Compaction - Jumping Jack Vs. Plate Compactor Vs. Hand Tamper 

This was really useful, thank you, actual data, good comparison on different surfaces, really appreciate the post.

Great job, I learn a lot. You guys spend so much energy doing this video that you should receive an award.

I've used them all and like the hand tamper least because it's so labor intensive and gets such a minimal result. I love to use the vibraplate in true sand, gravel, or rock so long as it has containment, but hands down we go to the Jumping Jack when we really have to hit 90-95% compaction in small areas where we can't get a sheep's foot or roller. Loved the video...

Thanks for taking your time to do this!

I was looking for a comparison like this and you made a great distinction with some accessible example situations to share. I am sure the possibilities of various work sites are numerous, but I appreciate the help in forming an opinion about each device in your testing scenarios.

thank you for making such comparison on different soil type.

Thank you for this great video. Helped a lot in determining what to use for my garage pavers.

Good video. Really. I’m about to compact soils in a trench and I took away some good info from you. Thanks.

Thank you for making this video. Very helpful!!!!

Great video! Just what I was looking for.

Peace Family, Really appreciated this presentation, keep up the great work. Respect

This was so helpfull, we are trying to fix our backyard, and we dont have an idea of any of this. Huge huge help. Thanks

Wow! Great informative video. Thank you for taking the time to do this video for people like me who don't know. God Bless you.

Great video - very useful advice. Surprised at the jumping jack

Thanks, I'll going to buy jumping jack now first of all, but it's good to have three of them.

Awesome tests. Very helpful data.

Thanks for the great comparison!

Excellent Video. Many thanks.

Really useful video - great post!

Great video. This matches with my engineer recommendations.

Very helpful data. I am filling in potholes with asphalt millings and wanted to be sure that the jumping jack tamper was the tool for the job. Clearly it is.

Thanks for this!! Another way to get better tamping is to get heavier duty equipment. Would be interesting to see if the 200lb jumping jack can beat a 1000lb plate compactor. For everyone's reference, based on the product links. weights of items in this video are: - hand tamper 9lb head - plate compactor 207lbs - jumping jack 207lbs Viewers should also note that each compaction type performs better or worse on the type of soil. Jumping jacks are much better on expansive soils (clay) than plate compactors.

Thanks for your job guys.

Great video, very helpful, thank you!

Thank you. looking for something like this.

Great Experience.

Great video. Thank you.

I gotta say the slope challenge made me chuckle.. I have a job of repairing sloping pavers in my garden.. the hand tamper wins ! Thanks for uploading this video guys 😊

Very helpful and self explanatory video Keep it up bro

Great video mate! You made a good point when mentioned that the jumping jack would be the tool of choice when it comes to applications like driveways in which you need a very solid base. 8:19 been there done that 😄

Great laser! I bought the same one years ago.

great test buddy. I hope you are well. keep it up.

Very helpful.

5:03 i luv how you get the whole family involved.. lol!

Great Video!

Excellent!!!

Great video. Thanks.

Very useful

Thanks for this! Now I can ignore the people telling me a hand tamper will do next to nothing!

Good Video! A big concept that wasn't mention was that a Tamper/Rammer should be used on cohesive material, and a plate compactor is to be used on granular material.

great video man awesome

filling in a trampoline hole and turning into an eventual fire pit. going with the jumping jack. thanks for the video

Awesome job showing all the strengths. Was hoping the jumping jack would do better on a slope - have some pond banks I want to compact!

Great vid!

The bottom line, each of these "tools" has its advantages and disadvantages. I have owned a Wacker plate compactor & jumping-jack compactor for many years. The tool that I strongly favor (as a homeowner with a variety of residential tasks) is the plate compactor, hands down.

Good compersion

Thanks Dude!

So the little guy is the chief giving instructions how you do the work.

thank you appreciated

Building my own house and about to compact my footer down with some powdery gravel. I think I will use a cheap jackhammer with a tamper bit.

THANKSGIVING

Very nice friends ❤️🙏🙏

Glad I watched. I would of thought the plate compactor would win out.

