More Bell’s & Whistles for Moore’s

In terms of dump truck hire, not many companies are as famous as, Alton, Hampshire, based family business Moore Transport Ltd. Founded in 1972 by Chris Moore, initially running AEC ‘scow end’ tipper trucks, the firm was well known for its adoption of the Norwegian built Moxy articulated dump trucks.

Chris bought his very first Moxy in 1979, a D16B model to be precise, that truck was the first of many to be purchased over the coming years, peaking in 1997 with no less than 40 Moxy trucks on the fleet, and led to the company becoming more well known unofficially as Moore’s Moxy’s.

In more recent years the articulated haulers of choice for Moore’s come from South African manufacturer Bell Equipment and the fleet is largely dominated by them.

In 2016 Chris was joined by youngest son George who in his role of Plant and Operations Manager and a forward-thinking approach has really pushed the already successful business on to another level again. It’s always a pleasure to catch up with the Moore’s and on this occasion, we caught up with George on a site in Royal Wooton Bassett, near Swindon, where two of their Bell trucks have been deployed on a 3-year contract hire, and to find out the latest developments within the Moore business.

Talking about the fleet of equipment they have today George said, “We currently have 31 active Bell ADT’s and you will see here today our 30^th Bell which we recently bought brand new, fleet number 80, and we have also added another used one to the fleet.

We have also added 3 x Hydrema 912G 12-tonne low ground pressure dump trucks for smaller jobsites or sites that can’t take the weight of our larger trucks.

On the dozer front our fleet has expanded considerably, and we are now running 10 tractors, with our latest acquisition being 2 x Caterpillar D6 XE models, the Hybrid Electric dozer, which as you know offer massive fuel saving benefits, in addition to our numerous Komatsu machines.

On the excavator front we have increased the fleet to 15 x 13/14 tonners including Hitachi and JCB examples and we are also running 2 x 21-tonne machines including Hitachi and Kobelco models, and a couple of 8-tonne class Hitachi’s.

We also have a rake of mini excavators and micro diggers most of which are Yanmar, in our sister company, under the Moore umbrella, Farnham Digger Hire, that business is aimed more at the self-drive domestic market, like members of the public, small builders and landscaping contractors. The Yanmar machines have proven to be a very good investment for us, a very reliable all-round digger to be fair”.

The company has around 20 full-time employees, and during really busy times when 90% of the kit is being operated, they can have up to 50-60 subcontractors working for them, George said that they have a good list of experienced and reliable operators to draw from which is a real bonus for any plant and machinery business these days.

Over the last 4 years Chris Moore has taken a step back, and George has taken over running the business, and he is now the majority shareholder, and as we exclusively revealed at the time of our visit, George was set to be completing the acquisition of the business over the coming months becoming the sole owner and Managing Director.

Talking about acquiring the family firm George said, “I’m proud to be carrying on the legacy of the business, reflecting on how dad started from humble beginnings with one truck, and grafted and grafted to get us to where we are today. I was just talking to dad the other day and said, if you had to start a business like this now, you just wouldn’t be able to do it, it would be so hard, and you’d never make enough money with just 1, 2, or 3 machines, so we are very lucky as the solid foundation of the business is there. We also don’t finance anything, so when I came over to the business those 40 machines were all bought and paid for, so I had this fantastic foundation to build on going forward. We have also added a low loader since you last visited us, which makes us super self sufficient when moving the kit around”.

George continued, “In the past couple of years we have got back into some earthworks contracting, and have successfully completed a few jobs for good clients of ours, we haven’t really pushed it, but next year we will look to continue down that path with the earthworks stuff and expand the fleet with more trucks, possibly larger excavators, and we will also be looking at adding some rollers to the fleet, machines that we currently don’t have on the fleet and have them almost permanently on hire, so we need to get our own sooner rather than later”.

The two trucks we had come out to see, have gone to work on the landfill operation of Crapper & Sons Ltd, who keen readers may recall we visited in the June 2025 edition of Earthmovers to see their new JCB 370X hydraulic excavator.

The two Bell B30E’s as previously mentioned, one was brand new with the other being a used and reconditioned model, fleet number 79, both of which have been converted to waste specification, with the addition of high sides (greedy boards) and a tailgate with extension to retain the material onboard, which are used to take processed material from the vast screening area at the bottom of the site, up to the landfill area.

The contract we have in place here whereby we have to maintain the machines, and in this harsh environment keep at bay the dust element, which means putting in place regular radiator washes, because unfortunately you can’t get reverse fans on them, which is a little bit annoying, but it’s what it is”.

The trucks were modified by a fabrication company who were appointed by Bell Equipment UK to do the work, following a previous design pattern they already had drawings for. The whole thing including the metal work and finished paintwork was organised by Bell up at their facility in Burton on Trent and delivery to Moore’s yard in Hampshire.

The South African built Bell B30E’s are the flagship trucks on the Moore fleet, powered by the well proven EU Stage V emissions compliant 6-cylinder Mercedes Benz OM936LA diesel engine which offers a power output rating of 260kW (348hp). The truck uses Bell Equipment’s E-Series SCR-technology (Selective Catalytic Reduction) in combination with EGR and a diesel particulate filter (DPF) to meet the emissions regulations.

The engine drives another well proven blue-chip component in the shape of the Allison fully automatic six-speed planetary transmission with a torque converter lock-up.

Operating weight unladen on the B30E is 22 885 kg (50 453 lb) with the laden weight being 50 885 kg (112 182 lb). The standard body capacity is 17 m³ (22 yd³) considerably more on these high sided trucks carrying lighter material.

Summarizing George said, “We do love our Bell trucks, and in many ways, they are now what we have become known for, just like in the days of the old Moxy’s. Over the years we have built a fantastic working relationship with Bell Equipment UK, they are always there for us if we ever need them, whether that be for technical support, general advice or spares delivery, which is just what you want and expect from a machinery supplier, the trucks themselves are reliable and easy for our own mechanics to work on, I really can’t see us changing brands anytime soon, they are the perfect fit for our business, and well liked by those operating them too, and without doubt, more will be added to the Moore fleet in the future.