Excavator Attachments: What’s Available for Hire and When to Use Them

A good excavator does a lot. But what you put on the end of it is often what makes or breaks the job.

The right attachment can mean the difference between cutting a clean service trench in sandstone and burning through a shift with the wrong tool. Between processing demolition rubble on site and paying to cart it away. Between drilling a precise pier hole and struggling through an hour of repositioning.

Attachments have always been at the core of what we do at Hammer Hire. This guide covers what we stock, what each one is designed for, and the kinds of jobs where they earn their place. You can browse the full range on our excavator attachment hire page.

Hydraulic Hammers (Rock Breakers)

A hydraulic hammer — also called a breaker or rock breaker — attaches to the excavator arm and uses the machine’s hydraulic system to deliver high-impact blows to hard material. It’s one of the most commonly hired attachments we carry, and for good reason.

We stock hydraulic hammers from Epiroc and Toku across a range of sizes to suit different excavator classes.

Good for:

• Breaking concrete slabs, footings, kerbing and road surfaces
• Rock breaking — particularly sandstone, which turns up on a lot of Sydney sites
• Demolition of masonry and light structures
• Opening hard ground before bulk excavation

Matching the hammer to your carrier matters. Too small and it won’t move through hard material efficiently. Too large and you’re putting unnecessary stress on the arm. Mention your machine tonnage when you call and we’ll confirm the right spec.

For more on selecting the right hammer, see our hydraulic hammer hire page.

Auger Drives and Bits

An auger drive turns your excavator into a drilling platform. It mounts to the arm and rotates a helical bit into the ground to bore clean, accurate holes.

We stock auger drives from Digga, an Australian manufacturer built for local ground conditions, with bits available in a range of diameters to suit the job.

Good for:

• Post holes for retaining walls, fencing and signage
• Foundation pier drilling for residential and commercial builds
• Utility work requiring bored holes for pipes or conduit
• Tree planting on civil and landscaping projects

Ground type matters here. Clay, sandy fill, and rocky ground all behave differently under an auger. Let us know the soil conditions when you book and we can point you to the right bit.

See our auger drive hire page for what’s available.

Rock Saws (Austramac)

Our Austramac rock saw is a precision cutting attachment — a rotating diamond-tipped blade that cuts through rock, concrete, sandstone, and asphalt far more cleanly than a breaker.

We stock five Austramac models covering excavators from 1T to 35T. The blade is interchangeable and the stand rotates 360°, so you can cut left and right without repositioning the machine.

Good for:

• Trenching through sandstone or reinforced concrete in tight urban environments
• Pool, footing, and kerb excavation needing clean vertical faces
• Service trenching close to existing underground infrastructure
• Roadworks and civil cutting where vibration from a breaker would cause damage nearby

If the job is in a confined space, near existing services, or needs a clean face rather than a broken one, a rock saw is worth considering before defaulting to a hammer. We’ve covered this in more detail in our rock saw hire guide.

Pulverisers

A pulveriser crushes rather than breaks. It processes concrete, masonry, asphalt, and natural stone on site — reducing material to manageable pieces that can be reused or removed more efficiently.

Good for:

• On-site processing of demolition rubble and broken concrete
• Crushing masonry and natural stone
• Reducing material size to cut down on truck movements and disposal costs
• Recovering usable aggregate from demolished structures

Pulverisers are typically run on mid-to-large excavators. On a demolition site, they save the time and cost of loading and carting full-sized chunks.

See our pulveriser hire page for more detail.

Chain Cutters

A chain cutter is a high-precision attachment designed for trenching through rock and concrete. Where a rock saw makes a circular blade cut, a chain cutter uses a bar-and-chain system to produce a clean, narrow trench.

Good for:

• Precise trenching in hard rock or reinforced concrete
• Tunnelling and underpinning applications
• Jobs needing a narrow, accurate cut in constrained environments

Chain cutters work well where control and accuracy matter more than volume — service installation, utility upgrades, and jobs in built-up areas where adjacent structures need to stay undisturbed.

See our chain cutter hire page for availability.

Epiroc Specialist Attachments

Beyond hammers, our Epiroc range covers several specialist tools for demolition, recycling, and site prep. Epiroc is one of the world’s leading attachment manufacturers, and they’re the backbone of our specialist fleet.

Here’s what’s available:

Shears and combi cutters — for cutting steel and processing reinforced concrete on demolition sites. Good when you need to separate material cleanly rather than crush it.

Compaction plates — for compacting fill and granular material in trenches and around structures. More controlled than relying on bucket compaction alone.

Drum cutters — for rock and concrete excavation where vibration is a concern. They cut by profile rather than impact, which suits sensitive sites.

Screening buckets — for sorting and separating material on site. Interchangeable mesh sizes let you screen topsoil, demolition waste, and aggregate without a separate plant.

Not sure which Epiroc attachment fits your job? Give us a call and we’ll talk it through.

Getting the Right Match

Every attachment has hydraulic flow requirements. If the carrier machine can’t supply what the attachment needs, performance drops — and equipment can be damaged.

When you book, it helps to know:

• Your excavator’s tonnage and brand
• The hydraulic flow rate your machine is set to
• The pin size or coupler type on the arm

If you’re hiring the excavator and attachment together through us, we sort the compatibility at booking. If you’re running your own machine, give us the specs and we’ll confirm fit before anything leaves the yard.

For safety guidance on operating plant and attachments on site, SafeWork NSW has practical information worth reviewing — particularly if your team includes less experienced operators. You can also check our post on excavator safety practices for a solid overview.

Ready to Go?

We stock attachments for excavators from 1.7T to 70T across Kubota, Kobelco, and CAT. Everything is serviced, site-compliant, and comes with full safety documentation including QR-linked risk assessments.

Browse the full range at our excavator attachment hire page, or call us on 1800 HAMMER and we’ll help you spec the right setup for the job. You can also head to hammerhire.com.au to explore our full fleet including excavator dry hire.

Related reading: Rock Saw Hire Sydney | Hydraulic Hammer Hire | Excavator Safety Practices | Excavator Dry Hire