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Based on a Fordson tractor, the Muir Hill had three speeds in forward but only one in reverse. Trials were conducted in early May. It performed poorly on the steeply graded railway, being barely able to pull 'an ordinary guards van' from Beddgelert to South Snowdon (Rhyd Ddu). Later in May it was tried to power the machinery at Boston Lodge. In a further trial it ran very well from Blaenau Ffestiniog to South Snowdon with a small van but could only return to Beddgelert at 2¼ mph because of its inadequate reverse gearing. These poor results were reported to the Board in June and the unit returned to Dolgarrog.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://colonelstephenssociety.co.uk/locomotive%20notes%20topics/whr%20fr%20traction.html |title=Traction on the WHR and FR |last=James |first=Brian |date= |website=The Colonel Stephens Society |publisher= |access-date= |quote=}}</ref>
Based on a Fordson tractor, the Muir Hill had three speeds in forward but only one in reverse. Trials were conducted in early May. It performed poorly on the steeply graded railway, being barely able to pull 'an ordinary guards van' from Beddgelert to South Snowdon (Rhyd Ddu). Later in May it was tried to power the machinery at Boston Lodge. In a further trial it ran very well from Blaenau Ffestiniog to South Snowdon with a small van but could only return to Beddgelert at 2¼ mph because of its inadequate reverse gearing. These poor results were reported to the Board in June and the unit returned to Dolgarrog.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://colonelstephenssociety.co.uk/locomotive%20notes%20topics/whr%20fr%20traction.html |title=Traction on the WHR and FR |last=James |first=Brian |date= |website=The Colonel Stephens Society |publisher= |access-date= |quote=}}</ref>

===Loaders===
Muir-Hill's first association with loaders came in June 1923 when they became agents for an American made 'Speciality Loader' for the Fordson tractor. This had a bucket conveyer to lift material from the back of the tractor, which was then dropped onto a conveyor to discharge in front of the tractor into a waiting wagon. The whole assembly was driven by the tractor PTO pulley.<ref>{{cite magazine |last= |first= |date=17 April 1923 |title=The Fordson as a Loader |url= |magazine=Commercial Motor |location= |publisher= |access-date=|page=273}}</ref> In 1931 at the Roads and Transport Exhibition they showed a Fordson tractor mounted loading shovel alongside their dumper, referred to later as the type 45 loading shovel.<ref name=1931Show>{{cite magazine |last= |first= |date=17 November 1931 |title=The Roads and Transport Exhibition |url= |magazine=Commercial Motor |location= |publisher= |access-date=|page=520}}</ref> Tractor mounted loaders were a standard part of the Muir-Hill offering up to and after the war, with several evolutions in the associated framework to ensure stability on uneven ground.

In 1951 they introduced a mini-loader, the LH1, designed for working in confined spaces, and available with petrol or oil engines. This was clearly not an adaptation of a standard Fordson tractor, and marked a significant departure for Muir-Hill.<ref >{{cite magazine |last= |first= |date=23 Mar 1951 |title=A New Small Muir-Hill Loader |url= |magazine=Commercial Motor |location= |publisher= |access-date=|page=203}}</ref> In 1955 a new Supalift version of their 2-WL oil-engined loader was introduced, this having a discharge height of 14ft 8in. The Muir-Hill loaders by this stage no longer looked like tractors with attachments.<ref >{{cite magazine |last= |first= |date=30 Dec 1955 |title=New High-Lift Loader |url= |magazine=Commercial Motor |location= |publisher= |access-date=|page=648}}</ref>


