Best Skid Steer Attachments for Cleaning Up an Overgrown Property

Cleaning up an overgrown property can quickly turn into a bigger project than expected.

Tall grass may be hiding thick brush. Brush may be hiding saplings. Saplings may be surrounded by fallen limbs, old fence rows, rocks, roots and years of accumulated debris.

The right skid steer attachments can turn that cleanup from a long manual project into a much more manageable job.

But there is not one attachment that does everything equally well. The best setup depends on what is actually growing on the property, the size and capabilities of your machine, and what you want the finished property to look like.

Here are some of the most useful skid steer attachments for reclaiming an overgrown ranch, farm, homesite or construction property.

1. Brush Cutter: Start by Knocking Down the Vegetation

For many overgrown properties, a brush cutter is the first attachment to consider.

A skid steer brush cutter allows you to cut tall grass, weeds, briars, vines, brush and, depending on the cutter, larger woody material.

The goal during the first pass is often visibility.

Once the heavy vegetation is removed, you can actually see what you're dealing with underneath. That might reveal fallen trees, rocks, stumps, old fencing, drainage problems or other obstacles that were hidden by years of growth.

JST Attachment Sales carries brush cutters for different machine sizes and levels of clearing.

For general ranch, farm and property maintenance, the STORM Brush Cutter lineup provides options for standard flow machines, including 48, 60 and 72 inch models.

For heavier land clearing, the CID Tree Reaper steps into more aggressive brush and tree removal work. JST currently offers both 72 and 78 inch Tree Reaper models.

Shop the brush cutters:

72 Inch STORM Brush Cutter
72 Inch CID Tree Reaper Brush Cutter
78 Inch CID Tree Reaper Brush Cutter

One important consideration before purchasing any hydraulic cutter is your skid steer's auxiliary hydraulic flow. The attachment needs to be matched to the machine's available GPM.

If you're not sure how to determine that, see our guide, How Do I Know My Skid Steer's Hydraulic Flow?

Knowing your hydraulic flow before shopping can prevent you from buying a cutter that your machine cannot properly operate.

2. Root Grapple: Pick Up What the Cutter Leaves Behind

Cutting the vegetation is only part of reclaiming an overgrown property.

Eventually, you have to move it.

That is where a root or brush grapple becomes one of the most useful attachments you can own.

A grapple lets you grab piles of limbs, logs, brush, roots and other irregular material that would be difficult to control with a conventional bucket. The open bottom of a root grapple also allows loose soil to fall through while retaining larger material.

That makes a root grapple particularly useful for fallen trees, brush piles, storm debris, fence rows, cleared saplings, roots and construction debris.

JST Attachment Sales carries several levels of root and brush grapples, allowing the attachment to be matched to the machine rather than simply choosing the largest grapple available.

The 72 Inch STORM HD Root/Brush Grapple provides an option for general ranch, farm and property cleanup.

For larger machines and more demanding land clearing, the Glacier Extreme Root/Brush Grapple lineup moves into a substantially heavier class of attachment.

Glacier Extreme Root/Brush Grapples are available in multiple widths, allowing the grapple to be better matched to the size and capacity of the skid steer or compact track loader.

Shop the root and brush grapples:

72 Inch STORM HD Root/Brush Grapple
60 Inch Glacier Extreme Root/Brush Grapple
72 Inch Glacier Extreme Root/Brush Grapple
78 Inch Glacier Extreme Root/Brush Grapple
84 Inch Glacier Extreme Root/Brush Grapple
96 Inch Glacier Extreme Root/Brush Grapple

The goal is not simply to buy the heaviest grapple available.

Every pound of attachment hanging from the quick attach reduces the machine's remaining capacity for the material being carried. A smaller machine doing routine brush cleanup may benefit from a lighter grapple, while a larger skid steer or compact track loader doing demanding clearing may be better matched to the heavier construction of a Glacier Extreme model.

