Muir hills putting down the power

[Wigeon]

Were Muir Hills especially good?

They were before my time, but someone has sent me some late 70s and early 80s photos of the farm.

One shows a MH 121 is pulling a 9 leg shakearator up a mediumly serious hill, with the frame basically at ground level. This is on heavy ground, which in latter years took 390hp to pull a 3m solo and press.

Just interesting really. So much for progress!

 

[Courier]

I would say a Perkins engined Dutra D4KB would have been a good match in its day.
Neither were particularly nice places to spend days on end but the MH probably had the better turning circle

 

[ARW]

My grandad had a muir hill 121
I can’t remember much but from what I do remember it did grip well but the engine didn’t blow your hair back! It was a numb thing, poor turning circle, bad to get in and out of, poor hydraulics, bad to hitch things up to. But the cab was huge, handy for rolling as you could collect stones in the cab! It was the main machine years back

 

[Oliveau]

Derived from the earlier Northrop tractors.
Late sixties - early seventies I drove a 101 then a 110. The earlier Ford engined 101 in my opinion was better than the Perkins powered 110.
Steering lock was great, especially when compared with the County 1124 of the day. Cab was acceptable for its time.
Traction & grip was superb. You could drop a subsoiler down until the back tyres were nearly flat and still it would pull.
18‘ discs or 18’ triple k cultivator working down- 6th gear all day long.
Would have loved a Q cab dual power 141!

 

[Wigeon]

It's a jolly good effort from 120hp. People would laugh if you suggested that now!

 

[Full of bull(s)]

It's a jolly good effort from 120hp. People would laugh if you suggested that now!

View attachment 1090103View attachment 1090104View attachment 1090105

This is what I don’t get, for all the supposed leaps in technology/design, new tractors are pitiful it seems to me in terms of performance over old machines like these. On a ring fenced farm one of these with a new cab and some modern noise insulation wouldn’t be so bad would it?

 

[Nearly]

Weight balance was just right. Soils weren't tight with massive tractors and power harrows.
A 121 would be on the shopping list before I'm too old to climb the staircase to the cab.

 

[Wigeon]

This is what I don’t get, for all the supposed leaps in technology/design, new tractors are pitiful it seems to me in terms of performance over old machines like these. On a ring fenced farm one of these with a new cab and some modern noise insulation wouldn’t be so bad would it?

I know. Sure, they weren't doing 15k, but still, they were doing the job with a fraction of the weight and the hp

 

[milkloss]

I know. Sure, they weren't doing 15k, but still, they were doing the job with a fraction of the weight and the hp

It's the adblue pump sapping all the power from modern tractors I'm sure

 

[AftonShepherd]

Wider tyres might reduce compaction but certainly don't help with grip

 

[bravheart]

Impressive ok but is he doubling over up hill or overlapping half width perhaps?

 

[Wigeon]

Impressive ok but is he doubling over up hill or overlapping half width perhaps?

Looks a bit like it in the last photo, not in the first though

 

[soapsud]

In an issue of the Classic Tractor in the early 2000s I recall reading the Muir Hill hp efficency dropped considerably from crankshaft to wheels compared to say a County. Possibly blaming the transfer box but I forget. Last century, the rule of thumb was 50% for pre-CVT hp loss.

 

[organicguy]

Weight balance was just right. Soils weren't tight with massive tractors and power harrows.
A 121 would be on the shopping list before I'm too old to climb the staircase to the cab.

I have highlighted the difference!

 

[grainboy]

A few pics, Shuttleworth farm 1977

 

[renewablejohn]

Was good on the pea viners pulling up some pretty steep Lincolnshire Wold hills. Very unstable at high speed with 2 wheel viner on the back.

 

[Wigeon]

 

[Renaultman]

In an issue of the Classic Tractor in the early 2000s I recall reading the Muir Hill hp efficency dropped considerably from crankshaft to wheels compared to say a County. Possibly blaming the transfer box but I forget. Last century, the rule of thumb was 50% for pre-CVT hp loss.

That's another thing, massive hydraulic pumps and modern gearboxes sap a lot of power compared to earlier times.

 

[grainboy]

3rd picture, good stubble burn, with trees that got a little warm,

 

[grainboy]

It was the drop box, that took the power away,