It’s the symphony of a concrete construction site. Hydraulic breakers crack the ground, concrete saws whirl, and pumps and mixers pulsate. The crashing of mangled concrete blocks into a dump truck brings the fevered pitch to a deafening crescendo.

Working with concrete presents some of the most challenging construction site demands on your equipment and crew — just listening to the way it sounds is strenuous. Whether it’s breaking up existing concrete, pouring a new base or picking and placing cinder blocks, concrete work is tough and time-consuming. Yet, having an orchestra of concrete attachments for your skid steer at your disposal makes conducting jobsite tasks all the more easier.

Apart from your usual hydraulic breaker and concrete bucket, there are a bevy of unsung concrete attachments that can increase productivity and minimize the strain on your back from manually carting around all those loads of concrete mix.

With a concrete mixer attachment, your skid steer can get concrete into places a concrete truck can’t go. On the other hand, your skid steer can also be used as a pump power source to deliver freshly brewed concrete where you need it most. And you may be surprised to know that a hydraulic breaker isn’t necessarily your weapon of choice for concrete destruction; a wheel saw and drop hammer attachment can be even more effective if your job parameters fit the bill.

Breaking Hammers Apart

When there’s concrete construction, a lot of times there’s concrete destruction. Much of the time you have to tear up the old before bringing in the new. Let’s be honest, sometimes it’s just plain fun to break sheets of concrete into smithereens. Of course, the traditional skid steer tool of destruction is the hydraulic breaker.

First things first, find a breaker size that fits your size skid steer and your tool carrier’s hydraulic flow range. There are two major types of breakers — fully hydraulic or nitrogen gas assisted. Nitrogen gas assisted breakers use a combination of hydraulics and nitrogen gas to fire the breaker’s piston. On fully hydraulic models, hydraulic fluid is the sole agent used to fire the piston. Allied Construction Products LLC, Atlas Copco and Erskine Attachments offer full lines of nitrogen gas assisted breakers, while Bobcat and Ingersoll Rand represent lightweight breakers that are fully hydraulic.

Some argue that nitrogen is lost with every blow of the tool and that, when stored for long periods of time, the nitrogen in the gas assisted breakers dries the seals and compromises the integrity of the unit’s construction. However, fully hydraulic models generally require a higher hydraulic flow rate from the auxiliary hydraulic flow lines on your skid steer. And matching the hydraulic flow to your machine is the most important aspect of picking a breaker.

If the flow from the machine is too low, the attachment won’t work to its potential (and your investment is wasted) and if the flow from your machine is too high, it will overpower the breaker and cause premature breaker failure. Typically, most lightweight breakers require a flow rate of
8 to 16 gpm.

“It’s like running a car to the red line. It’s more than the breaker can handle. [The breaker tool] ends up moving so fast that it builds up heat and you can end up scoring the piston,” says Justin Odegaard, Bobcat attachment product representative. “There are flow dividers you can install on the attachment, but those tend to be expensive. It’s best if the breaker is matched with the machine in the first place.”

When shopping around for a breaker, you may hear the terms “blows per minute” (bpm) or “constant blow energy” (cbe) used to classify breakers. Unfortunately, there is no standard for classifying breakers and manufacturers are split between bpm and cbe. Bpm measures exactly what it stands for, the number of times the tool strikes a surface in a minute. Cbe measures the force of the breaker’s blows. Ideally, you want to find a breaker with a good mix of both — a bpm range of 450 to 1,200 and a cbe range from 150 to 500 ft lbs.

Whether you choose to favor gas assisted or fully hydraulic, bpm or cbe, you can expect a breaker attachment to cost between $3,000 and $5,000 depending on size and options. One up and coming option is a light indicator on the breaker to tell the operator when service is needed.

Breaking Up Isn’t Hard to Do

Once you’ve picked the perfect hammer and pinned it to your skid steer, it’s time to roll out and practice hammering. Eyeing concrete slabs, you’ll want to start on a corner or an edge of the section that you are going to break. As you start breaking the concrete, the debris will need somewhere to go and a corner or edge will provide enough breathing room for the broken bits to expand. However, jobsites don’t always afford enough space to get to a corner or edge. Just be aware that you’ll have to cart away concrete chunks more often if you don’t start on an edge.

To set up your skid steer before breaking, it’s common practice to raise the skid steer’s front wheels off the ground, about 4 to 8 in., using the breaker as the machine’s pivot point. By placing the breaker on the ground and then pushing the loader arm control even further down, the skid steer’s front tires will raise off the ground, creating a tripod between the breaker and the two rear tires. The idea is to provide enough ground pressure to keep the breaker firmly in place as you break through the concrete.

