Sourcing the Right Attachment to Get the Most Out of Your Compact Machine

One of the main appeals of compact equipment is its amazing versatility. There’s a wide range of buckets, augers, grapples, thumbs and other attachments to enhance that versatility, but this wide range of standard attachments is not always enough. Specialty applications require specialty attachments.

There was a time that equipment owners would fab up their own attachments with little more than a welder and a grinder, especially for buckets and plows and other items that did not require hydraulic or electrical functionality. Some owners still do that.

Some owners turn to local mom-n-pop fabrication shops. However, sometimes those shops can lack the necessary resources to create specialty attachments. Plus, the cost of producing a one-off attachment has made this option less viable than in past years of simpler challenges. If a one-off is absolutely required, it can be done — whether in-house by the equipment owner or in a local shop. But two other avenues have expanded to provide enhanced sourcing of specialty attachments: Better options from equipment OEMs and expanded variety from attachment OEMs.

Equipment OEMs — Bobcat

“The two big things are awareness and training,” says Dan Steinlicht, general manager of attachments at Bobcat. “Awareness that the OEM has specialty attachments and training in the operation and maintenance of these attachments.”

He says dealers are the best source of specialty attachments. They are in communication with equipment OEMs and they’re also up to speed on local favorites in terms of specialty attachments. Dealers are educators and coaches, helping customers identify and source the best attachments for their specific applications. Steinlicht says the ideal lead time is two weeks, but the goal is to ship any attachment to the dealer within a month. “Customers often have a little extra leeway on these since they’re specialty items.”

Steinlicht notes that there is currently strong demand for concrete-related attachments. This includes hammers, both nitrogen and hydraulic; cold planers, which they also have for milling asphalt; and drop hammers for efficient breakup of small, confined areas, such as sidewalks. Bobcat also offers concrete mixer and concrete pump attachments for compact equipment.

He adds that while Bobcat dealers have access to the necessary information to pair attachments and host machines of various makes, there are distinct advantages to staying within the equipment OEM’s ecosystem. “This way dealers have a broad knowledge base from the start. By pairing an OEM’s attachment with their machine, it ensures you’re buying an attachment that is designed, built and tested for optimal performance on the OEM’s machine.”

Equipment OEMs — New Holland Construction

Jake Sickels, product marketing manager at New Holland Construction North America, says the company has an evolved production strategy for specialty attachments to best serve the market. New Holland produces some of its own attachments. The company also partners with several vendors to offer private-labelled products. Erskine Attachments and Paladin Attachments are two such vendors. “But even when product is outsourced and private labelled for us, it is required to meet our specs for design and performance,” says Sickels.

New Holland offers Toku hammers. It also has an agreement with Steelwrist to sell the company’s products, “but demand varies regionally and stocking dealers reflect that regionality.” New Holland FleetPro is a line of value-driven attachments. Sickels says it’s for customers whom country-of-origin is a consideration that products produced in other countries must still meet U.S.-based engineering standards.

He mentions as machine control continues to make inroads into the compact market, New Holland responds with attachments to take advantage of that technology. Its laser grader box is a good example. This attachment grades in both forward and reverse directions to capitalize on the maneuverability of skid steer and compact track loaders. Finish grades are within 0.10 in. It’s built by ATI Corporation to New Holland specifications.

Make sure the attachment falls within the host machine’s ROC and is compatible with that carrier’s hydraulic performance. Sickels says New Holland offers standard, high-flow and enhanced high-flow hydraulics. Some packages include hydraulic enhancements, such as the New Holland Forestry package for excavators, which includes an extra gear pump.

Attachment OEMs — Ignite Attachments

At first glance, Ignite Attachments’ catalog may seem robust, with 87 listings under the Construction heading. But when you see that 10 of these listings are grapple buckets of one type or another and 15 are augers and related parts such as extensions, the variety dwindles. But Ignite is a young company with strong growth. The number of attachments in the Ignite catalog is constantly growing. In 2023, the company added one category of attachments almost every month and added 16 new attachments in 2024. Moreover, Ignite Attachments products are versatile, so a separate SKU isn’t needed for one bucket for OEM A and another for OEM B.

Customers benefit from this. Darin Gronwold, product manager for Ignite Attachments, says its products are designed from the start to work with multiple carriers. “Equipment owners often run mixed fleets and often upgrade their machines over time, so compatibility matters.”

Still, most of what Ignite offers is standard attachment fare with few specialty products. That’s missing the point. Ignite remains a solid contender for customer dollars not so much for what they offer but for how they offer it.

Ignite Attachments has authorized resellers, but it is the company’s online presence that sets it apart. Online availability means any customer anywhere with internet access can browse Ignite’s catalog, select the desired attachments and have them delivered from Ignite’s warehouses in Atlanta and Reno, Nevada. Most orders go out same-day and are delivered within 14 days. Getting the right attachment is easy with the Ignite Fit-Finder tool — a database of over 10,000 specs of compact machines from all major equipment OEMs. Customers can apply for up to 12 months’ financing at the time of purchase through Ignite’s agreement with Credit Key. Ignite also accepts Google Pay and Apple Pay so customers can make their own financing arrangements. Pricing is competitive and delivery is free.

While Ignite has 87 products under its Construction tab as of this writing, the overall range of products is quite large and includes a number of 3-point attachments, products for landscaping, groundskeeping and snow removal. The Ignite Fit-Finder has listings not just for A-List construction OEMs but also for such OEMs as Bad Boy, Boxer, LS, Mahindra and TYM. Ignite serves not only the construction market but also landscaping, rural estate, municipality and demolition customers.

Warranty terms vary but the general warranty is for 12 months. Its warranty terms are explained clearly on the Ignite Attachments website.

Interface

There is one more step in getting the right specialty attachments for your applications: getting the right interface. This includes couplers, hydraulic and electrical connectors and more.