I haven't even gotten into the video yet but appreciate you doing this video it's exactly what I was looking for

Awesome video love the fam in the video wil subscribe thanks

Great video. Did you try multiple passes with the vibration plate to see if that increased the compaction any further? Can you get results similar to the jumping jack after multiple passes with the vibration plate?

Nice useful for me to

Did I just find the legendary thingamabob?

Use the Jumping jack for moistened soils in trenches and deep fills. Not to wet and not too dry. Dry soils can fool You by looking muddy on the surface while being dry as talc under the muddy surface . Extremely wet , muddy and unstable soils and clay can be stabilized by aeration , addition of gravel and lime or cement . In extremely wet areas permeable base materials may be better suited than those with fine clay binder. To prevent excessive water intrusion into a recent backfill during rain , cover the fill with visqueen plastic sheeting over graded fill that facilitates water flow to sump drainage points where it can be pumped out. Then when ready to finish grade and compact the subsoil with the Jumping jack , the plastic can be quickly removed . Without the plastic rain can quickly add enough water to make drying out the sub base very time consuming and costly. The compactor will be hard to run in the “ plastic “ material becoming unmanageable. “ Pumping “ of the subsoil will reflect into the base and pavement surface. Even if a stable crust can be achieved that facilitates paving it will later shrink and fail as the moisture evaporates out in dry summer conditions causing shrinkage and opening of the joints. A trench pave over such base that is subjected to heavy traffic can also undulate under loads causing a wavy bumpy surface. The J or Jumping Jack Tamper Compactor should ideally begin to rebound as the soil achieves maximum density and stability. First courses of asphalt base Rock can be compacted likewise with regrading to a even surface as the trench come up to paving depth. Then the plate compactor can be used. The initial excavation should be wide enough to allow the plate to fit into it full width. On larger broad areas both roller and plate can be used keeping each lift of material to 3-4 inches thick . Vibration will densify materials but can also bring water up into soils in areas of wet substrate. Narrow trenches of approximately 6” width may save on material cost’s like base and asphalt but are more time consuming to compact with small air powered compactors. They can also be filled with controlled density fill a slurry of sand and cement that will settle and harden . Then the surface width can be increased to a depth of approx 2”-3 “ by a width determined by the Engineer or local specifications to form a T Patch that helps to inhibit water intrusion through the joint. Experience has shown that straight line cuts with rough ground faces are easier to work with , professional looking and the new asphalt when rolled and compacted “ Key” into the existing surrounding surface to form a tighter more impervious bound that resists water intrusion. When patching in excess of 2-21/2 “ of asphalt it is best to do it in 2 lifts . Large areas can be done in one lift either in avg. 2” -2and 1/2 “ or Avg 3” try to get the Base finely tuned for grades with finished surface grade in Mind .

After watching your video I now realize that machine compaction is not practical for my 30 degree slope. Looks like wet compaction with a lot of hand tamping is my best choice aside from a compactor mounted on heavy equipment. I'm installing granite steps. Thanks so much, great comparison, awesome job with the video.

thnk !!!

Thanks for sharing this interesting video. I tried the plate vibrator for my decomposed granite patio; I liked it, but it was very heavy to load and unload off my trailer. I'm going to rent a jumping jack tomorrow, because it seems like it will be easier to manoeuvre on my paths. I have a hand tamper, but it's only for awkward spots. That rental yard looks super. I'd use it if I were near by, but I'm in California. Do you think you do a video on using the laser level? Thank you, Daniel

Awesome video, and answered what I needed. Only have a 7.5 sq metre area that I want to pave, I just cannot justify the cost of the plate compacter when it ends up being nearly half the cost just to rent it (things are not cheap down under). Wanted to know if a hand tamper would be good enough and it seems it will. It's not load-bearing anything just enough to keep the pavers straight.

Thank you very much for the video. I am convinced that I will only need to buy a hand tamper from Lowes since it can lead to the same depth result when compared to a plate compactor even though it does take longer to do so. I hate to pay at least $ 500 for a plate compactor, which will have very limited use, and to put it in my already tight garage after recently adding a table saw and a miter saw.