===Dumper Trucks===
===Dumper Trucks===
Muir-Hill came up with the concept of the dumper truck in 1927,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/b6b503f2-08b1-4f33-914a-c6041c4787b9 |title=Muir-Hill |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website=The National Archive |publisher= |access-date=5 September 2022 |quote=}}</ref> effectively a Fordson tractor in reverse. The drivers seat was placed alongside the engine over the steering wheels (now the rear wheels), and a 2 cubic yard tipping bucket was mounted over the driven axle. The early versions of this 'dumping tractor' for sale in 1931<ref>{{cite magazine |last= |first= |date=17 November 1931 |title=The Roads and Transport Exhibition |url= |magazine=Commercial Motor |location= |publisher= |access-date=|page=520}}</ref> had to change wheels for use off-road or on road, but in 1933 new Dunlop low-pressure pneumatic tyres came available which removed this limitation,<ref>{{cite magazine |last= |first= |date=4 August 1933 |title=Increasing the Scope of the Dumping Tractor |url=https://archive.commercialmotor.com/article/4th-august-1933/32/increasing-the-scope |magazine=Commercial Motor |location= |publisher= |access-date=|page=880}}</ref> and the trucks by now known as Muir-Hill dumpers were rapidly adopted for construction work. Around 1932 the Fordson model F engine was replaced by the more powerful Fordson Model N engine (though still using petrol/TVO). By the 1937 Road and Transport Exhibiton Boydell's Muir-Hill dumper range had expanded to handle 1 to 3 cubic yards. They all had gravity tip and all had pneumatic tyres. In addition they continued to market their type 45 loader, again based on the Fordson tractor.<ref>{{cite magazine |last= |first= |date=12 November 1937 |title=The Roads and Transport Exhibition |url= |magazine=Commercial Motor |location= |publisher= |access-date=|page=538}}</ref>
Muir-Hill came up with the concept of the dumper truck in 1927,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/b6b503f2-08b1-4f33-914a-c6041c4787b9 |title=Muir-Hill |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website=The National Archive |publisher= |access-date=5 September 2022 |quote=}}</ref> effectively a Fordson tractor in reverse. The drivers seat was placed alongside the engine over the steering wheels (now the rear wheels), and a 2 cubic yard tipping bucket was mounted over the driven axle. The early versions of this 'dumping tractor' for sale in 1931<ref name=1931Show/> had to change wheels for use off-road or on road, but in 1933 new Dunlop low-pressure pneumatic tyres came available which removed this limitation,<ref>{{cite magazine |last= |first= |date=4 August 1933 |title=Increasing the Scope of the Dumping Tractor |url=https://archive.commercialmotor.com/article/4th-august-1933/32/increasing-the-scope |magazine=Commercial Motor |location= |publisher= |access-date=|page=880}}</ref> and the trucks by now known as Muir-Hill dumpers were rapidly adopted for construction work. Around 1932 the Fordson model F engine was replaced by the more powerful Fordson Model N engine (though still using petrol/TVO). By the 1937 Road and Transport Exhibiton Boydell's Muir-Hill dumper range had expanded to handle 1 to 3 cubic yards. They all had gravity tip and all had pneumatic tyres. In addition they continued to market their type 45 loader, again based on the Fordson tractor.<ref>{{cite magazine |last= |first= |date=12 November 1937 |title=The Roads and Transport Exhibition |url= |magazine=Commercial Motor |location= |publisher= |access-date=|page=538}}</ref>


Muir-Hill continued dumper production through WW2, and supplied 14,000 to the Ministry of Supply (who were the purchasing agents for all government departments and the military).
Muir-Hill continued dumper production through WW2, and supplied 14,000 to the Ministry of Supply (who were the purchasing agents for all government departments and the military).

Revision as of 13:38, 6 September 2022

Muir Hill (Engineers) Ltd was a general engineering company based at Old Trafford, Manchester, England. It was established in the early 1920s and specialised in products to expand the use of the Fordson tractor, which in the pre-war days included sprung road wheels, bucket loaders, simple rail locomotives, and in particular in the 1930s they developed the dumper truck. Later they built high horse power tractors.

Company History

Muir Hill (Engineers Ltd) and Muir-Hill Service Equipment Co Ltd both appear in the 1920s. The latter being announced in 1921 as appointed as sole distributors for Great Britain and Ireland for Dearborn and Hinckley-Myers service equipment, K.W. rubber-tread wheels for Fordson tractors, and Meehan steel tipping bodies and gears.[1] Both Muir Hill (Engineers) Ltd and Muir Hill Service Equipment Ltd appear in patents of 1924 (along wih Walter Llewelyn Hill as co-author) suggesting the two companies ran side by side, possibly with Muir Hill Service Equipment Ltd as a subsidiary.

