'new' toy - Bomag plate compactor

[IanMelb]

I've just taken delivery of a 12 year old Bomag 1545 plate.

I bought the thing to help sort out the far end of the garden where I'll be building a workshop and a fair bit of hard standing and figured a 'good' second hand plate wouldnot lose too much value and would save me money on rental (plus I can go out there in the evening and do an hour or so without having to worry about how much it's costing me)

It starts beuatifully and moves around really well, thing is, apart from the info mounted on the machine itself, I don't have any data on its efficiency/power/thumping ability.

I've been looking at http://www.pavingexpert.com/subbase.htm and was trying to work out the number of passes I should use with this thing. