With headquarters and a South African factory based in Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal, Bell Equipment is a proudly local original equipment manufacturer (OEM) with a truly global footprint gained largely through the market acceptance of its core product, the Bell Articulated Dump Truck (ADT). The 2025 introduction of the Bell Motor Grader positions the company to evolve into a broader 'yellow metal' manufacturer.

Forestry & Agriculture
While Bell is well established in mining and construction, it has its roots in sugarcane farming and forestry. The company's namesake, Irvine Bell, first established the company in 1954 as a small engineering and agricultural repair business in nearby Empangeni. His ability to listen to customers' needs and his passion for innovation saw him manufacture various inventions, including a self­ loading sugar cane trailer and an overhead transfer crane for local farmers. His development of a tri­ wheeled cane loader in the 1960s revolutionised the sugar industry and irrevocably changed the company's trajectory.

The cornerstone of Bell in its formative years, the company sees long-term value in strengthening and growing its Bell Forestry & Agriculture business unit. The well-established Tri-wheeler, Haulage Tractor and Timber Truck have evolved to keep abreast of technology advances to offer improvements in safety, comfort, and productivity. Many older models remain in operation, which speaks volumes about the build quality and longevity of Bell machines.

New products introduced by Bell to provide niche mechanised solutions include the Skogger, Log Pro, Cane Pro and UltECO Slew Loader. And, within South Africa, Bell distributes the JCB Agriculture range alongside the Bell Forestry and Agricultural range providing a customised range of equipment that appeals to the broader farming community.

Mining & Construction
When the first ADTs were imported from Europe in the early 1980s, although effective and versatile, Bell saw room for improvement and fine-tuned their design to better cope with the harsh operating conditions common in Africa.
Today, the company is recognised as a global ADT specialist and manufacturer with the largest and most advanced range in the world. The current E-series includes trucks from 18 to S0t to provide solutions for construction, infrastructure, bulk earthworks, mining, and quarrying, along with a niche 4x4 ADT range, led by the ground-breaking 60- ton 4x4 crossover concept, the B60E, for operations not requiring the same off-road ability as a 6x6 ADT but wanting to retain its all-weather suitability.

The Bell Versatruck programme complements the ADT range with niche custom equipment, such as water tankers, hooklifts, flat decks and fire trucks based on the proven Bell ADT chassis.

As a technological innovation leader, Bell has pioneered several features geared at improving productivity and safety, including its fleet monitoring system, Fleetm@tic• that enables customers to manage their fleet. Choosing to be technology agnostic, the E-series range has an advanced platform ready to integrate with third party proximity detection (PDS), collision avoidance (CAS), and autonomous software.

Newer additions to the Mining & Construction range include Bell Tracked Carriers, which are highly customisable and provide a durable short-haul solution for construction sites with soft underfoot conditions that require low ground pressure machines either for environmental or traction reasons.
Production commenced in Q3 of 2025 of the Bell Motor Grader range, the company's next major export product. The ADT is recognised as a market leader in innovation, performance, and durability, and the same core values have been designed into the Motor Grader, which has a South African local content of about 70%, with over 1 000 local suppliers feeding into the factory daily.
The range has three base models, each available in either a 4WD or 6WD configuration. The G140 is well suited to maintenance and light to medium construction tasks. The G160 is designed for heavy construction applications, and the G200 for bulk earthworks and the mining industry. Bell has started production with the G140 Eco - the base spec unit for the G140 - which is well suited to public sector
opportunities, lighter construction and agricultural applications.

Bell Equipment Sales South Africa
In South Africa, Bell owns its dealer network which, thanks to strategic partnerships with global manufacturers such as JCB, Finlay and Kobelco, is a full range materialshandling distributor and an equipment supplier. This enables Bell to complement its own mining and construction range with diverse equipment including wheel loaders, excavators, backhoe loaders, telehandlers, skid steers, forklifts, compaction machinery and a material processing product line. Distribution and support take place through Bell Equipment's network of 22 Customer Service Centres strategically located throughout the country.

The Bell Culture
The strength of the Bell brand lies in the strong family values of integrity, honesty, accountability, and respect that are the foundation of the business. Customers are valued as part of the extended Bell family, creating a unique and healthy working environment.

The motto 'Strong Reliable Machines, Strong Reliable Support' represents Bell's customer-devoted beliefs, ideals and ethical stance throughout its manufacturing, distribution and support network that provides technical backup and advice to customers around the globe for the company's world-class products.