Skid Steer Boom Attachments

What a skid steer boom attachment does

A skid steer boom attachment replaces the bucket with a single lifting point out in front of the machine. Instead of scooping and carrying, you pick a load, drive it into position, and set it down where a bucket or a set of pallet forks cannot reach — over a planting hole, across a fence line, into a truck bed, or down a slope. The trade-off is leverage: every foot the load sits farther from the coupler reduces how much the machine can safely handle, which is why boom work is planned around reach and stability rather than raw lift capacity. The booms in this collection run from $776 to $3,988 and are built for lifting material, not for elevating people.

Rated capacity, reach and your machine's load chart

Two separate ratings have to agree before a lift is safe: the attachment's rated lifting capacity and the loader's rated operating capacity. The booms here list 2,500 lb (Vestil Hydraulic Skid Steer Boom, model MPLA-HYD-50-2500), 2,500 lb standard or 3,500 lb in the grapple/winch configuration (Loflin Fabrication Tree Boom), and 4,500 lb (Loflin Fabrication Heavy-Duty Skid Steer Tree Boom). Those are attachment ratings only. Your loader has its own limit — SAE J818 defines a skid steer loader's rated operating capacity as 50 percent of its tipping load — and the weight of the attachment itself counts against that limit before the load does. Compact track loaders are rated on a different basis, so read the manufacturer's load chart for your specific machine instead of assuming the wheeled figure carries over.

The mistake buyers make most often is shopping on the attachment's headline capacity alone. A boom rated well above the machine simply moves the failure point to the loader, and a boom rated below the machine wastes capability you already paid for. The governing number is always the lower of the two, evaluated at the reach you actually intend to work at, on the ground conditions you actually have.

Tree booms, telescoping booms and forestry boom attachments

Tree booms are the most common reason buyers shop this category. Nursery and landscape crews use them to lift balled-and-burlapped stock, to hold a trunk steady while it is set and backfilled, and to move material into places a bucket cannot serve; clearing crews use them to drag and stack. Both Loflin booms rotate 360°, which lets the load swing without repositioning the loader — useful in a planting row or against a treeline where you cannot get square to the work. The Loflin Fabrication Tree Boom uses a telescoping design with a listed height of 55 1/2 inches and custom heights available, so reach can be shortened for a heavier pick and extended when clearance matters more than capacity. Configuration also changes what the boom can do: a winch lets you pull and control a load you cannot drive up to, and the Heavy-Duty Tree Boom is winch-attachment compatible, sold separately.

Mounts, hydraulics and mini skid steer compatibility

Mounting is where most compatibility problems show up. Full-size skid steers in North America overwhelmingly use the universal quick-attach plate, sometimes called the Bobcat-style plate. Both Loflin booms list universal quick-attach mounting; the Loflin Fabrication Tree Boom also lists a universal three-point hitch option plus stocked Toro Dingo and Bobcat MT50 mounts for mini machines. Mini skid steer plates are smaller than full-size plates and are not interchangeable without an adapter, and mini brands do not all share one interface — which is precisely why those Toro and Bobcat mounts are stocked as separate options.

Hydraulics are the second check. A hydraulically operated boom such as the Vestil unit requires auxiliary hydraulics at the coupler, with flow and pressure your machine can supply; a purely mechanical boom needs none. The Loflin Heavy-Duty Tree Boom includes hoses and fittings. Confirm coupler style and auxiliary hydraulic availability against your machine's model and year before ordering, and check the individual product page for mounting details.

Comparing the three booms in this collection

In short: the Heavy-Duty Tree Boom carries the highest listed capacity and the heaviest tubing, the standard Tree Boom offers the widest mounting range including mini machines and telescoping reach, and the Vestil boom is the hydraulic option in the group. Current pricing is shown on each product page.

Site safety, clearances and maintenance

These are lifting attachments, not aerial work platforms. Do not use them to raise people. Mobile elevating work platforms, including telescopic and articulating boom lifts, are covered by ANSI/SAIA A92.20, and personnel must be lifted only by equipment designed and approved for that purpose. Insulated aerial devices for utility line work are a separate category covered by ANSI A92.2; nothing in this collection is an insulated boom. Around overhead lines, OSHA 29 CFR 1926.600(a)(6) sets minimum clearance requirements for equipment working near energized transmission lines, and the utility should be contacted before work begins.

Day-to-day upkeep is short. Inspect hoses, fittings and pins before each shift, confirm the coupler is fully seated and pinned, and look for cracks at welds and gussets where load is transferred. Keep the load low while traveling and swing slowly; a suspended load that starts moving sideways will shift the machine's balance faster than a bucket load ever does. A powder-coated finish, like the one on the Heavy-Duty Tree Boom, protects the steel but does not remove the need to check wear points for corrosion.