Hay and forage operations put a skid steer through a different kind of cycle than construction: the loads are bulky, not heavy; the working surfaces are soft; and the pressure is seasonal — everything has to happen right after the cut or right before a storm. This guide covers the attachments that actually earn their keep on Canadian hay operations, from cow-calf outfits in Alberta to dairy operations in the St. Lawrence Valley.
On most Canadian hay and forage operations, the skid steer is the utility machine. It's not the baler or the tractor — those handle the field work. The skid steer handles the stuff that happens between field and feed bunk: moving bales, stacking, feeding animals, managing silage, cleaning up the feedlot, and handling the endless odd jobs that a versatile machine with a quick-attach system can tackle faster than anything else.
That multi-role reality is why attachment selection matters. The right combination of tools means one machine handles a full day of varied tasks without wasted trips to swap implements. The wrong setup means the machine sits idle while you wait to borrow something or hand-do a job it should be able to handle.
If you run round bales — and most Western Canadian operations do — the bale spear is the attachment that earns its purchase price every single day. But not all bale spears are equal, and the options warrant some attention.
A single bale spear is fine for occasional handling — moving bales one at a time, placing them in a feeder, relocating a short stack. But most operations that handle significant bale volume move to a double-bale or four-bale carrier quickly, because moving two or four bales per trip versus one adds up fast in saved time over a winter.
A double spear — two parallel spears on a carrier frame — handles two round bales side by side. On 1,000–1,200 lb bales, you need to confirm your machine's rated operating capacity (ROC) covers the combined weight plus the attachment weight, with margin to spare. A 4,000 lb ROC machine can typically handle two bales of that size if you're running on solid ground, but wet conditions and slopes reduce effective capacity. See our ROC guide for the numbers.
A hay grapple — sometimes called a bale grapple or a round bale clamp — wraps around the bale from the side rather than spearing it from the end. This has specific advantages that matter in certain operations:
The limitation: hay grapples need hydraulics. That means your machine needs auxiliary hydraulic circuits — standard on most skid steers, but worth confirming on older or basic models. Grapples also add complexity relative to a passive bale spear.
Some manufacturers produce combination units — a grapple top bar over a set of spears — that can handle bales in either mode. Useful if you're running mixed bale types or need flexibility. Add some weight and cost over a straight spear, but the operational flexibility is real on mixed operations.
Feedlot management is where a skid steer earns respect. Cleaning pens, pushing manure, maintaining feedlot alleys, grading around water troughs — the machine does it faster and with less operator fatigue than a tractor with a loader in tight quarters.
A straight or angle dozer blade — typically 84 to 108 inches wide — is the standard tool for scraping packed manure off feedlot surfaces. Look for heavy-duty cutting edges (boltable replaceable cutting edges are essential; welded-on edges are a false economy on a machine that scrapes concrete or compacted aggregate daily), strong blade arms, and an angle blade if you're regularly windrowing waste to one side rather than pushing straight.
Feed push blades: In confinement operations — dairy tie stalls, free stall barns — a narrow feed push blade that fits in the feed alley and pushes TMR ration back within cow reach is a specific category worth knowing. These are narrower, lower-profile tools than a standard dozer blade and designed for the confined space of a free-stall barn. Not every dealer stocks them; HLA Attachments is one Canadian source with this category.
Silage operations demand a different set of tools than dry hay. The density and weight of silage — a silage pile face can be 35–45 lbs per cubic foot — puts more stress on the machine and attachment than most other farm work. Capacity and structure matter more than they do with loose hay.
A standard GP bucket does silage work, but a dedicated silage bucket — typically with a straight cutting edge designed to shear cleanly into the pile face — is the right tool for regular silage work. Width matters: a wider bucket reduces the number of passes across a pile face, but wider is heavier and needs a machine that can handle it. For a 70–80 hp skid steer, a 72-inch bucket is typically the practical maximum for silage application.
A root grapple or a utility grapple is useful for managing silage face irregularities — breaking off an overhang, handling loose pile material, or moving silage from intermediate pile to feed bunk. The same grapple that handles brush and debris in other seasons earns its keep in the feed yard over winter.
Hay operations tend to favor mid-size machines — a Bobcat S650, John Deere 332G, or equivalent in the 70–80 hp range with 7,000–9,000 lb tip load capacity. That's enough ROC for double-bale spear loads and enough hydraulic capacity for grapple work without the footprint penalty of larger machines in tight feedlot alleys.
Tracks vs. tires is a real question in this application. Tires are fine for hard-packed feedlot surfaces and dry conditions. Tracks pay off in spring mud, wet feedlot surfaces, and the notoriously greasy soil conditions that parts of central Alberta and Saskatchewan experience in April. The tradeoff is cost and complexity of maintenance. Many hay-focused operations run tires and live with limited spring ground work.
| Attachment | Key Spec to Check | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bale spear (single) | Spear length and diameter | No hydraulics required; passive attachment |
| Double/4-bale spear | Frame load rating vs machine ROC | Check combined bale weight + attachment |
| Hay grapple | Requires auxiliary hydraulics | Confirm flow requirement vs machine output |
| Dozer/push blade | Width vs working corridor | Replaceable cutting edge is essential |
| Silage bucket | Width and capacity vs machine lift | Heavier material; stay within ROC |
| Feed push blade | Width vs aisle width | Check blade height — cattle clearance required |