Looking for a plate compactor for driveway culvert

[bigrich954rr]

I will be installing a 48 inch culvert and need a plate compactor

What’s a good one to buy ? What should I be looking for ? How many force lbs is needed for soil ? Rock ? Sand ?

I will later be doing the driveway / then a shop and garage so It will get a lot of use . Later nigh do side jobs with it

Not sure what size to get but know I will not be getting a roller .

 

[Wamsutta]

The one they used on my driveway was a Mikasa. Got everything real flat.

 

[engineer2]

Is the Harbor Freight compactor OK or a POS?

 

[JD3020]

Why not rent one? We've got 2 Wacker Nuesons with Honda's, not sure on sizes but the big one is reversible which makes life wayyy easier. I think it was $10k new.

 

[kd3pc]

Used wacker would be my choice...had one for a long time, until the F-i-L liked it better and borrowed it...

 

[kctyphoon]

Most Home Depot tool rental places should have one if you'd rather rent.. otherwise check craigslist.. myself - if renting didn't make sense, I don't think I'd have an issue buying the HF model, especially just for home projects.. but that's just me.. I don't think you need to buy something expensive like you would if doing this professionally. But if you look online, Home Depot actually has two cheaper models then harbor freight does.. $399/$499 vs $549

https://www.homedepot.com/b/Outdoors-Outdoor-Power-Equipment-Plate-Compactors/N-5yc1vZc4du

Review of the HF..

I'd just make sure a compactor is better than a tamper for your projects.. I read about the differences before but I honestly can't recall which is better suit for what of the top of my head.. maybe it was gravel and sand vs soil..

 

[Wamsutta]

I like this one here. Same color as JELL-O brand butterscotch pudding.

 

[WhiffySpark]

I would go on ur.com and look for a used one.

But you’re most likely better off renting

 

[IowaDon]

I will be installing a 48 inch culvert and need a plate compactor

What’s a good one to buy ? What should I be looking for ? How many force lbs is needed for soil ? Rock ? Sand ?

Plate compactors work great for granular material (sand, crushed stone, gravel) but aren't really the right tool for soil. For that you need one of these:

 

[Zewnten]

I would definetly rent vs buy. Plate compactors are good for flatting in prep for a concrete pad. A rammer/jumping jack is much better for compacting back fill.

 

[Automag88]

The thickness of the lifts you plan to put in will determine what size plate tamper you need. Honestly all of the ones recommended so far are only good for about a 6" lift max in sand or gravel. The most I ever run our 750 lb Wackers on is about an 18" lift. Are you digging this culvert into an existing driveway? By the time you dig it out wide enough to run a plate tamper along side of it you're really wasting time and money. 48" pipe is fairly large so you'll want to tamp lifts evenly along the sides of it and for that I'd recommend a jumping jack in about 1 foot lifts regardless of the material type. Once you get above the pipe and are compacting for the driveway base then I would switch to a plate tamper. As was stated above they are only meant for sand and gravel and a jumping jack will be better for clay or loamy materials

When I say 750 lbs I mean the actual weight of the tamper not the compaction force. I'm not even entirely sure what the rated compaction force is on those. They're big plate tampers.

 

[yucholian]

buy A HF compactor, replace the belts right away with a NAPA green belt and go have fun. Given all the projects you want to use it for, it will be cheaper to buy it than renting. The HF compactor gets good reviews. Bought mine to do a culvert, shop, driveway and around the shop.

 

[Wamsutta]

Hey bigrich, fast forward to 13:15