7 Skid Steer Attachment Selection For Farm Tasks Old Farmers Swear By

You’ve finally got the skid steer parked in the barn, a powerful solution to a hundred different farm problems. But the machine itself is just the beginning; its real power comes from the attachments you put on the front. Choosing the right tools transforms it from a simple loader into the most versatile workhorse on your property, saving you time, sweat, and a whole lot of back pain.

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, this site earns from qualifying purchases. Thank you!

Choosing the Right Skid Steer Tools for Your Farm

A skid steer without an attachment is just a loud way to get around the farm. The real work gets done by the tool on the end of the arms, and it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the catalog of options. Don’t fall into the trap of buying a tool for a "someday" project.

Start by analyzing your most repetitive, labor-intensive tasks. Are you constantly clearing fencelines, moving feed pallets, or cleaning out the barn? Your daily and seasonal chores should dictate your first few purchases. The goal is to buy back your time and energy.

Pay close attention to your machine’s hydraulic flow rate. Most attachments run on standard flow, which every skid steer has. But more powerful tools like stump grinders or forestry mulchers require a high-flow system. Buying a high-flow attachment for a standard-flow machine is a recipe for frustration and poor performance.

Finally, think about build quality. Heavier steel, better welds, and protected hydraulic hoses are signs of a tool built to last. A well-made attachment from a reputable, smaller manufacturer can often provide better value and a longer service life than a cheaply made option from a big-name brand.

Blue Diamond Grapple Bucket for Clearing Brush

A standard bucket is fine for moving loose dirt, but a grapple bucket is a true game-changer for managing a property. It functions like a giant, powerful hand, allowing you to grab, lift, and securely carry awkward materials. Think logs, brush piles, fieldstones, and old fencing.

The Blue Diamond grapple is a workhorse because of its smart, rugged design. Most models feature independent grapples, meaning the two top clamps can close on an uneven load. This is incredibly useful for securing a pile of brush that has a large log on one side and small branches on the other. It keeps the load stable and safe during transport.

Its versatility is where it truly shines. One minute you’re clearing a fallen tree, the next you’re tearing out an old concrete post. A grapple turns a multi-step job with chains and a bucket into a single, efficient operation. It’s one of the first attachments you should consider after a basic set of forks.

Titan Attachments Pallet Forks for Heavy Lifting

Pallet forks are arguably the most essential attachment for any farm. So many farm supplies arrive on pallets: bags of feed, seed, minerals, fencing materials, and wood pellets. Unloading a ton of feed by hand is a job you only want to do once.

Titan Attachments offers a great balance of price and performance for the hobby farm. You don’t need a set of forks rated for an industrial warehouse. A standard set with a 4,000-pound capacity is more than enough to handle IBC totes, stacks of lumber, or even a round bale with a spear attachment. They pay for themselves in saved labor almost immediately.

Look for a set with adjustable fork spacing. This flexibility allows you to handle standard pallets as well as wider or oddly shaped items. You’ll be surprised how often you use them for things other than pallets, like lifting heavy gates into place or moving implements around the yard.

Bradco Post Hole Auger for Efficient Fencing

Good fences are the backbone of a well-run farm, but digging the post holes is brutal work. A skid steer-mounted auger turns a project that would take days of back-breaking labor into a task you can knock out in an afternoon. It makes you far more likely to tackle that new paddock fence you’ve been putting off.

Bradco has a long-standing reputation for building tough, reliable attachments. Their auger drives have the hydraulic torque needed to power through compacted soil, clay, and small roots where less powerful augers stall out. It’s critical to match the auger’s hydraulic requirements (measured in gallons per minute, or GPM) to your skid steer’s output for optimal performance.

Beyond the drive unit, consider the auger bits you’ll need.

• A 9-inch bit is perfect for standard wooden fence posts.
• A 12-inch bit works well for corner posts and gate posts.
• Larger bits can be used for planting trees and shrubs.

An auger is a major investment, but it’s an investment in your own efficiency and physical well-being.

Bobcat Brushcat Rotary Cutter for Pasture Care

Pastures and overgrown fields require aggressive management to keep them from being taken over by brush and saplings. A rotary cutter, often called a "brush hog," is the tool for the job. It’s designed to shred through thick grass, dense weeds, and woody growth up to a few inches in diameter that would destroy a regular mower.

The Bobcat Brushcat is a legendary attachment for a reason. Its deck is designed to float over uneven terrain, which minimizes scalping and keeps the blades from digging into the dirt on hilly ground. The heavy-duty blades and direct-drive motor provide the momentum needed to slice through tough material without losing speed.

This is a reclamation and maintenance tool, not a finishing mower. Use it to knock back the edges of your woods, clear new areas for pasture, or manage vegetation in areas you only cut once or twice a year. It’s how you maintain control over your property’s wilder spaces.

Eterra Skid Steer Tiller for Garden Preparation

Breaking new ground for a large garden or food plot with a walk-behind tiller is a physically punishing task. A skid steer tiller harnesses the power and weight of your machine to do the work for you, quickly turning hard, compacted ground into a deep, loamy seedbed.

Eterra is known for building high-quality, innovative attachments, and their tillers are no exception. Many of their models feature bi-directional tilling, which allows you to run the tines in either forward or reverse. This is incredibly helpful for tilling close to a fence or building and for making a final, smooth pass over the soil.

A tiller isn’t a must-have for every farm. But if you manage a market garden, establish wildlife food plots, or simply have a very large personal garden, it’s a monumental time-saver. It allows you to work in soil amendments like compost and manure deeply and evenly, creating a much better foundation for a productive growing season.

John Deere AB12K Bale Spear for Hay Handling

If you feed round bales, a bale spear is non-negotiable. Trying to move a 1,200-pound bale with a bucket and chains is inefficient, unstable, and outright dangerous. A dedicated spear provides a secure and precise way to lift, transport, and stack your hay.

The John Deere AB12K is a classic for its simple, effective design. It uses a single, long, forged-steel spear to pierce the center of the bale, with two smaller stabilizer tines below. This three-point system prevents the bale from spinning during transport, which is a critical safety feature when driving over uneven ground or making turns.

The efficiency gained is enormous. You can move bales from the hay field, stack them tightly in the barn to save space, and place them directly into round bale feeders without ever leaving the operator’s seat. It streamlines one of the most common and physically demanding livestock chores.

Virnig Manure Fork for Efficient Stall Cleaning

Cleaning stalls, loafing sheds, or winter paddocks is a relentless chore. A manure fork with a grapple attachment makes the job dramatically faster and less wasteful. The design allows you to scoop up manure and soiled bedding while sifting out the clean, dry material to be reused.

Virnig is known for building some of the toughest attachments on the market, and their manure forks are built to handle daily abuse. The tines are made from high-strength steel and are spaced perfectly for sifting. The overhead grapple clamps down on the load, so you don’t lose half of it on the way to the compost pile.

This tool is all about buying back your time. A job that takes an hour with a pitchfork and a wheelbarrow can be done in less than 15 minutes. That’s time you can put toward other critical tasks. It also helps you build a better compost pile, turning a waste product into a valuable farm resource with far less effort.

The right attachments transform your skid steer from a machine that just moves dirt into a multi-tool that can tackle nearly any job on your farm. Start by investing in the tools that solve your biggest and most frequent problems. As your farm grows and changes, your collection of attachments can evolve with it.