Third arm offers a helping hand

Who hasn’t encountered problems when hooking up a tractor to a close-coupled implement like a fertiliser spreader or sprayer – particularly those with any degree of girth?

In practice, it’s often near impossible to get the tractor’s rear linkage arms lined up with the linkage pins on the implement, meaning there’s a need to enter the ‘crush zone’ between the rear fender and the implement, raising questions around safety, particularly if a second person is helping. Of course, an operator can resort to the farmer’s friend, baler twine, but it’s not an ideal situation.

The Third Arm, recently showcased at the Irish Ploughing Competition, was designed by beef and sheep farmer Phillip Dixon to allow a tractor driver to stay safely in the tractor seat and adjust the rear linkage arms to line up with the pins on the implement, before reversing into the ideal attachment position.

Weighing in at only 3.5kg and intended for Cat 1 to 3 systems, the device drops over the linkage arms and uses a linear motor to move the arms inwards or outwards to the ideal position, offering up to 200mm of electrical movement or 150mm of mechanical adjustment.

In operation, the device is dropped over the link arms, secured with turn screws and plugged into the tractor’s auxiliary electrical supply. From the seat, the operator uses a small key fob to move the arms to the desired position, ready for attaching and securing with a lynch pin. Once the link arms are secured, the Third Arm is removed, stowed away and any stabiliser secured.

Whilst originally designed with safety in mind, by removing operators from the ‘crush zone’ it also offers convenience and time saving, while removing the need for a second to become involved with hooking up implements. It also means that anyone who has put a few pounds on over winter, won’t need to take up a crash diet for the spring campaign.