Plate tamper for compacting 300m of driveway?

[Sebculb]

Hey everbuddy,

So I'm making about 300 meters of somewhat steep driveway on my friends land. I'll be spreading a few inches of "lastre" over it which is road base I guess, like crusher rock of different sizes mixed with dirt. Gonna take like 10 tandem dump truck loads.

On most of these driveways in rural Costa Rica the road base just gets smoothed out and compacted with the backhoe bucket and we call it good. My buddy is somewhat hung up on the notion of renting a roller and compacting it "properly". That sounds nice to me, except I don't really know where to find a small roller that would go up the switchbacks. My buddy has *no* machinery or building experience, I've been doing it for several years now but learned way out in the country where a backhoe is basically all that is available.

I guess I'll start asking at the machinery yards that I know of if they can point me in the right direction for something like that.

Alternately, is it a ridiculous idea to buy a walk behind plate compactor (tamper, the one that looks like a lawnmower had a kid with a clothes iron) and try to compact the road base with it? Like 300 meters of 3 meter wide road, all sloped.

I saw some dudes pulling a tamper uphill with a rope a few months back, like two guys would with a wheelbarrow. But that was just prepping for a driveway apron pour.

Anyways, I could possibly get this job to pay for the tamper if I play my cards right, while keeping the boss happy. I've used tampers before, when I was helping on paving stone jobs and pours many years ago. And theoretically it could work. But what is y'alls experiences/opinions? Is this just ridiculous? Or perhaps a decent excuse to buy a new tool and have it for future jobs.

Thanks!

 

[seville009]

If there are no rollers to rent, including a 3 pt roller drum (that you fill with water or sand), an option is to just slowly drive a heavy vehicle over it.

Kind of a pain since the tires have a small contact area compared to a roller, but 300' isn't that huge. If your friend has the time, he can just spend a few hours slowly driving back and forth to try to pack it down.

 

[mikester]

If a dump truck can drive the switchback driving a fully loaded one will compact things well.

 

[4570Man]

I would roll the road with the dump truck and if that’s not possible roll it with the backhoe. Using a plate tamper on that much road will take forever and they’re not self propelled. Pushing one up much of a hill will be a workout.

 

[coldsteelva]

Fashion a make-shift one from an old water heater or propane tank? Slip an axle through and fill with sand.

 

[MAX-24-Dean]

If there is clay soil I would recommend using a Geo-textile fabric underlayment.

 

[3 Horse Ranch]

If it's on a hill that is steep enough to involve switchbacks compaction isn't as much concern as erosion. If the road is well crowned and has good ditching on both sides would be my main concerns.

 

[California]

Sebculb, way off topic but I was just watching a motorcycle tourist who went up the mountain north-east of you in the past couple of weeks. Here she is riding up a primitive road similar to what you describe. (She discovers this one dead-ends at a finca).

This excerpt starts @ 5min:30sec where it gets interesting.

Map of region @ 1:18

Single lane, @ 10:56

Flies her drone over Turriaba volcano @ 17:05

Noraly is amazing. 2018-2019 she rode from New Delhi to home in Netherlands. Now 2020-2022 she's halfway from Patagonia to Alaska. A million YT subscribers and 160 million views of her videos. She consistently makes the best videos of remote places that I've ever seen. She posts new YT videos every M-W-F.

Costa Rica seems wonderful. I love Ecuador. Have inlaws there. It is similar - calm, everyone decent. Those two countries have received the most American retirees, for good reason.

 

[Fixastuff]

I would roll the road with the dump truck and if that’s not possible roll it with the backhoe. Using a plate tamper on that much road will take forever and they’re not self propelled. Pushing one up much of a hill will be a workout.

I agree it will take along time with a plate compactor, but they do "drive" themselves forward. I only have to pull mine if the ground is too wet/soft. 99% of the time it's just one finger on the bar steering it. Most plate compactors give you a feet per minute spec so you could figure out how long it will take you.

 

[Rebeldad1]

who ever is providing the rock will probably have a roller.

easy way is to pay for a little extra time for the last load truck. have him drive up and down fully loaded a few times.

 

[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!