Keeping cool under pressure

Bodens Group, a Manchester, UK, based wood products manufacturer has taken delivery of the two additional Bell wheeled loaders, a new L1806E and a low-hours used L2606E, to join an existing L1506E acquired last year. The latter is predominantly working indoors, while the two additional machines will be working to load up to 200 trucks per day.

The environment in which the machines is working is probably one of the most arduous to be found anywhere, with high levels of dust that can clog radiators along with high heat levels from continuous engine use. This dust arises from the conversion of wood waste into biomass fuel, sawdust and woodchip.

Bell loaders are fitted with the QuadCool cooling system that works by compartmentalising the radiators by incorporating fine mesh pre-filters and wide core radiators to ensures that dust bypasses the radiators, in turn helping to avoid build-up and extending periods between cooling system cleaning. The system also includes an automatic reversing fan to blow accumulated debris away from the radiators and minimise the frequency of cleaning routines.

“There are high expectations placed on the machines in operation within our plant. Each is given a long, heavy workload, within what can only be described as challenging conditions,” explained Alan Whitrow, operations manager at Bodens Group. “Given our high daily throughput, we need machines that not only deal with the dust, but can also make the grade when it comes to fuel efficiency.”

“While historically, our drivers and yard manager have held allegiance to other reputable vehicle manufacturers, the success we’ve achieved with our first Bell loader meant that it made sense to return to QuadCool technology,” Alan added.