Bell Loggers and their Importance to South Africa’s Forestry Industry
As one travels through the vast South African countryside, the visible evidence of mining activity and agriculture is to be seen in the form of headgear, mine dumps, slime dams and fields replete with maize and sunflowers in virtually all of the nation’s nine provinces. Gold represents about a third of our exports and the country’s diamond industry is the fourth largest on the planet while we are a net exporter of cereal grains to Southern Africa. Since forested areas are, in most of the country, vastly exceeded by arable and grazing land, it is easy to overlook their value, but the commercial timber industry is also important to the country’s economy.
Just as is the case with agriculture and mining, forestry is heavily dependent upon the use of specialised machinery and vehicles such as the Bell logger range. By their very nature, however, forested areas present a particularly difficult environment in which to operate either of these. Such difficulty, in turn, creates the need for exceptional versatility coupled, of course, with the added muscle required to handle very heavy loads, usually over punishing terrain and often under extreme weather conditions.
Once cut down and trimmed, the felled trees need to be lifted onto suitable vehicles for onward transportation to timber mills or paper pulp plants for further processing. To ensure maximum efficiency, the entire process should require the minimum of effort, and so it will require the use of timber lifting and handling machines that are just as manoeuvrable as they are tough. These are precisely the operational characteristics that, over the years, have served to make the versatile Bell loggers the local forestry industry’s tool of choice.
Their three-wheeled design offers operators the important benefit of a vehicle that has an exceptionally compact turning circle that barely exceeds their length. This, of course, makes them the ideal choice for use in the typically confined areas in which they are frequently called upon to perform. At the same time, depending upon which of the available models is chosen, these machines have the power and stability to handle payloads of between 850 kg and 1037 kg with ease. Their simple design has resulted in a comparatively modest capital investment and this, in turn, means that the end-users benefit from the lowest cost per tonne solution for a machine in this class.
To complete the task of the loggers, the Bell range of forestry equipment also includes a choice of three equally versatile timber trucks. These rugged vehicles are specially constructed to provide high-speed travel even over rough terrain. The trio consists of 4×4 and 6×6 2-bunk haulers and a 6×6 3-bunk model, each of which is capable of delivering 205 kW of power and 1000 N.m of torque while offering a bunk capacity of around 40 m3.
These units are available in South Africa and numerous countries throughout the continent from Kanu Equipment. Specialising in heavy plant and vehicles for use, not just in the forestry industry, but also for agriculture, construction, mining, earthmoving and roadworks, we are a subsidiary of the listed, local industry leader, Torre Equipment Africa. In addition to the sale of Bell loggers and trucks, we also offer the option to hire them.
