What is the best skid steer attachment for my tractor?

Tractors thrive with skid steer attachments. Attachments are equipment designed to perform specific tasks. This equipment is designed to conduct business and related work with more safety and efficiency. Skid steers come with hydraulics designed to assist with the overall lifting needs on your farm and beyond.

What you need to know before buying a skid steer attachment

You might already be planning your skid steer adventure, but what will be the recurring needs? For those working in forestry, they will need to have attachments that can handle heavy weight and feature expert cutting. Farmers will need attachments that can support great weight but are also quite mobile.

For everyone else, you need to examine where you’re working and what work needs to be done. While that might seem like a lot of prep work, it pays off in the long run.

What do you plan on doing with the skid steer attachment?

Attachments accomplish specialized tasks that you need on the farm, construction site or large land area. The skid steer loader comes with fixed angle wheels or tracks. That means everything moves in synch.

When compared to some of the bigger equipment on the market, skid steers can seem awfully small. But, skid steer sizing is dependent on the frame, power and capacity. It’s not uncommon for most manufacturers to have eight to twelve different skid steer models.

What size skid steer do you need?

Skid steers come in many sizes, but each size has its own benefits./p>

Small skid steers

Tight spaces such as construction and landscaping can benefit from a small skid steer and its related attachments.

Mid-Size skid steers

The mid-size units are amazing for digging in areas where backhoes don’t tend to perform well.

Large skid steers

When building roads or doing heavy excavation, you will need a large sized skid steer.

The best skid steer attachments for farmers

Farmers tend to prefer certain skid steer attachments. To keep everything straight, we decided to break down what each of the top farming related skid steer attachments can do for your farm.

Augers

Got a hole to drill? Use an auger attachment for installing post holes. Augers are economical in terms of not displacing a ton of soil during the dig.

Planters / Backhoe Arms

Backhoe arms are technically the attachment group for planters. But, you will find many equipment sellers branding them as planters. The backhoe attachment offers more benefits than the standard bucket attachment. With it, you can dig trenches, remove tree stomps, plant trees and other things.

Bale Spears

Farmers will need to move hay during the year. The bale spear pieces bales with a strong arm that rotates and places the weight on the attachment.

Bale Squeezers

Squeezing bales is one of the best things a skid steer attachment can accomplish.

Snow Plows and Snow Pushers

It’s not always sunny down on the farm. During the off season, you need to find ways to cleanup the farm without breaking your back.

Snow plows are perfectly situated to glide snow away from the loader without overwhelming the equipment. The steel cutting edges on these beauties makes scraping super easy. Plus the backdragging lets you get close to edges and angle way better with fewer passes.

Snow pushers work a bit differently. They end up containing more of the snow, but they can’t angle the same way. They’re simple and easy to attach, hence why a lot of people use them. But, it’s the form and functionality that pushes people towards plows. That and it’s super hard to scrape against snow and ice with a rubber edged pusher.

Agricultural work

Ag loves a good skid steer attachment. However, which skid steer attachments lend themselves towards Farm work? Bucket attachments tend to get the most love from farmers. Skid steer buckets frequently are used to clean out stables, feed areas and barns. Other attachments such as bale movers are used well. Mainly attachments are deployed to make labor less intensive.

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A great skid steer bucket can help you move heavy materials around any terrain. Now if you need to lift materials, pay attention to the model of skid steer you’re using. While attachments help, radial lift skid steer units can’t quite achieve a super high reach.

Forestry skid steer attachments tend to be more rugged

When it comes to forestry and logging, skid steer attachments need to be purchase with a few specifications in mind. The days of using a brush axe and chainsaw on large amounts of growth are over. Insurance rates are too high and you can’t get a great return on having the same crew work the same amount of trees until they’re sore.

There is also the need to properly mulch. Forestry workers tend to apply skid steer attachments for mulching and its various side abilities. Drum mulchers aren’t fast, but they are super powerful. Disc mulchers tend to be faster, but don’t always pack a stable level of power. Although, they are great in certain circumstances.