“That way, the machine is going to sink as the breaker does its job. It’s very important that the loader’s tires don’t touch the ground before you break through the concrete. If the wheels touch before the breaker is through, you won’t have any weight on the breaker and you’ll lose the down pressure,” says Odegaard.

Ron Peters, CEAttachments inside sales supervisor, agrees. He also made it clear that the breaker should remain vertical at all times. Operating the breaker at an angle puts a side stress load on the attachment and extra pressure on the bushings, which will increase the wear and tear on the attachment.

However, not all agree that lifting the skid steer’s tires off the ground via the breaker attachment is a good idea.

“Although it is common practice to lift the skid steer off the ground, it puts a lot of unnecessary stress on the working tool and bushing,” says Rich Elliott, Atlas Copco’s hydraulic applications manager. “Each breaker has a recommended carrier weight specification. When the breaker is mounted to the correct size carrier, the operator should be able to maintain sufficient down pressure without lifting the front wheels of the skid steer off the ground.”

Regardless of how you choose to break your concrete, all the manufacturers agree that using the breaker tool to pry up concrete slabs or any other material is a big mistake — it can break the tool or internal parts and bend the breaker frame. Also, hydraulic breaker maintenance is not an option — it’s necessary for this hard-hitting attachment to survive each hour on the job. Lubrication is a must with hydraulic breaker operation. In fact, most breaker manufacturers require that the tool be greased with chisel paste every two hours of operation or at any point when the tool does not have a film of paste on it.

Other Concrete Cutters

While a hydraulic breaker might be the most prevalent tool when it comes to the destruction side of concrete, it’s not the only game in town. A drop hammer is an excellent alternative to a hydraulic breaker on your skid steer loader — these drop splitters destroy large, flat slabs of concrete like a jackhammer through butter.

How do they differ from typical hammers?

A drop hammer looks completely different (like a thick steel pole attached to the front of your loader). The drop hammer is basically a large weight housed inside a long vertical casing. The weight is raised to the top of the frame and gravity plunges the weight down to do the breaking. Although it produces less accurate break lines than a hydraulic breaker, it can demolish concrete up to 18 in. thick and typically generates less noise and vibration than a breaker, which is ideal for residential applications. Offered by Bobcat and CEAttachments, this type of breaker tends to run between $8,500 and $9,000.

In more precision concrete demolition, a wheel saw (or rock wheel) attachment is used to segment concrete for easy breaking to create clean cut lines. More importantly, it can be used for trenching concrete, instead of boring under it or breaking it. This comes in handy when a electrical or smaller utility line needs to be run through concrete. The wheel saw can be used to trench a path for the line. After the job is finished, the small trench can easily be filled, which eliminates the need to break up a section of concrete for a relatively small job. CEAttachments, Bobcat, Caterpillar, Case and Bradco, among others, offer this attachment, which is generally priced between $15,000 and $17,000.

“It’s a high-flow attachment that can cut 18 in. deep. It’s great for removing slabs of concrete to bury electrical lines under a parking lot or driveway. It can also cut through rebar,” says Peters. “As with any demolition attachment, be sure you know what is under the concrete first. Make sure there isn’t a water, electrical, gas or any other line running under the concrete you plan on cutting.”

After your breaking team is finished, your mop-up crews can begin. If a mile-long path of demolished concrete lies in the wake of your skid steer rampage, it’s time to remove that rubble and make way for the incoming wave of construction concrete attachments. While a general all-purpose bucket might be fine for common contractor folk, there is a growing array of specialty concrete buckets designed for such a task.

Perhaps the most popular of all concrete removal buckets is the grapple bucket. Not only does this bucket allow you to scoop up those small concrete bits, but it allows you to grasp the large slabs as well. Grapple buckets are offered by Bobcat, ASV, McLaren Industries, New Holland, Volvo and Bradco, just to name a few, and start around $1,800 and up, depending on size.

Alongside the grapple bucket is the skeleton bucket that allows you to grapple the larger slabs of concrete, while the smaller bits remain on the ground. This type of bucket goes for about $1,100, depending on size. A concrete claw is another tool used to load concrete and is highly productive if you are moving long slabs of concrete. Offered by FFC and Paladin, this attachment runs approximately $1,800.

Regardless of your loading implement, make sure that you properly match your skid steer and loader.
Keep in mind that loading concrete is a heavy operation and you don’t want to pick up more than your machine can handle. Play it safe. If you are busily collecting concrete in your bucket and you think you might have too much, lighten the load and make that second, third or fourth trip.

