anyone built a plate campactor? ideas? got some house projects comin up could use one.

I thought about building one. Was going to have it mount on the 3pt hitch of the tractor and drive the counterweight with the pto.

take pictures and report on it effeteness,
I would like a compactor as well,

I do not know if tractor mounted would be good for my needs but still interested in the project,

keep us informed,

I've never needed a plate compactor longer than a weekend..that was about 10yrs ago..Local rental was around $25/day.For me it would just be ANOTHER carb to maintain.If you do plan to build,keep in mind the vibration will shake loose a lot of fasteners..locktite and locknuts everywhere

rental is expensive and that the work can get done on my own time with out being forced on by time restrictions. that way i can pack on lunch hour or after it rains or have to haul it 20 miles to town after havin a box full of beer lol. (i dont get out much! lol)

dad and i talked some about it. the plan so far is to get some 1/2 in plate 18 in wide 22in long weld a angle at one end (like a skid), then weld heavy square tube to it, lenght wise, 10 in apart or so (need to build weight into it) then bolt these 4 vibration mounts http://www.reidsupply.com/sku/KR-63-4/ towards the rear the bolt anther 10 x 10 x 1/2 in plate to that to bolt a motor to. now up front at the business end there will be a 2in dia. shaft in pillow bocks bolted to the heavy tube. on that shaft will be a counter weight of unknown size, may have to experiment with weight and rpm. it will be belt drivin with a simple tentsioner to engage vibration. it should weigh about 150 lbs and be effective.

as far as tractor driven one, i always wanted to make a sheeps foot about 5 foot wide and make weigh 3 to 5000 lbs and run a vibrator off the PTO. that work awsome for pounding fill or driving rock/gravel into soft drivways.

pics will come soon

here is one.

http://www.poema.de/index.php?page=plattenverdichter_en

Perhaps this is not what your looking for, but at least it may give you some ideas.

I don't like the hassle of hiring equipment, as I tend to want to do a bit, leave it, then do some more, so its not cost effective to keep hiring kit for odd 5 minute jobs.

I haven't used it for a few years, so its been 'stored' out back... It no longer has the handle fitted to another project, likewise with the electric motor which was a single phase 3/4hp 3,000RPM.

It was not easy to use, and not pleasant for long periods (5 - 10 minutes) as it is rather fierce with its jumping up and down. Yes it could have been refined, but as it was only for short term work, it did it very well. It was a two man operation as one is needed to hand on and guide it around and the second operates to power connection (no dead-man switch on the handle).

The motor sat on top, on the hinged platform which drove a shaft mounted on two bearings. The 'vibration' was created by a 2" wide bit of 4" round steel with an off-set hole for the drive shaft. Ideally the bearings should have been as close as possible, either side of the off-set weight to avoid and shaft flex. I exdpect had I used it long term the shaft would have fractured and fell to bits. All the fixings either had nyloc nuts or double nuts to avoid them being shaken lose.

It's ugly, unrefined, but did the work it was built for.










Now that I know such a beast works, I do have another project which I'm collecting bits for. I've purchased a 4 foot wide box scraper/blade with tangs to maintain my drive. The drive gets heavily compacted, but when it rains pot holes grow very quickly due to the 40 ton lorries using it. The intention is to mount a 'vibration head' down near the blade to help the cutting action of the tangs and blade, thus making it easier to pull along and break the compacted ground (mainly rocks and gravel). Its an idea I got from a utility company moling some cables in to the ground as the moling head had a vibration unit on it to make it easier to work the mole through the ground by vibrating its way through the soil which could also contain rocks and gravel). I have designs in my head, but they can change, depending on what freebies I can obtain.

that is the jist of what i want to build but make gas powered. thanks fo the pics. i have collected parts and pieces for the project, it just hasnot made into the project rotation yet.

Nick, I also do not like renting equipment, for what it will cost for the week after week rental of one, I can buy one of these HF Plate Compactor
Then once I am done with it I can sell it to someone else.
I had a quick attach plate compactor for a back hoe that I picked up at an auction sale but sold it before I got the back hoe.
Dan.

Going by how mine jumped around, I don't think any ice would last long. I'd stick to an electric motor and run it off a portable generator, or long extension lead. Ready made compactors have a lot of soft mounts for any ice used.

i ordered isolation mounts some time ago from reid supply. there was many differant kinds and durometer ratings. the ones i ordered where these http://www.reidsupply.com/sku/KR-63-4/