Blackwell buy first Bell wheel loader
Civil engineering firm adds an L2106E wheel loader to its fleet of Bell articulated dumptrucks
CIVIL engineering firm CA Blackwell have purchased their first Bell wheel loader to fulfil an earthmoving contract for Aggregate Industries.
The Essex-based company has put a Bell L2106E loader to work in Tucklesholme Quarry, close to Bell’s UK headquarters on the Staffordshire–Derbyshire border.
Blackwell have been one of Bell’s biggest customers for the past 11 years and exclusively use Bell for their 42-strong fleet of articulated dumptrucks, but this is the first time that it has purchased a Bell wheel loader.
The move follows successful demonstrations by Blackwell of Bell’s L1806E and L2106E loaders on the Clyde Wind Farm project and at Tucklesholme respectively.
Rob King, resource manager for Blackwell, said: ‘We get on very well with Bell, and we’re particularly impressed with their after-sales support.
‘It made perfect sense to go with Bell for this loader, not least due to the unique location of this contract, which means Bell can carry out any maintenance for us as their UK headquarters is just down the road.
‘We obviously interrogated the fuel economy – an important factor in all plant purchasing decisions – and the power-to-weight ratio of the loader before we went ahead, and they were very good indeed.’
The Bell loader is handling around 1,500 tonnes per day of ‘as raised’ ballast from stockpile, which is hauled by road trucks to the Aggregates Industries’ Newbold Quarry – a haul cycle of about 6km – for washing and grading.
As part of the contract, Blackwell use 40-tonne Bell ADTs and a 50-tonne excavator team to excavate and haul the ballast, on a campaign basis, from the site to replenish the stockpile, which the loader then works through.
The Bell L2106E loader is fitted with a 3.8 cubic metre general-purpose bucket, which handles the wet ballast comfortably. The loose density of the material is 1.8 tonnes per cubic metre, resulting in a seven tonne per pass operation and the loading of a six-wheeler in less than 60s.
Blackwell say they expect the loader to continue working at Tucklesholme for the next two years.
Simon Bridge, area sales manager for Bell Equipment, said: ‘For our loaders to have been endorsed so highly by one of the leading players in the industry counts as a major success for Bell.’
