EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
Plate compactors and smooth drum compactors are for compacting gravel. Vibratory Sheepsfoot Compactors are designed for compacting soil, especially clay. There are different types of clay, dozens of them. The clay that is used for building pads and roads is mixed while it's compacted by the teeth in the sheepsfoot compactor. Water levels in the clay have to be correct. Not enough or too much and you don't accomplish anything. A poor mans substitute for a sheeps foot roller or compactor are the knobs on the front wheels of a tractor. Add a load of dirt to the bucket and you should sink into the fill enough to mix it while compacting it. You just keep going over it again and again until you stop sinking into it. This also works great for filling tree stump holes. Dump a load of dirt into the hole and drive over it, dump another load and drive over it, and so on until you have a slight mound that you no longer sink into.
Considering that you have already built up the pad, the only thing that is going to give you and compaction is something with as much weight as possible, and concentrated on a small an area as possible. Your front tires of your tractor are the best that you are going to get without tearing it apart and doing it again.
When I got out of the Marine Corps back in 88, my first job was running a water truck on construction sites. I sprayed the dirt that was used to build up pads, or fill in ditches or whatever had been dug out. The wheel loader operator would mix the soil as I sprayed it to get the right mixture. He would dump or spread it where it needed to be, and then a sheepsfoot roller would work it while he was getting another load.
When done, the Inspector would put a box over it that sent a beam into the soil to determine what level of compaction was achieved. I forget what was needed to pass, but think it was somewhere in the upper 90% range. Usually they got it on the first attempt, but a few times it had to be dug out and done again. It wasn't possible to get 100% compaction, and the few times it failed, it was off by a point or two. This took a lot of time and effort.
Considering that you have already built up the pad, the only thing that is going to give you and compaction is something with as much weight as possible, and concentrated on a small an area as possible. Your front tires of your tractor are the best that you are going to get without tearing it apart and doing it again.
When I got out of the Marine Corps back in 88, my first job was running a water truck on construction sites. I sprayed the dirt that was used to build up pads, or fill in ditches or whatever had been dug out. The wheel loader operator would mix the soil as I sprayed it to get the right mixture. He would dump or spread it where it needed to be, and then a sheepsfoot roller would work it while he was getting another load.
When done, the Inspector would put a box over it that sent a beam into the soil to determine what level of compaction was achieved. I forget what was needed to pass, but think it was somewhere in the upper 90% range. Usually they got it on the first attempt, but a few times it had to be dug out and done again. It wasn't possible to get 100% compaction, and the few times it failed, it was off by a point or two. This took a lot of time and effort.
