Five Crucial Fencing Skid Steer Attachments

What skid steer attachments are necessary for installing or repairing fences this Spring? Most ranchers, farmers, and landscaping contractors spend a lot of time in the warmer months setting and repairing fences. So they need some attachments for their skid steer loaders to make their fence repairs go much faster and easier. Rather than digging with post hole diggers, wrestling heavy poles, breaking up concrete pads with a jackhammer, or using a small mixer to mix replacement concrete, many contractors and farmers turn to their skid loaders to eliminate the hardest work of fencing repair.

Here are five fencing skid steer attachments to consider when looking at fencing needs when warmer weather hits.

1. Augers: This is one of the most necessary skid steer attachments for any fencing installation jobs. A skid steer loader auger works like a big drill bit. It spins as it drills straight down into the soil. As it turns, the screw threads carry the dirt to the surface. These skid steer attachments come in a variety of sizes, running anywhere from four inches across to 48 inches across, handing small fence posts to large support columns and concrete footer pads. They are sturdy enough to handle digging 1,000 fence post holes on a farm or ranch, or strong enough to bite through an asphalt driveway or concrete pad.

2. Concrete Breakers: For breaking up big pads of concrete, contractors turn to these skid steer attachments. They are giant jackhammers that let the skid steer loaders doing all the work, instead of guys named Lou who have huge arms, and shout even when the workday is over. While augers can cut through concrete and leave it otherwise intact, use these skid steer attachments when you have to remove large pieces of concrete. Concrete breakers use a boltless mounting system, and have a vibro-silencing feature to reduce vibration exposure to the operator and the skid loader.

3. Concrete Mixers: Some skid steer attachments dealers sell two-in-one concrete mixer attachments that have both a concrete mixer and a placer in one. Mix the concrete in the cement mixer, and then dump it into the post hole or the form for concrete footers. This is an ideal attachment for situations where a full truckload of ready-mix concrete is not needed. The typical concrete mixer can hold up to six cubic feet. The best mixers are designed for the machine's bearing to cary the full weight, rather than the hydraulic motor and seals, which can lead to unnecessary wear and tear.

4. Rotating Skid Steer Attachments: Imagine a grapple that can grab a pole, brush and rocks, or even barrels, but is able to rotate at least 90 degrees in either direction. For fence installers, they are used for lifting and placing anything from small fence posts to 48 foot telephone poles. The rotating grapples can not only pick up a telephone pole, it can rotate it and place it in the hole. There are no other attachments that can do all that. It either has to be done by hand, or with an attachment that cannot quite complete the entire task.

5. Post Drivers: There are some instances where driving fence posts into the ground will be much faster and easier than digging, lifting, and placing those posts. These post drivers are based on the same technology as the concrete breakers — they fire a piston repeatedly, hammering the post into place. These skid steer attachments have a specially-adapted mount and cup to protect the post, without shattering or crushing it.

Anyone who wants to put up a fence will do well to incorporate any combination of these tools to save time and energy, and increase profits.