Muir Hill products included 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. Production of locomotives did not continue beyond the 1930s; the company went on to build heavy tractors and construction equipment.
Muir-Hill moved on to producing dumpers also based on Fordson tractor skid units. 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. Muir-Hill later moved into tractor production which continued until the 1980s.
The company name and manufacturing rights transferred hands a number of times, first to E. Boydell and Co, then Winget, then Babcock & Wilcox , then Aveling-Barford, then to Lloyd Loaders (MH).
Muir-Hill tractors have survived longer than comparable models, and a number have been subject to restoration. Threlkeld Quarry Museum holds examples of Muir Hill equipment. The Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway has two examples.
Muir hill loaders...
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...backhoes
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...and dumpers.
