Do More Than Dig with That Compact Excavator with These 20 Attachments

Editor’s Note: This story was updated September 3, 2024, to add new products.

With these 20 attachments, you can clear land, crush concrete, compact soil and more with your mini excavator. We also present some tiltrotators for extra maneuverability and quick attachment changes.

Here's a rundown of the 20 compact excavator attachments:

Werk-Brau’s FX26 forestry mulcher attachment is compatible with excavators weighing 8,000 to 16,000 pounds. Its 14-inch rotor fitted with 21 fixed knives can shred brush, limbs and trees up to 6 inches in diameter. Werk-Brau says the FX26’s bite-limiting tooth design maintains drum speed and prevents stalling, and material is passed through two breaker bars to create fine mulch. The attachment weighs 785 pounds and requires 15 to 35 gallons per minute of hydraulic flow to power the gear motor. It has a working width of 26 inches.

RoadHogRoadHog’s MX Series Mini Excavator Planers feature a direct-drive Geroler motor. They have a cutting depth of up to 5 inches that is adjustable in 1-inch increments. They are available in cutting widths of 12 or 16 inches. They attach to the excavator via pin-on or quick-attach mounting system. They are designed for pothole repair, curb lines, trip hazards and frost heaves and for opening pits for pipe repairs. Optional drums are available for specific width needs, the company says.

FAEThe FAE RPL/HY is a fixed-tooth cold planer attachment compatible with excavators weighing 5 to 8 metric tons. Its rotor teeth scrape and cut asphalt or concrete roads to prepare them for resurfacing and for recycling the millings. It can also be used for excavation operations. It can mill down to 4.5 inches and has a cutting width of 12 inches. The working depth is adjusted manually. The attachment requires a hydraulic flow rate of 13 to 24 gallons per minute and pressures of 2,600 to 5,080 psi.

For 4,400- to 19,800-pound excavators, Harford Attachments' tiltrotator features 360-degree continuous rotation and 50 degrees of tilt with constant tilt torque. It is compatible with Harford’s range of quick couplers and pin grabbers. With no protruding cylinders or pistons, the risk of damage is reduced, and operators have a clear line of sight to the attachment. Two control systems are available: the entry-level DF4 or the Prop+ with advanced controls. Both systems are compatible with Leica Geosystems GPS.          

KomatsuKomatsu’s G- and H-Series hydraulic breakers include models for compact excavators, starting at 4 metric tons. The G-Series features a hybrid design of hydraulic flow and pressure with a nitrogen-filled chamber. The H-Series consists of accumulator-type breakers that do not require nitrogen recharge. They also come with blank firing protection. They have sound-dampening housings, and a pressure regulator to prevent overflow. To make the H-Series breakers for compact excavators more powerful, Komatsu uses a single power cell to eliminate tie rods.

Develon’s HB06H hydraulic breaker is compatible with the company’s 4- to 7-ton DX62R-7 and DX63-7 mini excavators. The breaker has a simplified design for easier maintenance and can be used on a variety of demolition and general construction jobs. The energy of the piston stroke is collected by charged nitrogen gas. A urethane damper prevents vibrations that can damage the breaker. It requires hydraulic flows of 10.5 to 18.5 gallons per minute. It weighs 750 pounds and delivers 500-900 blows per minute.

Blue Diamond Plate CompactorThe Blue Diamond Plate Compactor can be used on excavators, backhoes, skid steers and mini machines. It is designed to protect the machine from excessive vibrations without reducing compaction ability. It also reduces noise. The plate compactor is the same width as standard trenching buckets and has a high-pressure cutoff valve to protect the motor. The C310 model weighs 552 pounds for compact excavators weighing 5,000 to 12,000 pounds, and the C410 at 880 pounds fits those weighing 12,000 to 22,000 pounds.

Ignite Attachments’ MEX 210PH Auger attachment is compatible with Kubota’s KX057-5 6-ton mini excavator. It is designed to drill vertical holes through shale, rocky soil, layers of frost, heavy clay and other hard-to-penetrate materials. The standard bit can drill 50 inches deep, while the optional extended bit can reach depths of 86 inches. It accepts a max hydraulic flow of 30 gallons per minute. It has a self-aligning joint between the mounting frame and drive unit for straight, vertical holes while working on uneven terrain.

AMI Attachments' new AXXIS TR Tiltrotator, powered by NOX, offers the widest tilt range available at 50 degrees in either direction and the most compact design in the industry, the company says. The AXXIS TR, which also rotates 360 degrees, is available for compact excavators, excavators and backhoes. It features a fully enclosed helical actuator instead of cylinders for increased and constant holding torque and allows you to dig narrower trenches. The AXXIS TR is GPS compatible and available with various ergonomic SVAB joystick configurations.

