Plate tamper for compacting 300m of driveway?

[Sebculb]

Thanks everyone, no one thought the tamper was a good idea. Closest was fixastuff saying it will move forward by itself. We'd have to see how well that works up a steep hill, or perhaps just listen to the collective common sense and put more effort into finding a proper roller. Got a tip today that the local crusher that does asphalt rents small rollers that may go uphill. Gonna chase that wild goose for the time being.

Coldsteelva, I really liked the idea of making a roller from a drum of some sort. I may well do that in the future but not for this job.

 

[Streetcar]

How much traffic on the road
drainage to keep water off the road is the most important thing for a good driveway

 

[Sebculb]

California, haha yeah roads like that are easy to find around here. Yeah Costa Rica is nice, glad I got randomly deposited here 14 years ago.

 

[Fixastuff]

Thanks everyone, no one thought the tamper was a good idea. Closest was fixastuff saying it will move forward by itself. We'd have to see how well that works up a steep hill, or perhaps just listen to the collective common sense and put more effort into finding a proper roller. Got a tip today that the local crusher that does asphalt rents small rollers that may go uphill. Gonna chase that wild goose for the time being.

Coldsteelva, I really liked the idea of making a roller from a drum of some sort. I may well do that in the future but not for this job.

I would find a ride on vibratory roller. Using the plate compactor on a 35ftx45ft parking pad gets old and takes awhile. It does a good job compacting though. As far as propelling itself forward it will go up steep hills as long as they're solid. I use it on bicycle jump trails and it will go up and over the jumps no problem.

 

[California]

Another alternative used for highway construction is the sheepsfoot roller. It is used between occasional passes with water sprayed from a watering truck, and run back and forth until it 'walks out', rolls on the surface of 100% compacted material.

The watering provides much denser compaction than rolling dry.

If you are going to build a roller, adding feet might be an improvement.

 

[oosik]

I have a mile long gravel driveway. Almost every year this 150 foot section gets muddy. Poor drainage that can't really be corrected. When thing dry out - I will be towing my big 'ol LPGS - scarifiers down - over this section. It will end up - smooth as a babies bottom.

I will compact it with multiple passed of my tractor. My Kubota M6040 weighs 10,000# and does a great job.

 

[Egon]

Plate tamper will require

Another alternative used for highway construction is the sheepsfoot roller. It is used between occasional passes with water sprayed from a watering truck, and run back and forth until it 'walks out', rolls on the surface of 100% compacted material.

The watering provides much denser compaction than rolling dry.

If you are going to build a roller, adding feet might be an improvement.

Best be checking on what kind of materials a Sheep Foot packer will work on!,

 

[Streetcar]

Sheepshoot type roller is only for cohesive materials. It does poor job on granular material

 

[Cycledude]

Seems like your own John Deere backhoe could be an excellent tool to do the packing

 

[Tinhack]

I have two of the plate compactors. They're certainly hard for me to keep up with but I don't think they would go up hill. Even if you had to cart them back up the hill each pass, I bet that would be the best option if you couldn't get a tractor run drum or something. Good luck with your task.

Oh yeah, I also watch Noraly in her travels. What a brave and talented lady!