Landscaping skid steer attachments are for details

Landscaping

While this one seems a given, what exactly can a skid steer attachment do for landscaping? A decent tiller attachment can be used to make compost and fertilizer in a homemade style.

Mowing

Mowing is much easier with a skid steer attachment. Rotary brush cutter attachments can cut and slice down any tall grass or unruly yards that get in your way.

Grading

While land levelling and grading applies to many industries, landscaping needs the grader skid steer attachment. The attention to detail required to make flat surfaces and level platforms is a given.

Other industries use skid steer attachments too!

Construction, road maintenance crews and government municipalities crews use skid steer attachments too! The uses are a combination of what we have mentioned above. But, if you are part of these industries and have special skid steer tasks, we’d love to hear about them in the comments!

Determine what you need from an attachment

Attachment needs will change based on a variety of factors. Where do you do your work? How many people will be using the attachment? Are you using a PTO Adaptor or something else?

Some might ask are all skid steer attachments the same? While all attachments are interchangeable to a degree among the various brands and models of skid steers and track loaders…there’s a reason for that. The handy dandy Quick Attach bracket makes it possible.

So if all of these attachments are interchangeable and you know what brand/size you want to buy, then what’s left? Well, pick the attachment that best suits your industry and work scale, then get at it!

How to know you’re getting a quality skid steer attachment

Quality skid steer attachments are not easily defined. Most farmers and outdoor workers will put the specialized equipment through their needs to see what works best. But, for everyone else…here are some tips on finding the best quality skid steer attachment.

1. Does the skid steer match your size needs?
2. Have you tested the lift height and possible reach?
3. Have the engine and hydraulics inspected?
4. Research the make and model. While a lot of attachments are interchangeable, not all equipment is created equal. The Ag community is great about sharing reviews online…read them.

What skid steer attachments are available?

Everyone has a preferred attachment, but which one will work for you? While we could list every single skid steer attachment on the market, let’s focus on the most popular ones.

Skid Steer Bale Attachments

Whether it’s a spear or a bale fork, skid steers make moving hay fun again. You can stab them, load them and stack them from sun-up to sundown.

Backhoes

Backhoes are great for digging trenches. Most backhoe attachments have great bucket rotation that helps with the force you need to dig out your land.

Pallet Forks

You’re going to have to load up and move materials around your property. But, what kind of materials do pallet forks support? Well, they handle everything from lumber, logs, hay bales, old machinery, fuel tanks and whatever else is laying around the place.

Manure Buckets

There are many skid steer bucket attachments. But, manure buckets and scrapers are on a different level. Scrape up all manure debris without getting your hands dirty.

Mini Excavators

Excavation is not just for landscapists and forestry workers. While you can buy a mini excavator as a standalone unit with its supportive rubber treads, many have been trying to cross over into using excavation attachments. Depending on your property size and work load, the attachment might be the better option for you.

Saws

When life gives you a problem, cut it down with a brush cutter or related attachment. Gone are the days of being a yard space lumberjack. Let the skid steer attachment do it in less time.

Grading Tools

Regular buckets do well with grading. However, a grading bar and a land plane attachment simply perfect grading.

Selecting the right skid steer attachment for your farm?

The modern farm sees tons of skid steer attachments being used daily. But, which attachment do you need?

If you need to clear brush, use brush cutter attachments

Brush and natural vegetation are naturally found on many outdoor work sites. But, if you’re getting ready to plant on your farm or clear a land site, you don’t want to deal with it.

Brush cutters are quite popular attachments, yet they don’t seem to be big throughout America. It’s crazy when you consider that so many parts of the country depend on removing brush as a daily routine and others don’t.

For those that must clear rocks, break out the grapple buckets.

