Heavy plant manufacturer Bell Equipment is launching a range of wheeled loaders that have been custom-designed for the waste and recycling industry.

The move follows the launch last October of Bell's new range of seven high-specification E-Series wheeled loaders, representing the company's first venture into the UK loader market.    

Now Bell has adapted its John Deere-built standard loader design to create a machine that specifically targets UK waste operations.

The waste-specification loaders will be fitted with belly guards, cab screen guards, solid rubber tyres, high-lift arms and high-tip buckets - all as standard.

But the other feature that makes the E-Series loaders really stand apart from the competition in terms of waste industry suitability is its state-of-the-art QuadCool system, which is fitted as standard on all Bell wheeled loaders.

QuadCool prevents dust and other airborne debris from entering the machine's cooling system, thus reducing downtime and prolonging the life of the engine and other internal components.

Carl Woollaston, sales support manager, Bell Equipment UK, explained: "QuadCool is absolutely perfect for the waste industry, particularly as the work tends to involve the shifting of lightweight materials inside large sheds, where dispersal of airborne debris can be a problem.

"No other cooling system is anywhere near as effective as this one."

What is QuadCool?

The QuadCool system places the wide-core radiator, transmission, axle, hydraulic and air-to-air coolers in a separate compartment to the engine. The individual mounting of wide-core radiators on Bell's loader range eliminates debris collection in between radiators, which is common in other manufacturers' machines. With the E-Series loaders, steel access panels have fine mesh screens to filter cooling air as it enters the QuadCool system. The holes in the screen are substantially smaller than the wide-core radiators, so any debris drawn in passes straight through the system, thus extending intervals between cleaning - and increasing up-time. The fins per square inch on the Bell wide-core radiators are significantly less than those of other manufacturers, which greatly reduces the chance of debris build up.

The QuadCool system is also set up to provide the best maintenance access in the industry to all radiators, with panels allowing access to both sides of each radiator for easy, quick and thorough cleaning.

Included "as standard" in the QuadCool system is the automatic reversing fan, which automatically reverses the air flow for 30 seconds at intervals determined by the operator, depending on the site conditions. This blows any accumulated debris away from the radiators, maintaining cooling efficiency and increasing productive times by further reducing the need for cleaning.

In addition, QuadCool features a proportional fan speed, which operates independently to the engine. When compared with a more common engine-driven fan, the benefits of the Bell system include reduced noise levels, increased fuel economy due to the reduced drain on the engine, and lower operating costs.

Bell's wheeled loaders also offer extended air filter life and, more importantly, increased engine protection due to the cyclonic pre-cleaner to the engine induction line. This is fitted as standard on the entire E-Series range, spinning incoming air and automatically ejecting 98% of airborne dust particles, effectively cleaning the air before it reaches the air filter.

The cab on all Bell wheeled loaders is also pressurised, meaning that air is filtered before it enters the cab, ensuring healthy conditions for the operator.
 
The overall hydraulic filtration system on the Bell machines extends hydraulic oil filter intervals to 4,000 hours. This element alone will have major service cost advantages when compared with the industry norm of 2,000-hour service intervals for hydraulic filters.

Other features on Bell's waste-spec loaders:

Bell has ensured that any potentially vulnerable parts of the machine are fully protected from the unpredictable nature of waste and recycling materials that might be handled from day to day.

Firstly, belly guards are fitted as standard underneath the chassis to protect the engine, transmission and hydraulics.
 
Woollaston said: "There are any number of items that are a potential hazard to even the most hardy of waste handling machines - anything from golf clubs to broken office chairs. Such common items as umbrellas can cause huge problems, leading to increased downtime and inefficiencies.

"It's therefore essential that we cater for the worst-case scenario and ensure that our customers' operations are not compromised unnecessarily."

This is why Bell has fully approved solid rubber tyres on its waste-spec wheeled loaders.

The standard tyre for the UK waste industry has typically been the L5 tyre, which is a robust, pneumatic tyre. Yet, because tyres working in waste & recycling environments are so prone to punctures, it is common for operators to fill them with foam.  

But Woollaston said: "These foam-filled L5s still have their downside. If a piece of sharp metal happens to take a corner off the tread, the foam can leak out. The tyre becomes useless and it's like riding a pig with three legs - not to mention the downtime and cost that can be caused by an unplanned tyre change."

So Bell has specified solid rubber "cushion" tyres on its waste loaders. The tyres, although solid, have a series of perforations near to the rim, which allow a degree of "give" and thus creates a more comfortable ride. And the performance of the tyre is unaffected even if the underlying waste causes edges to be ripped off.

