How to Use a Plate Compactor
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- čas přidán 11. 07. 2024
- In How to Use a Plate Compactor, house flipping brothers Dave and Rich show how to start the plate compactor and use it to compact a gravel base for pavers.
There is a small compactor tool available at hardware stores that has a one-foot square tamper and a wooden handle. This tool is not effective for a paver base. Over time the pavers will settle unevenly.
To do the job properly, rent a plate compactor machine at any tool rental store. They weigh about 200 pounds, but they are worth the effort because they will compact the gravel about 20% by thrusting a plate down onto the gravel.
The steps to creating a solid paver patio are:
1) put down 4 to 6 inches of gravel
2) compact the gravel using a plate compactor
3) add an inch of sand over the gravel, screeting it to an even base
4) add pavers on top of the sand
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i really appreciate people like you who take their time to share their knowledge with the rest of us, Thank you for taking the time to produce this useful and helpful video.
God Bless
Hey Miguel,
Glad to help! Thx for the kind words and for watching! God bless you too!
And those who applaud them ...💕💕.
You need to wet the gravel down while you are running the machine. It is a must.
Hey the priest..,
Thx for the tip and for watching watching!
was looking for this reply.
By the looks of that some compactor, it looks like that tank on the front is the water output
Thanks! I am getting ready to rent one of these bad boys and you took the mystery out of it for me. Good video! I hope you enjoy your patio!
I just used one last week and it gets the job so done, but it was another brand. This one seems to work faster though.
To anyone else watching this...You also NEED a hand tamper. The tool he was trying to describe. Plate compactors don't get those 90 degree corners and not exactly as close as you need to up against a fixed wall. The hand tamper is a must for the longevity of your pavers. You need to hand tamp around the perimeter of all fixed sides and corners. These pavers will settle in the corners no doubt...
+shaymoose17 Hi Shaymoose17, yes, a hand tamper is ideal for corners and edges. We want people to know that they shouldn't be tempted to use the hand tamper for their entire project even though it is light weight and easy to use. Rent a plate compactor to do the job correctly. Thanks for the comment.
I don't mean to point out flaws. Thanks for you nice comment back. Yes, use the right tool for the job and enjoy it for many years without seeing failure spots. I'd just point out that it would be wise to mention to also invest that extra 15 dollars for a hand tamper. Fifteen dollars spent and 15 minutes of tamping saves 4 hrs of fixing down the road.
+shaymoose17 Yes, we totally agree. Use a plate compactor for the majority of the job, and use a hand tamper for the corners. Using the right tools for any job will usually result in a fine outcome. Thanks!
Oh my Gosh!! This video is exactly what he said it is "and" exactly what it is titled "How to Use a Plate Compactor" Soooo....you dont NEED a hand tamper to know how to use a plate compactor. If this was a video titled "How to install a paver patio then yes, you could say he missed a few things. If someone had a video on "The best way to fill up a pool" you wouldn't criticize the video because they didn't also say to make sure you install the liner first.
@@shaymoose17 My dad taught me the phrase RIGHT TOOL FOR THE RIGHT JOB years ago. love that phrase. i still say it all the time.
Thank you guys for this video, very informational and helpful.
Hi D Mont, glad it was helpful! Did you use a plate compactor on your project?
@@Housebarons using it at work , sidewalks job
Thanks for the video.
Hey Ray,
Glad to help!
Nice job 👍🏻
Hey M B,
Thx for watching!
Rent these out at the hardware store i work at, now i know what the heck they do lmao
Hey No Cap,
Glad to hear that. Thanks for watching!
@@jimhabsfan i was curious as to what they did. Now i know thanks to the vid
Typical HD employee. Don't know a goddamn thing about anything in the store
@@bernardthedon3483 Bro i am 16, i am working there to learn, not the other way around, Asshole.
@@hollow505 Sorry sunny boy didn't mean to hurt your feelings. Want me to ask your momma to make u a therapy appointment?
What a beautiful place you have! Have to compact few yard of DG , got one of this bad boy Vp 1340 for the job. I am a one man crew so it quite lighter than your 182 lbs.
Hey Sam,
Thx! Happy projecting & and thx for watching!
Thanks. I used one to compact moist clay & sandstone in Atlanta before spreading gravel. Initially, I tried a jumping-jack tamper, but hard to control and dug into the clay so wasn't working well. Also a 2-stroke engine so trickier to run. Swapped it for the plate compactor which worked much better. Here because I'm extending a driveway slab at my CA house, also on mostly clay soil.
Hey William,
Good job! Thx for watching!
Top!!
You did not say of you wet the road base first or not ... unless i missed that part.
Seems the 14 inch would have been better for the small area and not much more time ... what do you think now that you did the job?
Thank you
Thanks, very helpful to get an idea of how to use one.
Hi Rob,
We hope your paver project goes well, thanks for your comment!