In 1931 Edward Boydell took over and the company was renamed E. Boydell & Co Ltd, though the Muir-Hill trademark continued to be used for its products. In 1959 E. Boydell & Co came under the ownership of Winget Ltd of Kent, but otherwise continued unchanged. In 1962 the factory was moved from Manchester to Gloucester, and in 1968 Winget Ltd was acquired by Babcock and Wilcox Ltd, and the E.Boydell company was renamed Muir Hill Ltd.

Products

Muir-Hill MH 121 tractor

Initially Muir-Hill appears to have been a reseller of accessories for the Fordson tractor as outlined in the Company Hiistory section, however patents in the mid-1920s indicated they were developing their own accessories, such as sprung wheels.

Rail Locomotives

Muir Hill machinery have included basic petrol engined railway locomotives, mainly for narrow gauge. The early locos were little more than a Fordson Model F tractor skid mounted on a rail chassis, with a long chain outside the frames connecting the rear axle of the tractor to the rail wheels. All surviving examples are from the 1920s (up to 1929), suggesting they were phased out around 1930 in favour of other business. They were relatively cheap and using a standard Ford tractor engine helped wih maintenance costs, however they were not particularly powerful, and the early ones had the standard tractor transmission with the problem of a single low speed reverse gear. It seems likely that this was rectified in later models as the locos on the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway appear to have transmission entirely within the frames.

In the post-war period Muir-Hill did produce shunters, but these were Fordson road tractors modified to shunt standard gauge rail wagons on dockyards and other paved railway sidings - they were not rail vehicles.

Users of Muir Hill locomotives included the slate quarries of Blaenau Ffestiniog, the granite quarries of the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway, the Ashover Light Railway, Weston, Clevedon and Portishead Light Railway, and New Zealand Railways.

The Ffestiniog railway evaluated a 4wPM locomotive of around 20 hp constructed by Muir Hill (Engineers) Ltd in about 1922. It came to the FR on loan from the Aluminium Corporation's Cowlyd Reservoir Railway near Dolgarrog, arriving at Blaenau Ffestiniog on 9 April 1924. The loan was arranged by Henry Joseph Jack, who at the time controlled the WHR and FR and believed that a fleet of these units could provide cost-effective haulage for most purposes.[2]

Based on a Fordson tractor, the Muir Hill had three speeds in forward but only one in reverse. Trials were conducted in early May. It performed poorly on the steeply graded railway, being barely able to pull 'an ordinary guards van' from Beddgelert to South Snowdon (Rhyd Ddu). Later in May it was tried to power the machinery at Boston Lodge. In a further trial it ran very well from Blaenau Ffestiniog to South Snowdon with a small van but could only return to Beddgelert at 2¼ mph because of its inadequate reverse gearing. These poor results were reported to the Board in June and the unit returned to Dolgarrog.[3]

Loaders

Muir-Hill's first association with loaders came in June 1923 when they became agents for an American made 'Speciality Loader' for the Fordson tractor. This had a bucket conveyer to lift material from the back of the tractor, which was then dropped onto a conveyor to discharge in front of the tractor into a waiting wagon. The whole assembly was driven by the tractor PTO pulley.[4] In 1931 at the Roads and Transport Exhibition they showed a Fordson tractor mounted loading shovel alongside their dumper, referred to later as the type 45 loading shovel.[5] Tractor mounted loaders were a standard part of the Muir-Hill offering up to and after the war, with several evolutions in the associated framework to ensure stability on uneven ground.

In 1951 they introduced a mini-loader, the LH1, designed for working in confined spaces, and available with petrol or oil engines. This was clearly not an adaptation of a standard Fordson tractor, and marked a significant departure for Muir-Hill.[6] In 1955 a new Supalift version of their 2-WL oil-engined loader was introduced, this having a discharge height of 14ft 8in. The Muir-Hill loaders by this stage no longer looked like tractors with attachments.[7]