3. Grapple Rake: Clear and Collect With the Same Attachment

If the property has thick brush, roots and accumulated debris that needs to be pulled from the ground rather than simply picked up, a grapple rake can be especially useful.

A grapple rake allows you to work the lower tines through vegetation and surface debris before clamping and carrying the material.

That means you can rake, gather and transport with the same attachment.

This can be particularly useful for reclaiming old fence lines, pulling accumulated brush, raking roots, cleaning wooded areas, gathering scattered limbs and preparing an area for additional grading.

The 72 Inch STORM HD Rake/Brush Grapple provides an option for property owners who need a heavy-duty rake grapple for brush and debris cleanup.

The 72 Inch CID X-Treme Duty Grapple Rake with Teeth moves into a more aggressive design with bolt-on replaceable teeth. That can be useful when the attachment needs to do more than simply pick up loose material.

JST also carries the Glacier Extreme Rake/Brush Grapple for demanding land clearing and heavy debris handling. The Glacier lineup gives larger machines another heavy-duty option when attachment weight and machine capacity allow it.

Shop the grapple rakes:

72 Inch STORM HD Rake/Brush Grapple
72 Inch CID X-Treme Duty Grapple Rake with Teeth
72 Inch Glacier Extreme Rake/Brush Grapple
84 Inch Glacier Extreme Rake/Brush Grapple

Not sure whether you need a root grapple or grapple rake?

Read our guide, Root Grapple vs. Grapple Rake: Which One Do I Need?

The difference comes down largely to whether your priority is grabbing and carrying material or raking, pulling and gathering material from the ground.

4. Stump Bucket: Attack Roots and Smaller Stumps

Once the vegetation and brush are gone, stumps are often the next problem.

A stump bucket concentrates the breakout force of the skid steer into a much narrower digging area than a conventional bucket.

Rather than trying to scoop underneath a stump with a wide material bucket, the narrow profile lets the operator work around the stump and attack its root system.

The typical process is to dig around the stump, expose or break the major roots, then work underneath it until the stump can be loosened.

JST Attachment Sales carries the Glacier Extreme Stump Bucket, designed for digging, root removal and stump extraction.

A stump bucket can also be useful for more than stumps. Depending on the job, it can help with digging around roots, removing small trees and performing narrow excavation work around a property.

It can be particularly appealing to property owners who occasionally need to remove stumps but do not necessarily need a dedicated powered stump grinder.

5. Stump Grinder: When You Want the Stump Gone Without Digging It Out

There are situations where digging a stump out is not the best solution.

A stump grinder approaches the problem differently by grinding the wood down rather than excavating the entire root ball.

That can reduce the amount of ground disturbance compared with digging around a large stump. It also eliminates the problem of having a large root ball that still has to be moved and disposed of after excavation.

JST offers skid steer stump grinders for different hydraulic ranges, including configurations for machines in the 16 to 29 GPM and 30 to 45 GPM ranges.

This is another attachment where knowing your hydraulic specifications before purchasing is critical.

A powered attachment should never be selected based only on whether it physically mounts to the skid steer.

6. Rock Grapple: When the Cleanup Includes Rocks and Debris

Not every overgrown property is just vegetation.

Once the brush is gone, you may discover rocks, old construction material and other debris mixed into the soil.

A rock grapple is designed to retain larger material while allowing smaller material and soil to fall through the openings.

That can make it useful for cleaning and sorting areas where you do not want to move a bucket full of dirt every time you pick something up.

JST carries both CID and Glacier rock grapple options, allowing the attachment to be matched to the machine and severity of the work.

Shop the rock grapples:

72 Inch CID X-Treme Duty Rock Grapple
72 Inch Glacier Extreme Rock/Brush Grapple
78 Inch Glacier Extreme Rock/Brush Grapple
84 Inch Glacier Extreme Rock/Brush Grapple

A rock grapple can be especially useful after the initial vegetation clearing is complete and you're transitioning from heavy clearing into cleanup and property preparation.

You Probably Don't Need Every Attachment

It is easy to look at a large cleanup project and assume you need five different attachments.