Thank good to see in use but you didn't address the different soils . clay /cohesive vs sandy

Putting down stone for a carport parking pad. Want to rent a plate compactor but after checking rental prices, I'll be hand tamping 😂

I would've loved to see if doubling the time with the hand tamper would've achieved a more comparable result to the machines, especially because that would mimick much more what we'd do in the real world.

Should you wet soil before you start to compact?

I have to regrade a front yard to add a slope. Ideally I’ll do it over the course of a month or two. Would you recommend the Jack or the compactor?

Great video, very helpful, thanks for sharing it! Question: can I use any of these machines if it is raining? I am trying to level my yard and compact the mason sand but it doesn’t stop raining. With the hand tamper is not being productive. Thanks.

Seems like for the slope you could just use an excavator and press, because most buckets are rounded maybe make a special attachment in the shape of a large tamper, make it 4140 steel, maybe 2'x2' and 1/4" thickness, depending on the size of your machine, just so long as it fits the bucket pins/hitch.

They have air powered hand tampers that have different tamping plates.

Ever considered that you can do 3 or 4 passes with the plate compactor for every 1 on the jumping jack with less wear on your body and get possibly deeper compaction minute for minute?

Sideways on the hill😅 Nice video

Different tools for different applications.

I put in a rock pad for a 10 X 16 pre-built building I ordered , do you think the plate compactor would be sufficient enough ? I like the idea of having a nice smooth finish.

That slope was quite extreme, do you think the plate compactor would have worked in a less steep slope?

how much does compaction impact a patio slab?

There must be an industrial piece of equipment for slopes, can't imagine a commercial job site having to hand tamp something like that. Video was really good, definitely seems like the plate compactor is the easiest to use overall, although it might drag you a bit. From personal experience I can say the hand tamper is hell on your shoulders and wrists. would love to see if a lawn roller 300-600 pounds is any good.

That was a Hill Not a Slope. Lol that was Hilarious.

Do you have a video on that cool laser level??

Plate vibestor is the best because of the vibration

Built pools, the jack is for many feet, plate is for top finish, the mop is for good enought if it happens.

Awesome content! Can I use a jumping jack to compact a 12 inch lift on a plastic gas line?

Can i use ramer/jumper inside house? I am worried about vertical foundation, as displacing soil could damage it. What you think?

Complete Compaction is not measured by depth. A Resistance meter or geoguage is expensive way . One can use lateral forces applied by machine to meet code requirements for complete compaction. Other methods may cause structural sub-base Deficiencies.

Hello this is a great video. I have to level my ground for a pool. Once I get the dirt leveled do you think the plate would be good enough for an above ground pool?

In the first test, I wonder if the jumping jack woulda left fewer ridges if the soil was drier.

nice！

great title,r u still active posing on yt

What kind of laser you use , Which one would you recommend if laser , the best compactor you show ,how many pounds of pressure does it impact?

Any experience compacting soil and then gravel (5/8 minus, for example) under horse stall mats?

appreciate the video. just wondering if I could use the plate compactor to level my lawn.? I had my irrigation system installed and my lawn is now bumpy because of the tire marks from the machine they used. Thanks

Has anyone tried using a jack hammer with a tamper attachment?

What if you're making a footing that's 4 feet deep? Is the only option a hand tamp?

Precio?

The slope test just hurt my back looking at you doing it. I'm sure not everyone has access to one - but you think using a winch or something to help pull it back up the hill could work? Thanks for sharing!

Hi guys am in need to buy manuel compactor and ones with sterring

hmm, in the UK you would never use a "jumping jack" (trench rammer as we call them) for a large area for the obvious reason you show, it produces ridges because it is not the tool for such a job. You were lucky that the compactor plate's engine continued running on that slope, they are supposed to have engine cut outs if the oil level is "wrong" due to use on a slope. I wonder if your hire centre has removed safety features?

Why am I here Idk but I’m glad I am