Premier Attachments' PD500 and PD750 post drivers for compact excavators come with a pre-drill option that includes an auger drive to drill pilot holes in tougher grounds conditions. Various mounting brackets are available to fit all makes and models. The PD500 is for compact excavators with hydraulic flows of 10 to 16 gallons per minute and delivers 500 foot-pounds of energy. The PD750 is for 12 to 20 gpm machines and delivers 750 foot-pounds of energy. It is also compatible with skid steers, compact track loaders, mini skid steers and backhoes.

Caterpillar’s TRS6 and TRS8 TiltRotate Systems bring tiltrotator capabilities to Cat's Next Gene compact excavators for using buckets, forks, grapples, brooms and compactors. The TRS6 and TRS enable 360-degree rotation and up to 40 degrees of tilt for maneuvering attachments over, under and around obstacles. The TRS6 and TRS8 take only about four hours to install. They have two interfaces: a top interface that connects the TRS to the carrier machine and a bottom interface that connects various work tools to the TRS.

Case Construction Equipment's hydraulic hammers for compact excavators isolate every blow from the carrier and operator through their cushion chamber and then recycle the energy for the next blow. They have only two moving parts and low recoil. Their installation kits include fully configured and pre-assembled hoses and service tools. They also feature a long-stroke piston for increased energy transfer and reduced recoil. A gas recharged kit is included. They have a three-year limited warranty.

Bobcat Drum Mulchers for its 4- to 10-ton excavators can mulch heavy brush and trees up to 5 inches thick for clearing along steep roadsides, riverbanks and other hard-to-reach areas. Bobcat offers three models, the 28DMX, 36DMX and 50DMX, with cutting widths of 28, 36 and 50 inches, respectively. The axial piston hydraulic motors optimize rotor speed and torque for maximum productivity in a wide variety of land-clearing applications, Bobcat says.

John Deere’s plate compactor attachments enable compact excavators to compact soil at high vibratory and impulse forces. The PC4, PC7 and PC10 each deliver 2,000 revolutions per minute at regulated flow and are geared toward trench, slope and excavation compaction. The compactors are designed with a large eccentric rotating weight positioned farther from the shaft, increasing impulse forces to 4,000 pounds on the PC4, 6,400 pounds on the PC7, and 8,000 pounds on the PC10. The weight’s positioning also leads to better compaction in granular soils.

Rototilt’s RC1 and RC2 compact tiltrotators represent the two smallest models in the RC series. The RC1 is compatible with excavators from 1.5 to 3.5 metric tons, while the RC2 fits with 3- to 6.5-metric-ton models. The RC1 features cast rotor housing and a taller attachment frame than earlier models, providing more space for electronics and hydraulics. The RC2 is based on the same concept as Rototilt’s larger models with an integrated swivel. They deliver 360-degree rotation and 40 degrees of tilt.

The Virnig X30 Mini Excavator Rotary Brush Cutter clears brush, vegetation and trees up to 4 inches in diameter with its 42-inch cutting-width deck. The front deck is removable, offering 270-degree blade engagement. Virnig says serrations help guide where trees fall when the deck is off. If operators need to control and contain flying debris, optional left and right heavy-duty side curtains are available. It is designed for excavators weighing over 8,900 pounds and auxiliary hydraulic flow rates of 15 to 25 gallons per minute.

The Loftness 20 Series Battle Ax mulching attachment is designed for 10,000- to 20,000-pound excavators with 20 to 70 hydraulic horsepower. The rotor has depth gauges that act similarly to raker teeth on chain saws for feeding material into the drum for maximum productivity. The mulcher has a two-stage cutting chamber. It is available with either four-point beaver teeth or reversible planer blades. A staggered, spiral tooth pattern delivers single-tooth contact with the work surface at all times, and anti-wrap bearing protection minimizes debris in the bearing chamber.

The ALLU Veloci screening bucket can screen, sort, separate, mix and blend materials in one processing cycle. Veloci buckets use a polyurethane star screening system to create a rolling action, agitating the material and causing fines to fall through, separating the desired fragment size from debris and oversize material. This feature is especially useful during composting, allowing the vegetation to be separated out rather than being shredded into the end product. The steel buckets feature a double-skin floor and fully welded joints.

Takeuchi’s SD series compact breakers feature a fully enclosed, sound-proof cradle to reduce vibrations transferred to the carrier, which also reduces noise. Working parts and hoses are protected by lightweight, heavy-duty housing. The SD line includes seven models for compact carriers from 1 to 12 tons. Maintenance intervals have been extended due to fewer wear parts and no tie rods. Bushings, pins and tools can be replaced in the field without removing the breaker from the carrier.

Epiroc Drum Cutters are designed for rock or concrete wall and surface profiling, trenching, foundations, demolition, dredging and rock excavation. A variety of cutting heads are available. The drum cutters use spur gears for energy transmission and reliability. They can be equipped with an optional dust suppression system to meet federal silica regulations. A central fixing system allows the drum cutter to manually rotate 360 degrees without being disconnected from the excavator. They also deliver low vibration and low noise operation.