Skid Steer Attachments Offer Endless Road of Options

Moorman says that when deciding which cold planer is right for you, the main factors to consider are the size of your skid steer and the size of the jobs. If your skid steer offers 22 gpm or higher and the work typically involves planing larger widths, then the high-flow planer is the better choice.

The FFC brand offers two standard-flow planers with planing widths of 12 to 16 in. as well as six models of high-flow planers with widths that range from 16 to 36 in. All the FFC models also have a side-shift. Carbide pick quantities differ on the FFC models with the high-flow planers having between 48 and 88 picks and the standard-flow planers having between 36 to 44 picks.

Odegaard says Bobcat offers six planer attachments for different contractor needs. The standard-flow planer is great for minor repairs to parking lots, driveways, and roads. It is available in a 14-in. planing width and does not require the loader to have high-flow hydraulics.

A second Bobcat attachment is the high-flow planer. "The Bobcat high-flow planer provides additional versatility with more features, independent controls, and more production," Odegaard says. This attachment is available in 18-, 24-, and 40-in. models. For more specific jobs Bobcat also has a surface planer that removes roadway or parking lot stripes and leaves behind a smooth finish and a curb planer that mills slipform curbs to create a smooth transition from the road to driveway. With most Bobcat planers, multiple drums are available for each model and vary by width or number and types of teeth.

Drums of a smaller size will typically fit in planers with a wider housing; for example, a 24-in. planer can utilize drums ranging from 2 ½ in. to 24 in. wide.

Moorman says the advantage to using a cold planer is that it "completes the job more efficiently and in less time. It mills, and you won't have to redo any of the work."

Compaction Plate
A compaction plate is an attachment for prep work before the asphalt gets placed. It compacts soil, sand, or gravel to give the asphalt a firm, solid, level base to help resist the shifting and settling that causes cracks, according to Guthrie. One of the benefits of a compaction plate is it can be used in small or confined areas.

"The compaction plates let paving contractors utilize their skid steers so that they can do parking lot repair, driveways, and around manholes and trenches and things like that where the big, huge, expensive machines can't go," Guthrie says. But a compaction plate attachment doesn't only help the bigger paving companies. Guthrie says that small contractors who are growing and getting bigger jobs can use this attachment as well. A paving contractor doing small jobs can use a hand-held unit, but once he starts bidding and winning larger jobs, such as parking lots or even low-volume roads that need compaction, the hand compactors aren't going to cut it. That's where the attachments come into play. Guthrie says they are the next step up before buying the big machines.

Most compaction plates have a shaker box, which is what delivers the pounding force. The Coneqtec/Universal plates also offer dual counterweights and isolation mounts. The dual counterweights ensure that the compaction force will only be applied vertically and nothing will be wasted horizontally, Guthrie says. They also help to lessen the "every action has a reaction" element by reducing the vibration back to the skid steer and its operator.

Guthrie compares the plates' isolation mounts to a car's shock absorbers. The isolation mounts absorb some of the vibration so that it isn't really hard on the skid steer. "The idea is to keep all that thumping down in the attachment and not to have that reaction come back up into the loader arms, which is just going to put wear and tear on the skid steer and the operator," he says.

In addition to the dual counterweights and isolation mounts, the three compaction plate attachments have a front lip that can be used to drag dirt before compaction and tilt to angle the plate for the slope that is being compacted.

Coneqtec/Universal has the DC8000 compaction plate that offers 8,000 lbs. of vertical force at a rate of 2,300 vpm. The DC5500 is a smaller attachment that will fit on regular or mini-skid steers and provides 5,500 lbs. of force at 1,900 vpm.