Best way to compact a one-brick-wide strip

[lana]

Hello again, helpful people, Hoping you can share your practical knowledge with the newbee. Being frustrated by the lack of interest to my small garden job from the local contractors, I'm braving to do it myself. Apart from a small utility paving area, I will be building a mowing strip from the paving bricks. I would need to put some sub base under them and compact it (?). I've looked up the local tool hire place and the smallest compactor they have is 35cm plate. The bricks are only 20cm length as they'll be laid "across". And I'm not too keen to put almost twice as much sub base as needed so I can run compactor over it.
So my question is how does one compacts a brick-wide strip? Two sides of the lawn for the mowing strips will be arouind 25 meters in length all together.
Are there any other tools I can use? do I actually need to compact it with the tool or can just "stump" it down?
Any advice is appreciated.
Thanks in advance
Lana.

[seanandruby]

Lana go to the index and there is a whole chapter dedicated to mowing strips :;):

[lana]

I did read it, I still understand it so that whatever I'll use for bedding the bricks, has to be compacted/levelled? So my question was - what is the best tool for it, if any, when the strip dimensions are around 0.2X10 meters

[seanandruby]

Are you digging out turf to accomate the strip? Just lay your concrete and tap your edging into it using a string guide line. No need to compact the concrete first or you'll never do it. Just like brick laying really but not with building sand..

[lutonlagerlout]

Lana I did mine at home around 8 years ago
I dug a small trench approx 5 inches deep and 6 inches (spade width) wide
I then knocked up some dry leanmix ,set up a line and tapped the clay paviours down to the line with a rubber mallet

then knocked up some wetter concrete and haunched the sides

its easy for us guys but I Have seen DIY people try and spectacularly fail at this sort of thing

the initial leanmix must be crumbly dry

cheers LLL

[Tony McC]

There's a video here

[lana]

Guys, as always, you came to the rescue! thank you so much! Tony, your video illustrates just what Sean and LLL said and all together they answered all my questions, you rule! LLL, when you said "spectacularly fail", did you mean - "because newbees didn't watch Tony's video" or because there are things in the process that need to be "done in certain way, newbee won't know how"?
One question came to mind as I was digesting the information: if I am using dry lean mix, how critical a chance of rain will be? I mean - I will be most likely doing this job over evenings after work and weekends and I suspect, it'll have to be done in parts...so if I'd lay some bricks and stop, do I need to cover them for, say, overnight, to protect from possible rain? If I do, for how long?
thanks once more!
Lana

[Tony McC]

As long as it's not torrential rain, there's no real problem. Cover the work with a tarp or similar if you think rain is imminent.

[lana]

thanks, Tony!