Thwaites tusker digger arm wanted within Ireland

[lildumper]

Hello, does anyone have a thwaites digger arm (for the Tusker or Orion) for sale in Ireland or N.Ireland? I've just bought an Orion and would like to build a digger out it but want to restore/install an original arm. Any help would be appreciated
Regards,
Josh

[Diggerpete1961]

Hi, Had some experence of these & do not think the Thwaites backhoe will fit the Orion, also you may not have enough power to run it as the Orion has a PH1 motor (6.5 hp) & the Tusker has a PH2 (16.5 hp). Digging arm went down to 8ft 6in so is quite a big lump, most Tuskers ended up with a concrete fence post bolted along the rear to act as a counterweight when carring the digger as otherwise it is nose heavy (partic if going downhill in a place to narrow to slew the arm to the side!!!) One I saw had a rear stabiliser added to prevent walking when digging in hard conditions. Otherwise it was a strong machine capable of digging with an 18 ins bucket in hard clay (once the front feet dug in). I'm new here but there are several owners of these on the dumper page. A tidy Tusker with hoe fetched £1500 near me.