The cost of the solid "cushion" tyres is also no more expensive than the foam-filled L5 tyres.    

Other standard features specific to Bell's new waste industry wheel loaders include the high-lift arms and high-tip bucket.

Due to the waste materials often being relatively lightweight, the lorries that transport them from the waste-handling site typically require very high sides, in order to achieve efficient tare weights. This usually means that the loaders must be able to comfortably clear a loading height of about 4.5 metres.

Longer arms are therefore fitted to the Bell loaders, in addition to a high-tip bucket, which, due to its custom-built configuration provides an extra 1 metre to 1.2 metres of dump height compared with the standard buckets. The cradle-mounted bucket can therefore dump its load and the machine can pull away without the risk of the bucket hitting the high sides of the lorry.
   
Much of Bell's focus in the design of its waste-spec loaders has been on health and safety aspects, both in terms of machine damage and operator safety. Cab screen guards are therefore fitted as standard, due to the dangers of waste items rolling down the machine's arms during loading.

Bell also offers hydraulic quick-hitch buckets for maximum operational flexibility and refuse spill guards on its buckets.

Standard features on all Bell E-Series loaders:  

Whilst Bell has perfected a number of features for these new waste-spec loaders, customers in the waste & recycling industry will also benefit from the market-leading "as standard" specifications that are available on all E-Series wheeled loaders.

Bell believes it offers the highest standard specification machines in the industry, making Bell wheeled loaders a serious top-end alternative to other loaders on the market.

The range of seven machines can be divided into two main categories - utility and production class loaders.

The L1204E and L1506E utility machines are most suitable for a wide range of applications, including general contracting, composting, waste & recycling, urban batching plants (concrete), urban asphalt plants and agriculture. These loaders are designed for the ultimate in operational flexibility.

The larger utility class loaders - the L1706E and L1806E - are best suited to similar operations but on a larger scale. Waste & recycling is a key area for these loaders, for example in operations including skip waste recovery, waste transfer stations, demolition waste and scrap yards.

The three production class loaders in Bell's E-Series range are the L2106E, L2606E and L2706E, which are designed for specific large-scale operational tasks. All machines in the range are fitted with the latest Tier 3 certified John Deere PowerTech engines.

Whilst all seven machines are available with high-powered Z-bar linkage, the L1204E, L1506E, L1706E and L1806E utility class machines are also available with parallel lift configuration and Quick-Attach.

All machines are available with high-lift arms.

The attention to detail that has gone into the inside of the cab is equally impressive. The cab operator is able to enjoy a luxury, heated, air-suspension seat with twin armrests. This is mounted on a carriage together with the machine controls, providing exceptional comfort as the controls move with the seat. The control includes the innovative Quick Shift feature, which allows simple pushbutton gear changes.

All E-Series loaders include keyless start with lock-out codes for added security, where each operator has a unique numerical code to activate the machine's ignition system. This is factory fitted as standard. Plant managers or fleet owners can have an override code to enable a super-user to gain access to all machines and therefore make overall management of the fleet easier.

Also (untypically) standard is the reverse camera and reverse radar detection system, which display through the cab's highly advanced LCD system. In addition, Bell supplies, as standard, an embedded payload system on all of their machines. The payload comes with a truck counter, enabling the operator to view, on the LCD monitor, exactly how much tonnage has been loaded into a truck. This feature allows multiple monitoring over more than one truck at a time, and data can be presented as accumulated totals.

The user-friendly multi-function LCD monitor also provides screen displays of machine parameters, an operator check sheet, real-time fuel usage and extensive diagnostics. It represents merely the visible "front end" of a superior and ultra-reliable solid-state electronics system. This Canbus system has vastly simplified the electrical system while significantly improving the level and quality of diagnostic information.      

Neville Paynter, managing director of Bell Equipment UK, said: "Due to our on-going strategic alliance with John Deere, we've been able to pool our expertise and market knowledge to come up with a range of standard loaders that will compete with anything on the market. But it's also important to be able to provide individual solutions for individual industry sectors.

"The waste and recycling industry has a set of requirements which are different to, say, the quarrying or general earthmoving sectors. We believe that our new waste-spec wheeled loaders will fulfil those requirements perfectly."

Bell has become renowned for supplying bespoke versions of its standard articulated dump trucks (ADTs) for a variety of end-uses. The company is set to make no exception with its new range of wheeled loaders.