I need to compact several small areas of ground/chippings before laying Indian stone slabs for light foot traffic. In the past I have rented a plate compactor for this purpose.
For various reasons this is not going logistically easy or cost effective this time though.
I was thinking of improvising a manual compactor with a big plug (say
30KG) of concrete with a 2x4 set in to it with through handles to lift drop a few inches each time I pound.ASCII diag:
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My next-door neighbour of many years ago used to use something similar. He acquired a very heavy oak gatepost and drilled a hole through it to take a piece of iron pipe to make handles. He seemed happy with the results. Nick.
That sounds rather heavy to me - here's one you can buy
Cheers for the info.
Alex.
Sounds too heavy, and too much work to lift it.
I use a commercially made compactor (=A31 in an auction). This is a 6" square cast iron plate attached to a 1 1/2" steel rod. Because it's relatively light (compared to your concrete dustbin-o-doom) I can jump it up in the air easily, quickly and repeatedly over and over. With your heavyweight I'd get a good squish from each blow, but I'd not be able to use it continually or for anything like so many blows.
Careful de-rusting and polishing of the shaft paid dividends in reduced blistering.
Yeah, IIRC these are about £20 from wickes, my concern here is that these are quite light approx 5 kilos I think ... will this give me enough compaction?
I am also a bit worried that I might struggle with this type as the head is about 10cm square and it might push the chippings around the sides rather than down to a degree, where as with a wider plug this effect will be lessened?
I know there will be a trade off between the weight and velocity of the pound due to my physical ability lift and pound the heavier device.
Cheers,
Alex.
Its only a small area to be worked (at any one time) but I'll bear your comments (and Rob's in another post) in mind.
Maybe dustbin-o-doom will be come plant-pot-o-doom.
25KG is about a bucket's worth of 'crete I think.Cheers,
Alex.
Only because you're spreading the force over a greater area, and the proper tool will be easier to keep straight.
Remember kinetic energy is proportional to the square of velocity, so if you accelerate this downwards with a force of 1g in addition to the acceleration due to its weight, it will be the equivalent of dropping 20kg the same distance - and you'll be able to lift it higher and use it longer than your 30kg lump of concrete.
I have never used one of these but have used sledge hammers up turned for this sort of thing and the chippings do tend to move (like a dulled down splash) ... my worry is that on the surface at least a sufficient compaction will not be achieved. Gut feeling tels me a wider plate would work better, but requires proportionately more force, hence heavier weight.
Yes. Maybe 15kg would be better then? assuming This can be lifted to the same height then and accelerated sufficiently. I won't need to work it all day or anything in either case. The areas are relatively small.
Cheers,
Alex.
Not very flat on top, sledge hammers ...
I suggest using the proper tool (or making something very much like it) - if a lump of concrete was a better tool they'd be selling them in BMs.
I used a 12lb fence post hammer to compact the area the size of a paving slab, to stand a water butt on. It seemed to work OK, although the angle and position of use to have the hammer face hit square on the ground would have made it impractical for any area much bigger than that.
Even banging with the flat of a spade you get a bit of this.
No, agreed, but the wickes things are not very wide though are they? and
20mm chippings can be pretty loose on top.Proper tool is a plate compactor and that's not an option for me really. this time round. My improvised tool won't better one of these.
It might better than the 5kg weight on a pole type though, which /appears/ to be just for smallish jobs/light work. If the plate was wider I'd probably just buy one, but I'm not conviced its wide enough for the chippings I am working with.
Thanks for the input.
Alex.
Thanks for the info.
Alex.
================ I used half of an 'acrow' prop. It has a 6" square plate and it's surprisingly heavy. I used it on quite soft ground and a small square of old carpet prevented sticking.
Cic.
Cic.
Thanks for the tip. This might be an option. Had not thought of this.
Alex.
I just run the land rover over it a few times..;-)
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