Gow opts for Yanmar carriers: access and haulage lessons from Highland wind farms
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan
First reported on The Construction Index
30 Second Briefing
Gow Plant Hire is deploying two Yanmar C50R-5ATV tracked carriers (6,390kg operating weight, 3,800kg payload) to move fencing materials, aggregates, drilling support kit and backfill across soft, high-ground wind farm sites in the Scottish Highlands. The hydrostatic transmission and 180° rotating skip are being used to maintain traction on temporary access tracks and unload accurately without repositioning on narrow corridors. Supplied by dealer Field and Forest Ltd in Broxburn, the units have been in service since October 2024 on fencing and ground investigation works linked to Scotland’s NPF4-driven onshore wind expansion.
Technical Brief
- NPF4 adoption in 2023 and the onshore wind sector deal target planning decisions within 12 months.
- Scotland’s onshore wind pipeline reached 18.2GW by end-2025, up from 14.5GW a year earlier.
- Wind farms’ high-ground, rural locations restrict permanent roadbuilding, forcing reliance on temporary tracks and off-road haul.
- Gow Plant Hire’s tracked dumpers support both fencing installation and geotechnical ground investigation logistics on current schemes.
- Materials movements link central compounds to dispersed workfronts, increasing exposure to soft ground and steep gradients.
- Local dealer Field and Forest Ltd in Broxburn supplies the carriers and provides ongoing aftersales and parts support.
Our Take
The jump in Scotland’s onshore wind pipeline from 14.5GW to 18.2GW by the end of 2025 signals a sustained workload for specialist plant hire firms like Gow Plant Hire in the Highlands, where access and ground conditions often demand tracked carriers rather than conventional dumpers.
Yanmar’s move to expand its UK dealer network, as covered in the February 2026 piece on Mason Brothers and Robert Coates Plant Sales, suggests that support and parts availability for units working on remote Scottish wind sites should improve over the life of Gow’s fleet.
A four‑year working relationship between Gow Plant Hire and Field and Forest in Scotland indicates that contractors active in onshore wind civils are consolidating around trusted plant partners, which can reduce mobilisation risk as the national pipeline accelerates towards 2025.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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