Grapple buckets or rock grapple buckets are a must-have to deal with rock obstructions. But don’t forget about the stump bucket attachments. Not only are they good for clearing out tree stumps, but they also take out roots and large rocks. Doing as much allows you to increase productivity and get the most out of your land.

When you’re dealing with uneven land, deploy the land leveler.

Land leveling and grading is super important. In agriculture, you want to improve surface irrigation and give your fields the best chance to handle natural water. If you know you’re going to be constructing basins or furrows, this is a must have.

Need to lift something? You’re probably going to need forks.

Fork attachments are designed for everything from pallets to slabs of concrete. But, people use these fork attachments because they increase performance, support overall safety and reduce labor costs on your work site.

Whether you’re dealing with pallet forks or a traditional forklift attachment, easily swappable attachments allow your workers to work with great ease. More than that, having heavy equipment designed to take burdens off workers means they stay healthy and safe.

Attachments also improve your equipment entry points and visibility

For older workers, it matters to have equipment that is easier to use. Increasing visibility and ease of access means that older farm and related workers reduce health risks. After all, don’t you want comfortable workers that can see where they’re moving heavy equipment on your work site?

All efforts to prevent accidents begin with making sure that your equipment is safe to use. Start that journey with skid steer attachments.

Once you buy a skid steer attachment, how do you attach it?

Coupling and decoupling aren’t that hard for attachments. Here’s how you attach a skid steer attachment.

1. Make sure you’re in a safe area and working on a flat surface with no obstructions.
2. If your quick attach has a release button, make sure to hit it. Typically, you’ll find it on the side of the skid steer.
3. Reverse the skid steer so that the mounting plate properly releases the attachment.
4. If you’re skid steer requires manual removal, you need to lift any lock pins on the outside of the attachment.
5. Then, tilt the skid steer to shake the mounting plate free.

What are the best skid steer attachment brands?

The beauty of the universal skid steer attachment is that there isn’t any best brand. No one has cornered the market and so many manufacturers are stepping up to the plate to improve attachments annually.

When you’re ready to buy or test out an attachment, here are some steps to find the best attachment.

Talk to your farming community about which attachments they use. Everyone has a favorite, but in the field, use can tell you secrets about the attachments that zero sites will be able to match. So, what steps should you take to find the best attachments?

1. Ask around your community
2. Check prices and see what will give you the best Return on Investment
3. Study reviews online. No one is more truthful than an actual end user giving their opinions on a product.
4. If possible, test it out yourself.

Ultimately, should you rent or buy a skid steer?

Renting vs. buying plagues all big purchase decisions. Many an indecisive person has found themselves wondering what will give the best financial return. So, let’s walk through the benefits of both options.

The benefits of renting a skid steer and its attachments

Renting outdoor power equipment is on the rise recently. But, why rent for something that you might need frequently? Well, that’s not the case for everyone in the market for skid steers and their attachments. Whether if you’re a hobby farmer or a landscaping crew on a single job, the ROI of equipment investments depends on overall usage.

The perks of buying a skid steer and its attachments

Most people will end up buying a skid steer. Why? Well, because when you’re in the market for a skid steer, you already understand your need. You will have already done your initial research and maybe got to test out the attachment you want. So, if you like it and can afford it, what’s holding you back?

Return on investment drives a lot of these decisions, so let’s look at the factors that will make you a skid steer attachment buying individual.

1. You know you need a skid steer attachment for a lengthy amount of time.
2. The attachment will help make certain work around the farm easier for years to come.
3. You have older equipment that doesn’t support safety or worker comfort and you need to upgrade.
4. Buying skid steer attachments, allows you to avoid rental fees that stack up over time.
5. Skid steers have lower ongoing costs, so it makes owning that much more beneficial.

Finally, when you’re getting ready to purchase a skid steer attachment, don’t be afraid to cast a wide net.

Whether you find your skid steer attachment on Fastline or elsewhere, use the power of the Internet to find the best possible deal. Fastline is here to help you!