[Jon E Bee]

I am about to buy my first skid steer and I'm am looking into a few landscaping jobs. I am just going to be doing a few projects for my family. All of the yards I will be working on have nothing at all done, the houses are just now being built. what kind of attachments are worth the money? I'm looking mostly for ones that will help prep the soil for sod or seeding.

[AZTLANLC]

Harley Rake

[MLysiak]

Rock Hound

[jshilan]

Before you jump into a new skid steer purchase, consider renting or buying used until you definately have enough work to support a new machine.

Although not directly related to soil conditioning, consider foam filled tires or a rubber track machine. That exposed soil gets pretty sloppy in the spring.

[dan deutekom]

A good utility bucket, and a set of pallet forks. The pallet forks are good for moving rocks, trees, pallets of material and also can be used to easily dig holes for trees and breaking up tough soil.

[Stonehenge]

Bucket and forks should be the first purchases, but as jshilan says, if this is only for work for the family right now, rent one when you need it.

A Harley rake or something similar (toothed, rotating drum) will do well for soil prep for either sod or seed. Once in awhile I wish we had an auger, too. But not enough to buy one.

[Jon E Bee]

Thanks for the advice! I'll definitly look into the Harley rake and the rock hound.

The machine I'm looking at comes with a pallet fork and a utility bucket, so I should be covered there.

I would like the rubber tracked machine but I'm not sure I need it. I only plan on using it for a month or two in the summer, and to push some snow in the winter.

[NCSULandscaper]

a 4in1 bucket is a must, along with pallet forks, harley rake, and power auger

[zullo-design]

Originally Posted by Jon E Bee

Thanks for the advice! I'll definitly look into the Harley rake and the rock hound.

The machine I'm looking at comes with a pallet fork and a utility bucket, so I should be covered there.

I would like the rubber tracked machine but I'm not sure I need it. I only plan on using it for a month or two in the summer, and to push some snow in the winter.

A rubber tracked machine is great.....if you have another wheeled machine. Tracks aren't cheap and if you don't know how to care for them they will wear...fast. I avoid using mine on anything other than dirt as much as possible. And like others said unless you have steady work renting is the way to go, this way you can get exactly the machine and attachments you need.

I'd love to own an excavator but rent once since I can get the exact size I need for the job. Same with attachments, for under a hundred dollars I can get any attachment I need for the day.

[RHPL]

When I got a new bobcat S205 2 years ago I also pickud up a set of their steel tracks and their Tilt-Tach attachment. The steel tracks are great for the spring and fall (or any rainy days that would stop you from usiong a machine. They take about an hour for 2 people to put them on (or take them off). They are incredibly loud and sqweeky in dry conditions but will help to avoid wrutting the ground with highly traveled areas. They leave a bunch of ridges in the lawn if you drive over it... so don't unless you have spent the extra 15K for a ruber track machine.
The Tilt-Tach has seen a fair bit of use. For any digging, grading or swail work it is almost a nessecity. No longer is your bucket always following the angle of the machine. I've also found it quite usefull with the pallet forks attached on jobs where we are driving on side grades where boulders would likely slide off the side of the forks, or where a loosely stacked skid of brick might topple all over the lawn.

I'm looking for a soil conditioner. I've heard that they are awesome for sod prep.

And if you ever need a trencher, don't bother renting one, just remove one of the forks from your pallet forks and there is your trencher. We call it 'the Unifork' (TM) and use it for trenching and breaking up really hard soils. And for a wider trench just slide both forks to the same side so that they are together.

Ryan

[Pelican]

A 4way bucket will pay for itself in no time with the labor savings you get from it. You lose a slight amount of material capacity due to the added weight but you'll be amazed at what you can do with it. The next thing I use most often is my pallet forks, followed by a Bradco backhoe attachment. I've got a grapple rake that I use quite a bit too. If there's a lot of new construction going on around you, they grapple rake is very handy for cleaning up construction debris around the building lot.

As far as soil prep attachments, I prefer the Harley Rake.