Hey brother. A little tip a co-worker with 50 years of experience taught me, is if you compact with the mini blade behind you it essentially extends the pivot point further away from the machine allowing you to apply more pressure on the wheel before the entire machine tilts up. Better control and more effective compaction.
I've got one made by Steel Unlimited on my 2.5 ton Hyundai. Absolutely love it. Technically, that is a padfoot compactor and mine is a sheepsfoot. A sheepsfoot is designed for cohesive soils (i.e. - clay) and a vibratory plate (that some people mentioned) is for granular soils (sand) while a padfoot is for combination soils. Regardless of what some people say, these DO in fact compact from the bottom up NOT from the top down like a vibratory plate. Using something with high frequency (like a vibratory plate) on clay soils can cause bridging and also drive out too much moisture (it will look shiny on top) and cause problems. I recently dug a core trench on a leaking pond dam and backfilled with good clay and added bentonite and compacted with my compaction wheel. Water level is already 15" above where it was before I started and holding. Just waiting for more rain. The blade feature is a "must have" IMO and I don't have any problems with it getting in the way. There is a whole lot more to soil compaction and soil strength than most people realize. Not to give Chris too much of a hard time, but I cringe when I see him backfilling plastic culverts without rock. Clay soil just doesn't provide the strength that aggregates do. Study after study can prove it both in the lab AND real world settings but many contractors don't understand it and customers don't want to pay for it. The only time I find it acceptable to backfill with clay is when it is a spillway pipe.
I was thinking that too. tracking in the ponds where you couldn't get that dozer. you can lay a lot of grass seeds down in those holes and they would be packed holes.
some thing else you may be able to use it for is seeding . When you put the grass seed down it can go into the "holes" that it leaves and have a better chance of growing .
Also very handy for cutting test spots for soil compaction and moisture content by soil engineers. And that will compact the pond dams a hell of a lot better than just tracking it in. Any part of a dam that is compacted with that will be the very last part of the dam to wash away. 😀 Personally I hate running the wheel for hours on end. ☹️ But it may not be so bad on a nice machine like that. I got to run a Vio 35 and Vio 55 on a job recently.😁 I like your videos.
Finally, a back massager in my size. Wouldn't you need to turn it 90 degrees to compact along the sides of a culvert? hydraulic rotator in your future?
Now you are going to have to get a vibrating smooth roller for the mini's. So that you can compact the slopes of dams and ditches with the sheep's-foot then follow up with the smooth roller and leave a nice finish.
Hey Chris, Great Tool. Jumping Jack, or Rammers, are great for flat surfaces, but any kind of slope, and forget using them. They are also extremely heavy and cumbersome getting it from point A to point B, unless you have a handy two wheeled dolly or moving it with an excavator. This should work awesome on any flat or sloped area.
I personally wouldn’t want a vibrating sheep foot in a ditch that could father cause the walls to loosen up therefor putting the help in jeopardy. I see where for surface work it may be ok but then it also would add that extra weight to it that would also take away fro the versatility along with at some point if it’s on there someone meaning well or not would use it in a trench.
Now it's maybe time for you Chris to look at Dynaset HVB all implement vibrator. You place it on stick and give you vibration for your compactor but also grading bucket to compact soil/gravel or loose sticky clay from inside it and a lot more usage. Very nifty thing to make your excavator more versatile. I really love it!
The design dose two things at the same time 1st it puts all the pressure onto the pads so you get more compaction from the same weight and 2nd it puts keys into the layers locking them together to help prevent a landslide in the compacted area. For aeration you want spikes to ignore the majority of the soil as the goal is to not disturb the surface.
New tools are always a joy! They make attachments for almost everything. Now days a man can drop 90k on a skid steer or mini ex and drop a mill in buying attachments 👍
Yeah, That's gonna come in handy , like you said, on culverts, slopes, dams, ect. Those kinda hard to get to spots... Great add-on for the mini !! Have a Great Evening....
I worked for Granite Const here in the Sacramento calif area we used to jet the trenches years ago until the trenches were failing so all we do now is mechical compaction
My uncle built something like that using some big gears he found in a scrap yard. Worked pretty good for slopes and ditches but wouldn't get the 95% compaction the CoE often required. But this looks like it would work great in a lot of situations. I'd like to see the scraper blade reinforced with some gussets.
darn, run the compactor wheel down your vegetable garden and you got the right holes and spacing for your strawberry and tomato seeds, then use the blade to cover them up in one pass. Vegetable planting done in 15 minutes.
Chris, I don't write but I watch each day...in my humble opinion that compactor would be so much more effective if it had a solid roller rather than those teeth. I'd retrofit that thing real quick. As rain washes over the waffle pattern it will pick up the loose dirt and move it along. I hate to say it but I see a dud.
you get better compaction with the pads. more psi per sq inch. its not made for finish work just packing what gets covered up. then you finish grade it before finishing the job.
I learn something every time I watch yours and mr. elites videos. It looks like a simple 4 hole flange bearing. Don’t over grease and blow the seals. It should last forever
Hey Chris, Did you watch Andrew Camarata recent video where he got a skid steer vibration roller attachment. You wouldn't have to wheel around that big roller you have. pretty cool attachment I thought.
You should make your own thing out of a drum for packing, that thing leaves a lot of loose dirt, add a water drum above it and you have weight to pack.
that blade needs some back braces, itll be gone on the first error.... :( in this video the tracks seem to have compacted as much (more?) than the tool ?
Some say grease every 4 hours which seems excessive just like a hydraulic hammer. Some people keep the front of the machine off the ground putting as much pressure on the wheel as possible. With that machine you could put the blade behind you with down pressure and put even more pressure on the wheel for better compaction. When that thing starts shaking you to death like the wheel is on solid concrete, then you're around 95% compaction.
Yes sir, we can build custom wheels to meet your needs. Please feel free to reach out to your area sales manager at BR Attachments for more info. You can find their contacts at www.brattachments.com
I’d like see a density test (proctor) vs a 5 ton machine tracking it in... don’t see a benefit on flatter areas that are machine accessible ( tracking in), but definitely great for slopes, tight areas and trench work vs a more expensive ho-pac.
The nice thing about compaction wheels is they compact the trench from the bottom up giving you a tighter section. Jumping jacks, vibroplates and rollers compact from the top down.
@@aday1637 Those tines, feet whatever you want to call them roll themselves down to the bottom of the lift. as it packs down, the wheel walks itself up. Many soils inspectors in my area will not allow lifts greater than 6" to be compacted with anything else because of this feature. You can easily do lifts up to 12" with a compaction wheel and get >98% compaction
I guess Chris is playing..."he who has the most toys, WINS!!" Lol. I think you need to get S.O.T Metalworks to make you up some metal LD18 weld-on insignias to attach to all of your toys.
That new attachment breaks up the ground real nice! Oh wait..... seems a little to small to very effective other than small areas. Good luck first time I’ve ever doubted ya. I’ll keep watching I’m sure you’ll prove me wrong.
Now that you have used this for awhile would you recommend it for electric ditch compaction? we use jumping jacks and it seems to be never ending reoairs to keep them running looking for an alternative.
Now, of course, I'm wondering about a 'giant' one for your larger Volvos. This 'sheepsfoot' compactor roller will do the trick I'm sure. Compaction is the answer!
They are brill for trenches. Try turning it round have the grader blade facing you for a better angle from knuckle just a for av never used 1 wire a grader bar on.
I was just thinking as I watched the previous video of compacting with the mini, "there has to be a better way than the shock being transmitted up the arm and boom and trough the pins and rams." Then like magic, PFFT, there it is. sdh in CT