Constructive Attachments

Once the dust has settled from that nasty break up, it’s time to get back out there and rebuild. Often times, your skid steer is on cramped jobsites where larger machinery, such as a concrete truck, can’t access. Luckily, if you can think it up, there’s probably an attachment for it. The two most prevalent concrete construction attachments are a concrete mixer and a concrete pump.

A concrete mixer is excellent for smaller jobs that don’t require large volumes of concrete such as footers for fence posts. Typically, a concrete mixer attachment can hold 3 to 5 cu ft of mix.
With this standard hydraulic flow attachment, you can mix the concrete on site and pour it in place with pin-point accuracy. That way, you waste less mix and get it exactly where you need it. Perhaps the most important aspect of a concrete mixer attachment is its controls.

“The No. 1 operating safety rule is never leave the machine while it’s running. Our attachment and the skid steer loader can be controlled from outside of the cab,” says Odegaard. “This way, an operator can turn the machine off, load up the bucket with the mix, start mixing and then enter the loader, drive it down and dump it.”

Both Bobcat and CEAttachments offer mixers that can be controlled outside of the cab; Worksaver, Gearmore and Berlon Industries also offer cement mixers. You can expect the attachment to go for somewhere around $4,500.

If your job requires a larger volume of concrete, say for the foundation of a house or for walls, you can use your skid steer to power a concrete pump attachment. A pump attachment covers any job that requires 15 to hundreds of yards of concrete to be placed where the skid steer can’t go.

“Let’s say you’re adding onto a house in the backyard and there is a fence you don’t want to tear down.
The machine can power the pump and you can run the line back there,” says Odegaard. “We had a guy who needed to build some walls on ocean front property. It was a sensitive environment that required as little disturbance as possible. He ran the line about 200 ft to get the job done.”

Another advantage is that, not only can the hose get to those hard to reach places, but the skid steer itself can be set in a better position on cramped jobsites. That eliminates the extra hose needed by a behemoth, six-wheeled concrete pump truck. Currently, only Bobcat offers a concrete pump attachment and it runs about $27,800, without a delivery system. While that might seem like a hefty chunk of change, it quickly adds up when concrete pump trucks charge between $600 and $1,500 a day.

One concrete device you might not hear much about is the concrete bucket. It’s a simple tool, merely a bucket with a chute and a hydraulic gate to pour concrete. It can hold between 1/2 and 3/4 yds of concrete. It’s a cheap, low maintenance attachment with minimal moving parts and its concrete chute is great for accurate concrete pour masters. Although it can get clogged with concrete, it’s a good alternative for a price range of $1,800 and $2,100 and is offered by CEAttachments.

“A concrete bucket is great for areas where a big concrete truck can’t go. You can drive your skid steer in and dump the concrete. You can also raise the bucket to fill concrete to areas that aren’t easily accessible such as for walls,” says Peters.

Use Protection

Before getting too excited and hopping into the seat of a skid steer armed with a concrete implement, always think safety and protection first. Be sure that you have the
proper safety gear for your job. If you’re breaking up concrete, wear safety glasses, a hard hat and hand and foot protection to shield you from flying debris and pieces of concrete.

“Whenever you are breaking up concrete, be sure to wear eye protection and know your environment. Make sure there is no one close by, as there may be some flying debris,” says Peters. “Usually, you are working on a jobsite with other equipment, trucks and people, so you want to be sure that your work area is properly marked and taped off to avoid an accident. A skid steer with a back up alarm or strobe light is also a good idea.”

If you are working with concrete mix, hose down your equipment immediately after the job is done to avoid concrete drying on your machine or implement. If concrete dries on any greased areas of your machine, you can be in trouble. Concrete is much easier to wash off when it is wet.

Speaking of your machine, routine maintenance will also keep you safe and productive. On those rough and tumble concrete jobsites, be sure to check your tires regularly to ensure that they have the proper inflation and traction. The last thing you want is your skid steer sliding backward as you are trying to break through concrete.

The standard oil, coolant, air filter, radiator and hydraulic checks are still required before gallivanting onto the jobsite with your latest attachment. From drop hammers to concrete pumps, there’s a new attachment waiting to be discovered and utilized right around the corner. The next time you are charged with a concrete job, don’t be afraid to play the attachment field to find a tool that will fill your concrete niche and provide more productivity.

Jason Morgan is assistant editor of Compact Equipment.