haulage Tractor with tandem Afrit side-tipping trailers for the maize industry, the new, more economical Bell 620G Grader as well as a selection of Kobelco Excavators and Bomag compaction equipment.

Ground-breaking BBBEE deal transforms Bell operations

Heavy equipment manufacturer and distributer, Bell Equipment, has concluded a Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment agreement, effective 1 January 2020, that will empower the Group’s South African manufacturing subsidiary, Bell Equipment Company South Africa (BECSA) and further empower the South African sales and distribution subsidiary, Bell Equipment Sales South Africa (BESSA).

Siyawisa Hlathi leads the way with Bell and Waratah

An enterprising spirit, enduring perseverance and an ability to change with the times have seen an emerging timber harvesting contractor in northern KwaZulu-Natal evolve from a motor manual outfit into a successful, fully mechanised harvesting operation.

“Momentous occasion” as Bell becomes a global manufacturer

Bell Equipment has evolved from a global supplier to a global manufacturer with the 17 million Euro expansion of its Eisenach-Kindel assembly plant in Germany. The project, which attracted a grant from the state development agency, the LEG Thuringen, for its contribution towards the improvement of the regional economic structure, accommodates the fabrication of Articulated Dump Truck components for the Northern Hemisphere.

Bell and Government look to strengthen engagement

The KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government took its first steps towards achieving its goal of stimulating the manufacturing sector by visiting Bell Equipment’s factory in Richards Bay this week to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the sector.

Bell scoops accolades at KZN Investor Awards

Bell Equipment won the ‘Major Contributor to Innovation and Technological Advancement in KZN’ category and was a finalist in the ‘KZN Investor with a Global Footprint’ category of the inaugural KZN Investor Awards, held at the Durban ICC on 12 September.
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