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A backhoe, also called a rear actor or back actor, is a piece of excavating equipment or digger consisting of a digging bucket on the end of a two-part articulated arm. They are typically mounted on the back of a tractor or front loader, the latter forming a 'backhoe loader' (colloquially known as a JCB in Ireland and UK). The section of the arm closest to the vehicle is known as the , and the section which carries the bucket is known as the or dipper-stick, terms derived from steam shovels). The boom is generally attached to the vehicle through a pivot known as the king-post, which allows the arm to pivot left and right, usually through a total of around 180–200 degrees.

The name "backhoe" refers to the action of the shovel, not its location on the vehicle: a backhoe digs by drawing earth backwards, rather than lifting it with a forward motion like a man shovelling, a steam shovel or a bulldozer. Confusingly, the buckets on some backhoes may be reconfigured facing forward, making them "hoes". However they are not as effective in that orientation, since the dimensions of the various components are optimized for backhoeing. Most backhoes are at their strongest curling the bucket, with the dipper arm next most powerful, and boom movements the least powerful.

A backhoe loader is a tractor-like vehicle with a backhoe at one end, a front loader on the other and a swivelling seat to position the operator facing whichever he is using at the time. In North America, this arrangement is often referred to as simply a backhoe or, when on a chassis originally derived from farm tractors, a tractor loader backhoe (TLB). To differentiate, a backhoe on its own dedicated chassis may then be referred to as an "excavator".

Backhoe loaders can be designed and manufactured from the start as such, or can be the result of a farm tractor equipped with a front end loader (FEL) and rear backhoe. Though similar looking, the purpose-designed backhoe loaders are much stronger, with the farm variation unsuitable for heavy work. The farm variation also requires that the operator switch seats from sitting in front of the backhoe controls to the tractor seat in order to reposition the equipment while digging, and this often slows down the digging process.

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