Earthmovers in Scotland a stunning new publication

by Nick Drew | Thu 21 Jul 2016

Earthmovers in Scotland a stunning new publication

I hate to mention it but Christmas is only just over 5 months away so with that in mind it’s time to take a look at a great new book which is definitely going to be on my Christmas present wish list!

My friend, colleague and the Scottish Correspondent for Earthmovers Magazine, David Wylie has enjoyed privileged access to the mines, quarries, road projects and forestry sites across Scotland over the years and now in his new book Earthmovers in Scotland David brings together 32 of his reports from site visits to tell the story of the highly skilled, experienced owners, drivers and managers that work with earthmoving equipment and explains why they select, maintain and operate these machines. Book Cover

Photo: The cover shot is from Banks newest mine in Rusha, Central Scotland The book features some of the largest earthmovers in the UK, such as Caterpillar’s D11R bulldozer, Liebherr’s massive 320 tonne R9350s and the mighty 520 tonne Q&K RH200 at Banks Mining Shotton surface mine in Northumberland, a short hop over the Scottish border. It also takes a look at a 1.5 tonne mini digger, special trailers that can lift and transport 3000 tonne bridges into position, and covers Demag’s H485 record breaking mining shovel amongst others. _MG_5594 (1280x719)

Taking pride of place in the book are over 400 stunning photographs, many of which have not been seen before and many of which feature machines that were the first of their kind. Each high quality photo has been carefully composed to capture each machine in all its power and brilliance with the spectacular Scottish scenery as a backdrop and 80 of the most important and detailed images are presented as double pages to help you get close to the action. A00A4409 (1280x853)

David has worked incredibly hard to bring some of his old images and copy most of which have never been seen before, with many weeks of research and contacting his local contacts to bring these old stories to life such as the RH 120C of J Fenton & Son in Bathgate 1994. 00010007 (2) (1280x849)

The 440 page book also features a full report on what was the largest hydraulic excavator in the world in 1986 which was the size of a PC7000-6 and was working at Roughcastle surface mine, including images from Demag’s archives (now KMG) and David’s good friend Nigel Rattray. Also featured is this Bucyrus RH 120-E from a restoration report to highlight Banks Mining’s unblemished record in restoring all 110 surface mines they have worked on in the last 40 years. A00A8364 (2) (1280x853)

Also included in the 400 images in the book are the largest Cat wheeled loading shovels working at the biggest quarry in Europe the Yeoman Glensanda Super Quarry. A00A7960 (1280x853)

The book also has an historical element to it as well, with David’s fascinating 60+ year history of the Terex factory in his home town of Motherwell with some images courtesy of Keith Haddock as seen below and the Terex Trucks archive. 8.07 (1280x775)

The stunning variety of topics of which we have just scratched the surface here, continues across 32 chapters from massive mining machines to little JCB mini excavators working in forestry jobs and massive MultiDocker port handling equipment – loading logs and other timber products in Inverness. A00A9473 (1280x853)

The book is published by Old Pond and is expected to be available in November retailing at just £34.95. Stay tuned over the coming months for details of an exclusive offer for Earthmovers & Digger Man Blog readers.

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