You probably don't.

Start by identifying the biggest problem on the property.

If the property is mostly tall grass and brush, start with the brush cutter.

If you already have piles of limbs, logs and debris, a root grapple may provide the biggest improvement.

If you need to rake through thick vegetation and collect material, consider a grapple rake.

If stumps are the primary obstacle, look at a stump bucket or stump grinder.

If rocks and mixed debris are the problem, a rock grapple may make more sense.

The best attachment is the one that eliminates the biggest bottleneck in your cleanup process.

A Practical Two-Attachment Setup for Property Cleanup

For many ranchers, farmers and property owners, two attachments can handle a surprising amount of work:

A brush cutter and a grapple.

The brush cutter knocks down the vegetation and exposes the property.

The grapple handles the material left behind.

With those two attachments, an operator can cut vegetation, clear brush, move limbs, handle logs and consolidate debris piles.

That combination can take an overgrown area from inaccessible to manageable without requiring an attachment for every individual task.

If the property has significant stumps, rocks or heavy tree growth, you can then add a more specialized attachment as the project requires it.

Don't Automatically Choose the Heaviest Attachment

Heavy-duty construction is valuable, but heavier is not automatically better.

Consider a grapple as an example.

If two grapples can perform the work you need, but one weighs several hundred pounds more, that additional attachment weight is carried by the skid steer before you pick up the first log.

This becomes especially important on smaller skid steers and compact track loaders.

That is one reason JST carries different attachment levels from manufacturers such as STORM, Glacier and CID.

The right choice depends on what your machine can safely handle and what you're actually asking the attachment to do.

Match the Attachment to Your Machine

Before buying any attachment, make sure it is appropriate for the skid steer or compact track loader you own.

Consider:

• Auxiliary hydraulic flow
• Hydraulic pressure
• Rated operating capacity
• Attachment weight
• Machine horsepower
• Overall machine width
• Attachment width
• Standard flow or high flow hydraulics
• Case drain requirements, when applicable
• Universal quick attach compatibility

Attachment width deserves special attention on an overgrown property.

A cutter that is narrower than your machine may leave the tracks or tires running through vegetation the cutter cannot reach.

On the other hand, an unnecessarily wide attachment can make it harder to work through gates, trails, trees and other tight areas.

The machine, attachment and property all need to work together.

Plan the Cleanup in Stages

Stage 1: Gain Access

Cut enough vegetation to establish safe working paths and expose hidden obstacles.

Do not assume you know what is underneath several feet of grass or brush.

Stage 2: Remove Large Material

Use a grapple to move logs, limbs, brush and other large debris uncovered during the first pass.

Stage 3: Address Trees and Stumps

Remove, dig or grind the obstacles that would interfere with future mowing, construction or land use.

Stage 4: Clean the Surface

Use the appropriate grapple, grapple rake or rock grapple to remove roots, rocks and remaining debris.

Stage 5: Finish the Property

Once the heavy clearing is complete, you can move into grading, driveway repair, seeding, mowing or whatever comes next for the property.

Thinking about the project this way also helps determine which attachment you actually need first.

What Should I Buy First?

If you're starting with a severely overgrown property and can only purchase one attachment, identify what prevents you from making progress.

If you cannot get through the vegetation, a brush cutter is probably the first tool to consider.

If the vegetation has already been cut but you cannot efficiently move the debris, look at a grapple.

If you can move the debris but roots and stumps are preventing you from finishing the property, a stump removal attachment becomes more important.

Buy the attachment that solves the problem immediately in front of you.

Then build your attachment lineup as your property and projects demand it.

Not Sure Where to Start?

If you're trying to reclaim an overgrown ranch, farm, homesite or construction property, send JST Attachment Sales your machine make and model along with a description or photos of the property.

Tell us what you're trying to remove and what you want the property to look like when you're finished.

We can help narrow down whether a STORM, Glacier, CID or another attachment in our lineup makes the most sense for your machine and your project.