Machine deals give access hire firm a massive lift
BELLSHILL-based Active Access has been ‘lifted’ by the purchase of 50 JCB Access electric scissors. Stewart Plant Sales (a Scot JCB group company) supplied the hire firm with the machines. The order includes eight out of the nine models introduced by JCB Access in its initial...
Keltbray Group launches rail electrification UK-first
Keltbray Group has invested £3 million in six “unique concept” mobile elevating work platform (MEWPs) road rail vehicles for use in the rail sector – a UK-first. Keltbray Aspire provides electrification services on the rail infrastructure and the MEWPs will be used for the installation...
A-Plant division makes £1m investment in winter warmers
Rental firm A-Plant’s specialist division has invested £1.1 million in new packaged boilers and energy efficient heating equipment. Rapid Climate Control, A-Plant’s provider of temporary and emergency solutions for heating, drying and cooling, has invested £600,000 in new 300kW package boilers, along with £500,000 in...
Bargeddie training centre opts for hat-trick of new Volvos
MGS Training has bought three new pieces of Volvo kit for its plant operator training school in Bargeddie, north Lanarkshire. The facility, which has been running for 20 years and has provided training for thousands of operators, runs CPCS accredited courses. Proprietor Colin McGhee has invested...
“A machine-and-a-half”
A Steelwrist tiltrotator has journeyed to the Orkney Islands where it will be put to work on a range of demanding projects. Biggings-based Eoin Muir Plant Hire recently took delivery of a Takeuchi TB295W wheeled excavator fitted with a Steelwrist X12 and floatation tyres. Owner...
Liebherr in the mix for 50 years
LIEBHERR is celebrating 50 years of producing truck mixers for concrete transport. The fifth generation of truck mixer is now in production, with the manufacturer delivering the first one on a Henschel HS22 chassis back in 1967. Liebherr said the type HTM 601 version with...
Are you really ready for winter?
Brendan Aherne, GRITIT’s regional director for Scotland, explains that taking on adverse weather conditions in increasingly litigious times takes careful planning and meticulous execution. It’s just before 6am on Sunday when Steve arrives at the first of his sites, stopping at the gate and leaning...
GAP climbs 28 places in Sunday Times Top Track 250
GAP Hire Solutions has jumped 28 places to 142 in the Sunday Times Grant Thornton Top Track 250 league table. The business has enjoyed a record year, with turnover increasing by 11% to £175 million and operating profit exceeding £17 million. The league table is compiled...
Compact excavator shows touch of glass in Alloa
A Volvo compact excavator has been put through its paces at a glass manufacturing plant in Alloa. The 1.8-tonne EC18D model was supplied to W T Paterson Joinery & Building by SMT GB’s utility dealer, Rockbreakers UK, as a replacement for an older EC15B which had been bought...
New guidance issued on lifting operations with excavators
THE Strategic Forum Plant Safety Group (SFPSG) has released new safety guidance around lifting operations with excavators. A document called ‘Lifting Operations With 180⁰ and 360⁰ Excavators’ is an update on the group’s original guidance publication which was introduced in 2008. Additions are so widespread that...
Demolition man
David Skillings, founder of Skillings Crushing Company speaks to Project Plant about his long-standing relationship with Rammer breakers and Rammer UK dealer Murray Plant OVER the last 20 years sub-contract demolition works firm, the Skillings Crushing Company, has been involved in a range of high...
School of hard NOX
Kinshofer UK recently held two open days to educate potential users on the benefits of the NOX tilitrotators. Andrew Little, Kinshofer UK national sales manager (excavators) spoke to Project Plant about the event Q) WHY DID YOU PUT ON THE NOX OPEN DAYS? A) The...
Finger on the pulse: Pitlochry firm adds Rototilt-fitted excavator to fleet
A Perthshire plant hire firm has recently taken delivery of a Doosan DX170W-5 wheeled excavator fitted with a Rototilt R5. Pitlochry-based R.A Laird Contractors was in the market for a 17-tonne excavator to join its fleet of machines used to carry out a range of...
ScotPlant 2018 to welcome a mix of old and new
SCOTPLANT 2018 is on track to be the biggest event in the show’s 20-year history, with a string of new exhibitors joining familiar faces in a sterling line-up. Molson Green, Taylor & Braithwaite, Boecker UK, Bay-lynx manufacturing, Wheelmasters UK, Northern Survey Supplies, Bunkabin and Stag...
Small but mighty: JMS takes on Truxta dealership
ABERDEENSHIRE-based JMS Equipment has become the latest dealer in the Truxta network, supplying one of the smallest mini-dumpers in the market. The machines are made by Tufftruk Ltd. Truxta was highly commended at the Plantworx Innovation Awards for safety, with features including a failsafe brake...
Investing for the future: Terex Trucks gearing up for new challenges
MOTHERWELL’S “best-kept secret” is how Terex Trucks director and general manager Paul Douglas jokingly refers to the dump truck manufacturer’s premises, despite the business employing almost 400 people and creating articulated and rigid trucks for use all over the world. When Paul joined the business...
Family values remain at the heart of Young Plant
BRIAN Young has revealed it’s been very much business as usual at Young Plant Sales despite selling to the Molson Group. Brian, who has agreed to stay on as managing director at the Doune-based firm for at least the next three years, told Project Plant...
Pursuit of quality pays off for Loc Hire
A recent £3.5 million investment in mobile welfare highlights how far Bonnybridge-based LOC Hire has come in a short space of time. The firm, which was founded by Dan Wharton just three years ago, has quickly established itself as a major player in the sector,...
Annual event helps SPOA reach out to members in the north
THE Scottish Plant Owners Association (SPOA) recently held a meeting of members in Inverness, followed by a golf outing in Fortrose. Dozens of members attended the meeting, held at the Drumossie Hotel. For the first time, members were encouraged to take stalls within the meeting...
Astrak steps up “ambitious” expansion plans
SUPPLIER of excavator undercarriage parts, Astrak UK, is gearing up for “ambitious” growth in the coming years with the expansion of its Kirkcaldy headquarters and a raft of recent appointments. The firm, which is part of the Europe-wide Astrak Group, is doubling its warehouse size...
