Mconnell power arm

[DeanB]

I'm looking for a back actor for my tractor and have seen one on ebay but it's called a power arm and has no seat so it has to be operated from the tractor cab how awkward is this and is it very practical compared to a backhoe, back actor or ditcher and I'm not to sure what the difference is between them all. Any advice would be very helpful

 

[ste]

They're an ok step up from spade. Have one here not used for a few years, has the seat on it and modified to a 3cx spool block, but got a 1.5t mini digger and get a mate in for anything bigger. Mine hasn't got the hydraulic legs go just sits on the ground with no down pressure and has a tendency to lift the digger rather than dig into hard stuff. Also need to be careful depending on what tractor its on as is very easy to get trapped between it and the cab (see from your other posts you have a DB 995 so you'd need to be careful)

I'm considering selling mine due to no use for it now

 

[DeanB]

What sort of price are you thinking

 

[deleted user 837354]

Just hire a digger.

 

[haggard143]

^^ this we have an old 3d but hire mini digger not much money and very quick

 

[DeanB]

I'm always needing something digging and I've hired many diggers over the years so it's more cost effective to have my own ready when I need it which is mostly over the weekend and at very short notice.

 

[Dave W]

I'm always needing something digging and I've hired many diggers over the years so it's more cost effective to have my own ready when I need it which is mostly over the weekend and at very short notice.

Buy a digger then. No one in the world ever has regretted buying a digger.
you'll buy a rough but perfectly useable 1.5t for £2.5/3k. Then upgrade when you realise how handy they are

 

[DeanB]

I've seen a few back actors for around £300 on ebay not sure if I'm buying a headache

 

[agrimax]

They had their day........not saying they haven't a use but no comparison with a proper digger. I think @Boohoo has a tidy set up........
Never seen one without a separate seat but would you want to sit on your knees on the tractor seat working one or indeed be bothered climbing off and on to move on? Yes,you can push or pull with the bucket but it's not the same as a true digger.......
Those early McConnel PAs with fixed legs had an odd lever control system.........Was it that you had to pull two levers at once to operate the slew? Can't remember now....Had one for the taking,tried it for an hour and removed it from about the place within a week........!

 

[Boohoo]

They had their day........not saying they haven't a use but no comparison with a proper digger. I think @Boohoo has a tidy set up........
Never seen one without a separate seat but would you want to sit on your knees on the tractor seat working one or indeed be bothered climbing off and on to move on? Yes,you can push or pull with the bucket but it's not the same as a true digger.......
Those early McConnel PAs with fixed legs had an odd lever control system.........Was it that you had to pull two levers at once to operate the slew? Can't remember now....Had one for the taking,tried it for an hour and removed it from about the place within a week........!

Is this the set up you're thinking of?

 

[DeanB]

The one I've seen doesn't seem as substantial as that one, and now I'm looking at it closely it seems to have manual fixed legs. Not sure now.

 

[Boohoo]

I wouldn't be without my back actor but it's a bracket mounted David Brown not a linkage mounted McConnell. I never liked the idea of linkage mounted on a tractor with a cab and I've been told about the dangers. A back actor will never do the same as a proper digger, I still hire in someone with either a 3 or 13 ton digger for big jobs but it beats the spade for gate posts, finding broken drains and digging big stones out.

@Selectamatic is another man with a David Brown back actor.

 

[Boohoo]

The one I've seen doesn't seem as substantial as that one, and now I'm looking at it closely it seems to have manual fixed legs. Not sure now.

I would leave that where it is.

 

[DeanB]

When you say bracket mounted I assume you mean the back actor is directly mounted to the tractor and not to the three point linkage

 

[Dave W]

The one I've seen doesn't seem as substantial as that one, and now I'm looking at it closely it seems to have manual fixed legs. Not sure now.

That type of power arm doubles up as a hedge cutter. The controls are in the cab. If you'd never known any different it would do a job. But it will be horrible.

 

[Boohoo]

When you say bracket mounted I assume you mean the back actor is directly mounted to the tractor and not to the three point linkage

Yes. If you look at my picture you'll see yellow in behind the cab steps, that's the front end of the bracket. I take the three point linkage arms off and the back actor brackets use the same pins as the linkage arms at the back and another pin at the front to hold them in place.

 

[7740 man]

I would leave that where it is.

+1 for that

 

[DeanB]

The one I've posted in the pics would be about £350 delivered should I give it a chance at that price or give it a miss and rent a mini digger a few more times at that price

 

[Blue.]

Is this the set up you're thinking of?

That tractor looks a bit tidy to use!

 

[Water Wheel]

The one on the trailer doubled as a hedge cutter, the pipes for the control were in the cab, not good.