Dumper Trucks

Muir-Hill came up with the concept of the dumper truck in 1927,[8] effectively a Fordson tractor in reverse. The drivers seat was placed alongside the engine over the steering wheels (now the rear wheels), and a 2 cubic yard tipping bucket was mounted over the driven axle. The early versions of this 'dumping tractor' for sale in 1931[5] had to change wheels for use off-road or on road, but in 1933 new Dunlop low-pressure pneumatic tyres came available which removed this limitation,[9] and the trucks by now known as Muir-Hill dumpers were rapidly adopted for construction work. Around 1932 the Fordson model F engine was replaced by the more powerful Fordson Model N engine (though still using petrol/TVO). By the 1937 Road and Transport Exhibiton Boydell's Muir-Hill dumper range had expanded to handle 1 to 3 cubic yards. They all had gravity tip and all had pneumatic tyres. In addition they continued to market their type 45 loader, again based on the Fordson tractor.[10]

Muir-Hill continued dumper production through WW2, and supplied 14,000 to the Ministry of Supply (who were the purchasing agents for all government departments and the military).

After the war Muir-Hill adopted a system whereby the drivers seat and controls could be rotated to face forward or backward. The presence of the forward control position allowed them to be road registered, and they were named 'HiWay' models to reflect that. In 1948 they exhibited 3 models, the 10B (2.5 to 3 cubic yards), 14B (3.5 to 4 cubic yards) and the 20B (5 to 6 cubic yards). The 10B used the four cylinder side-valve Ford E27N petrol/TVO engine and conventional dumper appearance. The 14B and 20B looked more like commercial vehicles with a cab, the 14B using a Perkins P6 oil engine, while the 20B had a 7.7litre AEC oil engine.[11] They also produced a 10S model which was forward control, without the option to rotate the seat and controls to face the load.

They also built forklifts based on a tractor skid unit for a period before other manufacturers entered the market with better machines, and built some of the earlier articulated dumpers that evolved into the modern ADT.

Four-wheel-drive tractors

Muir-Hill launched their 4-wheel drive tractor in 1966, using a six-cylinder Ford 101hp industrial oil engine and Ford 5000 gearbox. The company's four-wheel-drive tractors with equal sized wheels by fitting a driven front axle running from output from a sandwich plate between the gearbox and rear axle casings. Because of the size of the axle this meant the whole tractor was raised considerably from standard height. However the traction gains were considerable (as with County and Roadless tractors) and Muir-Hills have been and are used for heavy draught applications.[citation needed] The first model was called the 101 after the horsepower. Tractor production continued with several further models until Babcock sold the tractor business in 1982.

Preservation of Early Examples

At least three Muir-Hill locomotives survive, two are at the Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway, one in the Museum, the other greatly modified. The third surviving locomotive was new in 1925 to the Meeth (North Devon) China Clay Company, and has been completely restored and is in private ownership.

There is a surviving 1940 dumper formerly at a Royal Ordnance Factory (which is essentially the same design as the 1930s dumpers), and a few post-war 10B dumpers have been restored.

Threlkeld Quarry Museum holds examples of Muir Hill equipment.[12]

References

  1. ^ "Wheels of Industry". Commercial Motor. 11 October 1921. p. 248.
  2. ^ Henry Joseph Jack
  3. ^ James, Brian. "Traction on the WHR and FR". The Colonel Stephens Society.
  4. ^ "The Fordson as a Loader". Commercial Motor. 17 April 1923. p. 273.
  5. ^ a b "The Roads and Transport Exhibition". Commercial Motor. 17 November 1931. p. 520.
  6. ^ "A New Small Muir-Hill Loader". Commercial Motor. 23 March 1951. p. 203.
  7. ^ "New High-Lift Loader". Commercial Motor. 30 December 1955. p. 648.
  8. ^ "Muir-Hill". The National Archive. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  9. ^ "Increasing the Scope of the Dumping Tractor". Commercial Motor. 4 August 1933. p. 880.
  10. ^ "The Roads and Transport Exhibition". Commercial Motor. 12 November 1937. p. 538.
  11. ^ "Aids to Production at B.I.F. (British Industries Fair)". Commercial Motor. 7 May 1948. p. 388.
  12. ^ "Threlkeld Vintage Excavator" Flickr photograph

Further reading

External links

Media related to Muir-Hill tractors at Wikimedia Commons

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