Muir-Hill
From Tractor & Construction Plant Wiki
Muir Hill (Engineers) Ltd, Old Trafford, Manchester, started in the early 1920's. Amongst other products they built rather basic petrol engined locomotives, mainly for narrow gauge. The early locos were little more than a Fordson tractor skid mounted on a rail chassis, with a chain connecting the rear axle of the tractor to the rail wheels. The firm was sold in 1959 to the Winget group from Rochester, Kent. The Brand Name now belongs to Lloyd Loaders (MH) Ltd of Mytholm Works, Hipperholme, Halifax, Yorkshire.
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[edit] History
Amongst users of Muir Hill locomotives were the slate quarries of Blaeneau Festiniog, and the Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway (who still have two). Production of locomotives did not continue beyond the 1930's, but Shunters based on the Fordson tractor were built till the 1950s; The company expanded on to building a range of heavy tractors and construction plant.
[edit] Time Line
- 1920s - Founded in Trafford Manchester By Messrs. Hill And Muir, as a Foundry company.
- 1921 build rail locomotive based on a Fordson skid unit, for Weldon & Portishead railway.[1]
- 1926 - Build a improved engine for Weldon & Portishead railway.
- 1927 - Dumper conversion based on a Fordson Model F
- 1930 - Shovel based on Fordson tractor
- 1931 - Taken over by E. Boydell a director of the firm who renamed it as E. Boydell and Company Ltd.
- 1932 - 2 cuyd Dumper based on Fordson Model N, with bigger versions introduced. By 1939 they had built 1400 dumper and loading shovels.
- 1939-45 - They built 14,000 dumpers for the Ministry of Supply. After the war they bought up surplus machines to stop the market being flooded and converted them to farm use as the "Powercart"
- 1946 - MH 10B dumper introduced with forward or reverse driving position. Based on Fordson E27N unit.
- 1954 - 2WL the first 1 3/8cu.yd capacity hydraulic Loading Shovel, introduced by E. Boydell.
- 1959 - Sold to Winget Ltd of Kent.
- 1962 - Winget relocate MH to Gloucester.
- 1962 - BD4 4-wd loader of 1 cu yd capacity. Uses a Ford Skid unit, Brockhouse torque converter, Roadless Epycyclic gearbox, and a Kirkstall steering drive axle.
- 1966 - David J B Brown Engineer joins from Northrop and instigates design of new Loading Shovel range with lifting capacity ranging from 4000 lbs to 6000 lbs. Also introduce the MH 101 tractor, for agricultural and industrial applications.
- 1968 - Name change from E. Boydell and Co Ltd back to Muir-Hill Ltd following sale of Winget (Gloucester) Ltd to Babcock and Wilcox Ltd.
- 1969 - Engine up grades to model range;
- MH 101 fitted with a Perkins 6.354 engine a 6 cylinder and became the MH 110.
- The new 110 tractor was designed for export as Perkins suited some markets.
- MH 161 tractor introduced, with a Perkins V8.510 engine (the most powerful tractor in the country at this time).
- Trailer Dumpers were introduced. Designed to be hauled by the new current tractors i.e.
- The 13 and 20 ton models for use with either the MH 101 or MH 110 tractor.
- The 25 ton model was designed for MH 161 tractor to pull.
- 1971 - MH 101 fitted with Ford 2715E engine.
- 1972 - MH 121 Series II tractor replace the MH 101 tractor, but continued to utilise the Ford 2715E engine, from the old MH 101.
- 1972 - MH 111 introduced fitted with Perkins 6.354 engine, to replace the MH 110. (Cosmetic upgrades as well).
- 1975 - MH 171 replaces MH 161, using Perkins V8.540 engine
- 1978 - Corporate reorganisation see Muir-Hill, and Winget, along with Blaw Knox and Allatt move into Babcock Construction Ltd, division of parent co Babcock international (Successor co to Babcock and Wilcox).
- 1978 - Series III range
- MH 141 launched with choice of a Ford 2704ET engine or a Perkins T6.354.
- 1983 - Tractor production ceases, under corporate restructuring.
- 1982 - Muir Hill sold as part of the Babcock Construction Equipment division to Wilbau AG. of Germany. Wilbau was part of the IBH Group.
- 1983 - IBH Group fails, and Muir-Hill and Winget sold by the receiver to the Sanderson Forklift company of Croft in Lincolnshire in June 1984.
- 1984 - Ssndersons complete 3 MH 171's left over at Gloucester, for sale to British Steel, at Ravens Craig steelworks.