Rented the plate compactor today. The one thing I didn't expect was the machine didn't want to turn. It goes in one direction, forward! Doing a side walk, it was not easy turning it around in a 4ft wide area. Oh well, I got her done.
Hi Rob, yes, the plate compactor is difficult to turn. For your sidewalk project, you might have been able to put down a piece of plywood or osb at each end of the sidewalk, then drive the machine onto the board, tilt it backward, and pivot it to turn for the next row. Glad to hear that you completed your project!
Didn't think of a turning surface, good idea. Thanks again!
Hi Rob, we recently started a Facebook channel called HouseBarons. We hope that people will post pictures of their projects that they accomplish after watching our videos. If you send us before and after pictures of your project we will post them on our Facebook site. Thanks much!
Hearing protection! to avoid tinnitus and damage
Lol
Don't you mean, "WHAT?"
Thank you so much this looks easy when presented👏
Hey Nazhona,
👍 thx for watching!
I've pulled the device back and now it's not working, so what should I do?
I’m a first year landscape apprentice and using this for the first time was scary!! Haha now it’s just yesh nah idk fun I guess haha
Hey Alright,
Nothing like a little experience to change your perspective. Thx for the input!
Using one today brothaaw!!! 6m2 sand and gravel byron bay
Do you have to carry it to move it from the truck to the working area and back? Don't some have wheels for moving them around?
Hey MRM,
Yes. Pretty heavy. Every rental place will have a different piece of equipment. They will best be able to tell you how to move it.
Thx for watching!
I have placed pea gravel driveways on several projects . It is critical to wet down the soil base first. Then bring in 3 to 4 inches of road base in split lifts . You water and then compact each lift. You then bring in 1 inch of pea gravel and run the plate compactor over that a few passes. By properly compacting the road base, you do not need to place more than a one inch thick layer of the pea gravel . many people make the mistake of placing too thick of a layer of pea gravel , which causes car tires to create ruts in the surface.
Hey Mike,
Thx for adding your comment and for watching!
Hi! Can you explain what do mean by slip lift. Just curious. Thank you.
I had a concrete business for 20+ years and, not being rude or anything but, this is completely incorrect information to be putting out there. When does someone want to compact pea gravel with a compactor? The answer to that is NEVER. You can't. Pea gravel is a washed rounded stone. It self compacts itself to the maximum it can even be compacted the moment the pile is on the ground. Also, it is absolutely fine to use 4 inches of pea gravel under a concrete slab...this has nothing to do with ruts. As long as the edges of the pea gravel substrate are closed well to where the gravel cannot fall out from erosion etc and causing empty voids under the concrete, then 4 inches, or even 6 or 8 inches, wouldn't be anymore of a risk than a 1 inch layer would be. Running a compactor on pea gravel would produce the same results as trying to compact runny oatmeal. The compactor will just push it out of the way and sink to the dirt. Try it yourself and see what happens.
How did you keep that retaining wall you built from blowing out under stress and time? Doesn't look like much holding all that together from the perspective of the outside in this video?
Hey Earl,
We learned the hard way ( having to redo it ) that additional support was needed over time. Under that patio, we buried a “deadman” system of thick landscape timbers to which the exterior wall is attached .We’ll have a future video on it. But basically it’s a system of timbers buried in place which are held in place by the weight of the earth above it.
Thx for the question.
@@Housebarons Well heads up because your typical landscape timbers rot to pieces in 3 years. I did a 16 sided ring around a tree and they were falling apart in 3 years/crumbling. You might want to look into stone retaining walls. Having them decay under all of this will cause more settling no doubt. Good luck on it. Sometimes the only way to learn is by trial and error. Many don't even try so keep up the good work!
Hi Earl, we did recently build a retaining wall around the fire pit and patio. Hopefully it will keep everything from sliding into the lake. We will make a video in the next few weeks of another retaining wall project that we did near this patio. Thanks for your comments!
Does the gravel need to be completely level first, or will a pretty good rake do the job?
Hey Kirsten,
Rake if you can. I’d say reasonably level - level to the eye…. if you are laying a patio. The sand on top will make it truly level after compacting.
Thx for watching!
Those things are stronger I remember freaking out using one for the first time they pull you
True!
My next door neighbours have printscrete where I'm going to be doing this do you think it will disturb or break there concrete?
Hey K,
Hard to say not being there. I would just not get to close to the concrete.
Thx for watching!
I have only ever used the manual tamper. So you just run this thing over gravel and voila?
I have a small area (80 square feet) to do prior to laying pavers. I don't need to remove the massive amount of gravel first if I rent this?
Hey MsD.....,
The plate compactor vibrates those 1-2inch gravels pieces tightly together. Then a layer of sand and the the pavers. That’s it. The plate compactor is a beast - heavy, but does s great job.
Thx for the question, thx for watching!
@@Housebarons thanks for the reply! Definitely looking into this.
