7 Best Hay Grapples For Skid Steers That Old Farmers Swear By
Discover the 7 best skid steer hay grapples, tested and approved by veteran farmers. This guide reviews top models for durability and efficient bale handling.
Moving hay bales with a bucket is a recipe for frustration, torn wrap, and wasted time. A good hay grapple transforms your skid steer from a clumsy mover into a precise, efficient machine. Choosing the right one isn’t about finding the most expensive model; it’s about matching the tool to your specific bales, your machine, and the work you do day in and day out.
Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, this site earns from qualifying purchases. Thank you!
Titan 48" Bale Squeeze: The All-Around Workhorse
The Titan Bale Squeeze is often the first grapple a small farmer buys, and for good reason. It hits a sweet spot between capability and price that’s hard to ignore. It’s not the heaviest-duty model on the market, but it’s more than enough for moving a few dozen round bales a season without breaking a sweat or the bank.
This grapple is a true generalist. Its simple, effective squeeze design handles most standard 4-foot round bales securely. Think of it as the reliable farm truck of grapples—it does the job without fuss and is straightforward to maintain. For the hobby farmer who needs to stack hay in the barn, load a trailer, or move bales to feeders, the Titan provides serious value and saves your back.
Worksaver SSG-48S: For Round and Square Bales
If your operation deals with both round and square bales, the Worksaver is a name you’ll hear a lot. Its design is clever, featuring curved arms for gripping round bales and a flatter inside surface that provides solid contact on large square bales. This versatility means you don’t need to swap attachments just to move a different type of hay.
The real benefit here is efficiency. Instead of wrestling square bales with a spear or a bucket, you get a secure, stable grip that prevents them from shifting or breaking apart. For anyone feeding out different types of hay or selling to customers who prefer one over the other, the SSG-48S eliminates a major headache. It’s a specialized tool that excels at being a generalist.
HLA HD Grapple: Built for Heavy, Daily Use
When you move from handling hay seasonally to handling it daily, you enter HLA territory. These grapples are built with one thing in mind: durability. The "HD" stands for Heavy Duty, and they mean it. Thicker steel, larger hydraulic cylinders, and reinforced pivot points mean it can withstand the constant stress of a busy operation.
This isn’t the grapple for someone moving 20 bales a year. This is for the farmer feeding a small herd every single day, all winter long. It’s for handling dense, heavy silage bales that would stress a lighter grapple’s frame. The extra investment pays for itself in reliability. You buy an HLA because you can’t afford downtime when the snow is deep and the cattle are hungry.
CID X-treme Squeezer: Gentle on Wrapped Bales
Wrapped bales, or baleage, are gold for livestock, but the plastic wrap is their biggest vulnerability. A tiny puncture can spoil the entire bale. The CID X-treme Squeezer is designed specifically to prevent that, with large, smooth-surfaced arms that distribute pressure evenly and eliminate sharp contact points.
It’s the difference between grabbing a balloon with your fingertips and holding it in your palms. The CID’s design cradles the bale, protecting the wrap from tears during transport and stacking. If you’ve ever lost a high-moisture bale to mold because of a careless poke from a spear or a sharp-edged grapple, you understand the value here. This tool protects your investment in quality feed.
It’s not just about the smooth surface, either. The arm geometry allows for excellent control, letting you place bales tightly together in a row without damaging the neighbors. This precision minimizes air exposure and preserves the entire stack for longer. It’s a perfect example of a tool designed by someone who clearly understands the work.
Blue Diamond Severe Duty: A Great Value Grapple
Blue Diamond has carved out a niche for building tough attachments that don’t always carry the premium price tag of the biggest names. Their Severe Duty Bale Squeeze is a prime example. It offers many of the features of a top-tier heavy-duty grapple—like robust construction and powerful hydraulics—at a more accessible price point.
This is the ideal choice for the serious hobby farmer who is pushing the limits of a standard-duty attachment but can’t justify the cost of a commercial-grade model. It can handle heavy, wet bales and a high volume of work without flinching. You’re getting about 90% of the performance of a premium grapple for a significant saving. It’s a smart, practical compromise.
Bradco Grapple Fork: Maximum Bale Stability
Some grapples squeeze, but the Bradco Grapple Fork secures. This design combines a traditional fork that slides under the bale with a top grapple arm that clamps down. The result is an incredibly stable lift, especially on rough, uneven ground where a squeezed bale might shift or roll.
Think about carrying a bale across a bumpy pasture or up a steep hill. With a squeeze-style grapple, a big jolt can loosen the grip. With the Bradco, the bale is pinned between the forks and the top clamp, making it almost impossible to dislodge. This design also puts less pressure on the bale itself, which is a bonus for loosely packed or older bales that might fall apart under a tight squeeze.
This attachment shines in situations where control and stability are more important than speed. It takes a moment longer to slide the forks underneath, but the trade-off is a secure, confident lift every time. It’s a testament to the idea that there’s more than one way to move hay effectively.
Quicke BG260 Bale Grab: A Secure, Gentle Grip
Quicke is well-known in the tractor loader world, and they bring that same engineering focus to their skid steer attachments. The BG260 Bale Grab is all about precision and a secure hold. Its arms are designed to pivot in a way that gathers the bale and holds it firmly without applying excessive crushing force.
This grapple is particularly good at handling misshapen or soft-core bales. The arms seem to find the perfect holding points, adapting to the bale’s shape for a solid grip. It’s another excellent choice for wrapped bales, as the smooth, tubular arms are very gentle on plastic. For operators who value finesse and want to place bales with pinpoint accuracy, the Quicke is a top contender.
Key Features to Check Before You Buy a Grapple
Picking the right grapple comes down to matching it to your reality. Don’t just buy the heaviest one you can find. Instead, think through these key points to make a smart decision that will serve you for years.
First, consider your bales. Are they round or square? Tightly packed or soft? Are they wrapped for baleage? A grapple with smooth, rounded arms is essential for wrapped bales, while one with more "bite" can be great for dry hay. Also, measure your average bale diameter and weight to ensure the grapple’s opening range and lift capacity are a good match.
Next, look at your skid steer’s capacity. A huge, heavy-duty grapple is useless if your machine can’t lift it and a heavy bale safely. Check your skid steer’s rated operating capacity (ROC) and make sure the combined weight of the grapple and your heaviest bale doesn’t exceed it. Also, verify that your machine’s hydraulic flow rate (measured in gallons per minute, or GPM) matches the grapple’s requirements for optimal performance.
Finally, inspect the build quality. Look at the thickness of the steel, the quality of the welds, and the size of the pivot pins and hydraulic cylinders. Greasable pivot points are a must for longevity. A well-built grapple feels solid and overbuilt, because in the real world of farming, "overbuilt" is just another word for "reliable."
Ultimately, the best hay grapple is the one you don’t have to think about. It just works, every time, making a tough job faster, safer, and easier. By matching the tool to your specific needs—your bales, your machine, and your workload—you’re not just buying a piece of steel; you’re buying back your time and energy.