- 1990 - Sanderson Fails:-
- Winget sold to Seddons of Bolton,
- With Muir-Hill and Sanderson sold to Aveling-Barford of Grantham, then part of Leyland
- 1991 - Lloyd Loaders (MH) Ltd of Hipperholme, Yorkshire buy Muir-Hill from Aveling Barford following their collapse. Lloyd loaders having being rebuilding and servicing Chaseside machines till JCB bought them out. They then started rebuilding MH machines for customers and build new machines to order.
[edit] Tractors
The range of tractors was designed as powerfull 4 wheel drive heavyduty models . They were sold to Larger farms for heavy ploughing and a lot were used by forestry contractors, some being fitted with Cranes. Others were utilised by Construction Contractors for site haulage on civil engineering contracts, some being fitted with swan neck dump trailers. The tractors were based on Ford parts.
[edit] Model Listing
[edit] Tractors
- MH 101 Mk1 1968
- MH 101 Mk2 ?
- MH 101 Mk3 (replaced by MH 121 in 1972)
- MH 110 1969 Uprated MH 101 fitted with Perkins A6.354
- MH 111 1973 upgraded MH 110 fitted with Perkins A6.354
- MH 121 1972 Ford 2715E 132 bhp 6-cylinder
- MH 141 1978 Ford 2704ET engine or a Perkins T6.354
- MH 161 1969 Perkins V8.510 engine
- MH 171 1975 replaces MH 161 fitted with Perkins V8.540 engine
[edit] Loading Shovels
They started building Loading shovels in 1954.
- MH LH2 MKiv (A preserved example was shown in CP&M V5-5)
- MH FD2 Fitted with Brockhouse Torque converter (machine No. 372 for sale in CP&M V7-1)
- MH BD4
- MH F4000 - 2-wd fitted with Ford 2711E engine
- MH F5000 - 2-wd
- MH B4000 - 4-wd fitted with Ford 2711E engine
- MH B5000 - 4-wd
- MH B6000 - 4-wd
- MH A4000 - 4-wd & steer (all steer)
- MH A5000 - 4-wd & steer
[edit] Construction equipment
They built a range of industrial Loaders and Dump trucks;
- Fordson Std Based Dumper 1942-45
- Fordson E27N based Dumper 1948-51
- MH Powercart
- MH 10B MkI 1946
- MH 10B MkII 1959
- MH 18B 1962
- MH 1250 "Earthmill"
- MH T-100 Mobile strut jib carne (on a truck chassis)[2]
- MH XL200 Hydraulic Mobile Crane
[edit] Rail Locomotives & Shunters
- MH Shunter 1934
- MH Model A locomotive
- MH Model L Locomotive 1930's
- MH Light Shunting Locomotive
[edit] Muir Hill today
Since 1991 the Muir Hill name and manufacturing rights has been owned by Lloyd Loaders (MH) Ltd. They supply Rebuilt and second hand tractors and loaders and as well as Genuine spare parts being readily available they also deal with repairs, sales and services. They have all the Technical info available, Parts lists, Build nos, original drawings. The firm also builds new tractors to order under the Myth-Holm brand, based on updated versions of the original models.
[edit] Current Models
[edit] Preserved Examples
Most models of the tractor line have examples preserved some in showroom condition, others have been adapted with bigger engines.
- MH10B
- MH Shunter - at the Cumbria Steam Gathering 2009
- MH Shunter - At the Belvoir Castle Steam Festival 2009 on the FFA expo display
- MH Powercart
- A5000 Shovel
- MH 110 -
- MH 121 - at Bromyard Gala 2008
- MH 121 III (as featured in Classic Tractor Magazine No.87)
- MH 171 - At Belvoir Castle Steam Festival (photo above)
[edit] See also
- List of Construction Plant Manufacturers
- List of Tractor Manufacturers
- List of Engine Manufacturers
- Shows and Meets For places to see examples on display and in action
- Clubs Listing
- Ford and Fordson Association - Owners group for ford and Ford based tractors
[edit] References
- ↑ http://www.portishead.f2s.com/wcpr/Stock/Rail-tractors/rail-tractors.html
- ↑ Photo of brochure on CMN
- The British Internal Combustion Locomotive 1894-1940, Brian Webb, published by David & Charles, ISBN 0-7153-6115-5
- Tractor & Machinery Magazine issue 13/9 & 13/10.
- Ford Tractor Conversions by Stuart Gibbard.
[edit] External links
- Lloyd Loader Web site Official Muir-Hill web site
- Gallery at muir-hill.com
- www.smallholderservices.co.uk Another gallery of Muir-Hill photos
- Ford and Fordson association Galleries
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| This page uses some content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Muir-Hill. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Tractor & Construction Plant Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License. |
