Capital Equipment News October 2016

EARTHMOVING EQUIPMENT

The Bell B60E, the biggest truck of its nature in the world, boasts a massive 55 t rated payload.

Lock if one axle loses traction. Each axle has a differential that splits the drive left and right. If a wheel on the one side starts slipping, each differential has a mechanism that, once activated, will transfer torque to the wheel with traction. “The system has a clutch in it and if there is too much torque, the clutch slips,” says Du Pisanie. “This is important if it is driven on hard ground in that condition. These are known as controlled traction differentials (CTD).” “Both of these systems used to be man- ually selected by the operator, but the truck now has the capability to identify if there is a wheel or axle slip and then automatically puts on these systems. The system first turns on the Inter-Axle Differential Lock and if it still identifies wheel slipping, it then turns on the CTDs.” By automating these two systems, the Automatic Traction Control makes the operation of the machine easier and also prevents haul road and machine damage by a novice operator, while keeping the truck going in difficult terrain. With Bell Equipment’s understanding that a comfortable operator is a productive one, the E-Series large Truck range benefits from a new spacious cab with better noise isolation for increased operator comfort. A full colour 10-inch LCD screen gives a great deal of information on machine operation and status. “We have received positive feed- back on the simplicity of the controls and the ergonomics of our D-Series cab. These aspects have been maintained and improved where possible,” says Du Pisanie. b Tristan du Pisanie, product marketing manager at Bell Equipment, says there is a big trend towards bigger-sized ADTs globally.

the gear ratios,” says Du Pisanie. “Smaller ratio steps between each gear means that the engine spends more time at its optimal torque and fuel consumption point. This gives improved performance, while at the same time improves fuel consumption.” The new range also benefits from Bell Equipment’s aggressiveness with its new software development. “At Bell we have always aimed to be a class leader in our software developments. They make the op- eration of the truck faster, easier to learn and much safer. Over the past few years, this has been done with features such as Auto Horn, I Tip, Neutral Park Brake and Tip Safe, to men- tion a few,” says Du Pisanie. The trend has continued with the E-Series Large Truck range. The new Hillhold automat- ically applies brakes to stop the truck from rolling backwards on uphill drives. “If the operator is driving uphill and takes their foot off the throttle, the truck is at risk of rolling backwards. Hillhold automatically applies brakes to stop this. When the operator puts their foot back on the throttle, it automatical- ly releases the brakes when there is enough torque produced to be able to pull away smoothly,” adds Du Pisanie. The Bell large truck range also comes with a significantly improved Hill Descent Control. The response time of this feature is now much faster and is said to give the operator greater confidence in using the system. “Sec- ondly, the performance at low speed is a lot more powerful and precise. As a result, tricky downhill driving is much easier as all the operator needs to do is to focus on steering

while the speed control gives him the speed he wants,” says Du Pisanie. Meanwhile, Daily Service Checks mea- sures many variables on the truck, providing critical information on the condition of many of the systems. This feature, therefore, pro- vides information on the monitor of the sta- tus of several of daily service checks that traditionally need to be done by physically climbing on the machine. In the Bell D-Series range, the brake system and gears shared common oil in the axle. “This required specialised oil which could work in both the gears and the brakes. In some of remote markets, this oil was difficult to source,” says Du Pisanie. “With the E-Series Large Truck range, our engineers opted to use two separate commonly available and optimised oils for brakes and gears in the axle. Not only have we been able to select the best suited oil in each instance, but we have also introduced large capacity cooling, for the brake oil, across the range to improve system durability in heavy duty applications.” Safety and operator comfort Du Pisanie says the Bell ADTs are designed to take full payload “where no other truck can go”. “The configuration of the truck and the suspension systems play a very big role in this, but traction devices are also very important,” he says. With that in mind, Bell’s ADT range has a differential that splits the drive between the front and rear of the truck. This differential can be locked with an Inter-Axle Differential

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