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Choosing the Right Attachment for Demolition

by: Olamiposi Agboola, Product Marketing, Bobcat

Today’s construction job sites present a variety of challenges that require powerful equipment, tools, and attachments to effectively address them. From breaking down and removing debris to digging dirt and pouring concrete, selecting the right machines — coupled with the right attachments — will keep your teams working smarter, not harder.

While construction and demolition often use similar equipment and attachments, it’s important to consider which tools are best equipped for your unique project needs. Let’s take a closer look at eight attachments to help you get more done with demolition on the job site.

1. Breakers

Hydraulic breakers turn your compact loader or excavator into a precise demolition machine. By providing incredible force, breakers power through concrete, rock, and asphalt effortlessly. Additionally, the upper and lower shock absorbers isolate the breaker from the housing, reducing noise and vibration and delivering operator comfort without sacrificing performance.

Nitrogen breakers are a perfect attachment for breaking reinforced concrete slabs or other tough demolition work. The long piston stroke, combined with a unique valve design, maximizes impact energy and minimizes recoil while causing less damage to the carrier’s hydraulic components. The working tool is heat-treated to specific hardness targets for low wear in high-impact applications.

2. Drop Hammers

The drop hammer breaks debris into larger pieces, making removal much easier. It delivers more than 3,600-foot pounds of impact energy combined with a fast cycle time of 20 blows per minute — all while generating little noise and vibration. This means less wear on the machine and less noise for operators and bystanders.

Mounting systems like Bobcat’s Bob-Tach make easy work of attaching and detaching the drop hammer from the loader, allowing operators to spend less time on attachment changes and more time on the job.

3. Sweepers

These tools collect and dump dust, dirt, and debris from your construction and demolition job sites. This one tool can accomplish the work of multiple clean-up attachments with optimal bristle-to-surface contact — making it an excellent choice for site cleanup, daily dust abatement, road construction, airport maintenance, demolition, and more.

4. Angle Brooms

Heavy-duty bristles help angle brooms efficiently sweep and clean away more debris or snow in one pass, creating a cleaner path quicker.

Some options, like Bobcat’s 64-inch and 84-inch angle brooms, are available with multi-directional sweeping for enhanced cleaning along curbs and corners and around obstacles. This attachment allows operators to complete their work with a clean finish, providing maximum efficiency with a compact and highly maneuverable design.

Wirtgen America Inc
Your local Wirtgen America dealer
Kirby Smith Machinery
Power Equipment Co

5. Industrial Grapples

Industrial grapple attachments are built for maximum power and reliability — two things that are crucial on every demolition job site.

Industrial grapples are available in bucket or fork bottom designs to deliver easy handling of bulky, hard-to-manage materials in industrial and construction settings. A two-arm design provides a strong, even biting force for the toughest jobs.

6. Three-Tine Grapples and Clamps

On mini excavators, three-tine grapples and clamps can lift and move brush, logs, landscaping stones, and other hard-to-manage materials. Grapples and clamps are designed to grip and handle bulky materials in applications such as demolition, land clearing, construction, and buildings and grounds maintenance.

7. Buckets

Compact excavators are a great choice when it comes to breaking down and moving material in tight, confined spaces. To do this, operators can choose from a variety of buckets that help with grading, cleaning, backfilling, and leveling. Different bucket models offer different advantages, from smooth edges to those with specially designed teeth.

Vogele
Your local Wirtgen America dealer
Kirby Smith Machinery
Power Equipment Co

8. Wheel Saws

With wheel saw attachments, operators can cut through a variety of hard surfaces — including asphalt, concrete with rebar, wire mesh, and frozen ground — which is critical on demolition job sites. The wheel saw can operate close to curbs and walls and provides a more precise cut than pneumatic or hydraulic brakers.

Increasing Productivity in Demolition Work

By utilizing equipment and specialized attachments that are designed to tackle a variety of challenging tasks, you can complete necessary demolition projects effectively without sacrificing efficiency.

Gomaco
Your local Gomaco dealer
Clark Machinery
Vogele
Your local Wirtgen America dealer
Kirby Smith Machinery
Power Equipment Co
Hamm
Your local Wirtgen America dealer
Kirby Smith Machinery