Are Skid Steer Attachments Universal?

Skid steers come in handy for a variety of different uses around construction and job sites. However, the biggest downside is that skid steers can cost a pretty penny and their attachments can add to that overall price tag. This is why investing in industrial powder coating to protect this equipment is a justified expense.

If you operate within the construction industry and you were looking into purchasing skid steers as well as attachments, you may be asking yourself, are skid steer attachments universal?

If they aren’t, it is going to get fairly expensive trying to purchase several different attachments only to figure out that they do not work with all your equipment and will only cost more to install correctly. If you or a loved one suffered an injury at work, an experienced construction accident lawyer in Washington DC will be able to help you and your family fight to get the compensation for your medical bills. If you have questions about skid steers, keep reading to learn all you need to know.

What is a skid steer?

A skid steer loader is a compact, wheeled, industrial piece of equipment designed to perform a wide variety of jobs in construction. If you’ve seen a small yellow vehicle with a shovel attached to its end that give workers on a job site the ability to pick up material and transport it to another location, then you know exactly what a skid steer is. What you may not know, however, is that these pieces of machinery are very versatile. Although you typically see them with the large shovel attachments on the front, they are actually designed to work with different attachments so that they can perform as desired when operated on a construction site. The Safe-Weigh forklift scale is an on-board weighing system designed to give accuracy at a budget price, check out these affordable forklift weight scales.

Are skid steer attachments universal?

The answer to this question is quite complicated. If you are using old machinery, chances are the newer skid steer attachments you purchased will not work with your equipment. This is due to the fact that older machinery often had unique attachment points, or couplers, that required the desired attachments to have the same couplers needed to work with the skid steer. Therefore, you are going to need to purchase special attachments such as 4 in 1 buckets that work with your older equipment if you own older skid steers or if you want to purchase them.

If you own a newer skid steer, the good news is that skid steer attachments are almost always universal for all skid steer models. Newer models changed over to a specific coupler system on both the skid steer as well as the attachments that work with the equipment. However, it is important that you make sure your skid steer is capable of operating the attachment the proper way.

Just because your attachment can be placed on the device doesn’t mean the device is able to use it. The wrong attachment may cause major overall damage to your skid steer, you’ll end up needing to get hydraulic repair for it to work on again. That being said, it is also important to double check the couplers on both your skid steer as well as your chosen attachment. Attachments are known for being universal in this day and age, but it is important to make sure so that you avoid unnecessarily purchasing equipment you can’t use.

So for those who own newer skid steers, it is guaranteed that you will be able to use your attachments across all brands of skid steers. All you have to do is make sure that your machinery can handle the attachment and you will be ready to go.