I've got severe mole damage to entire front yard. Will this unit be enough to pack soil below mature grass turf?
Hey Thomas,
I’ve never heard a compactor used for that.
Should work in theory as it can compact inches of gravel ... BUT. It may put a hurt on your lawn as I know grass doesn’t do as well on compacted ground - the roots need room to grow etc.
I’d be curious to see how it all works - short and long term if you go thru w/ it.
Thx for watching.
Compaction only reaches down several inches, that's why compaction has to be done in "lifts".
I think the base should be wet when you do this so it compacts correctly. Hey what do I know.... Done it a few times.
Obvi doesn’t matter
Water is absolutely critical hence why the sole purpose of a laboratory compaction curve is to determine the optimum moisture content to achieve maximum soil density during compaction. Sad to say compacting too dry is not very effective.
Heard one is to go,,, left/right motion... Didn't see you do that. Does it really mater????
Hey Kevin,
You should be good as far as I know. Thx for watching!
Do I need to use one of these if I don't use gravel?
Hey Evan,
What are you doing? A patio on dirt, sand???
Typically compacting it will make it more firm and less likely to settle unevenly. Gravel base is generally a good idea.
Thx for the question,
@@Housebarons I am building a garbage can corral for my Eagle Scout project. I was told that since it's small and not going to be supporting any people, I don't need to worry about gravel. That will probably be a game-time decision. Sorry for the late reply. Thank you!
Just a few observations. That area is tiny. You probably could have saved some money by going with the smaller unit. Also, if the two units weigh the same, you will get better compaction force by using the smaller unit. I would probably have gone with screenings instead of gravel. It makes for a one step process instead of gravel + sand. Thanks for sharing though, good job.
Hey John,
Thx for the tip!
Thx for watching!
At our Home Depot it’s a $2 difference for rental and they definitely don’t weigh the same. Glad we went larger because they already dig in and a smaller one more so. Wider coverage meant more even distribution for compacting in our particular situation. Also for those who have a sandy base you will want to wet it down first.
Could you use it to ride down the hill on full throttle?
Hey @rayepps7053.
Nice!! Thx for watching!
Sure. At several inches per second, woohoo!
What kind of gravel you’re using
Hey Earl,
I think it was generally inch in size. If you are doing a paver patio, the rock company should have something around that for you.
Thanks for the question.
Can I use a plate compactor to compact corn silage?
Hey Sherwin,
I have never done that. No idea really.
Let us know if you try to 👍
Thx for the question.
Should have watered down the stone to pack better
Are you guys in Washington state?
Hey Abram,
No. Indiana.
Thx for watching!
@HouseBarons thx!
Using one to level some low spots in my yard.I can't believe how these were designed. The kill switch is in front of the machine.you have no adjustment over the throttle control unless you're standing next to it,which wants to walk away from you just poor design. I read somewhere that if your throttle is too high it doesn't compact as well so there's supposed to be a happy medium somewhere but I've yet to see a difference really
Hey Josh,
Thx for watching!
Why no water?
+Jesse Meyer Hi Jesse, the water sprinkler is only needed if a person is compacting a substance that woul stick to the machine, such as asphalt. We were compacting sand and gravel, so we didn't need to use water. Thanks for the question.
Water also helps with optimizing compaction, probably not super important for a backyard job but if you're ever doing culverts or driveways make sure you keep the gravel wet!
Joel Conn how wet? Too much water turns it into sloop right?
@@MsElijah16 just a little water obvioulsy.
Any landscapers in here I have a question
Sorry but that's not how its done. Those handle bars on top, you use those to make your turns so that you dont dig in on that back of the plate like that, and notice how you're putting a lot of strain on your lower back when you're reaching the end of tour run and how you're basically dragging it to make your turn. This is incorrect use. For small spaces, you need to think of being a matador fighting a bull. Stand to the side of the compactor before you make your turn just give it a nudge so the back end swings out, and it'll make that turn without digging in to your base, without killing your back.
Wet it, only do 3 inches max at a time per compaction, don't tilt it; it spins easily, don't run over the edges or solid things with it LOL
Hey Tay…,
Thanks for the input!
Hii
Hi
A spray of water would make it work better.
Hi Gene, we will try that for our next paver project. Thanks for you comment!
i thought the same thing. spray of water keeps the dust down and helps hold it all together
46" of gravel, look how high that platform is, there is a lot of weight behind those wooden posts and planks holding the whole thing in place and another level behind, would fancy sitting on that especially after rain or when the posts rot later.
Also I always though choke was used to start up and then turned off (as per Wacker Nueson's own video), not the other way around.. I don't really think this guy knows what he's doing.
4 to 6 inches
@@MrPmc71 OK it sounded like 46, it certainly looked liked it, but still there is a lot of earth or whatever behind that platform.
I think it's weak
Supposed to wet it first dude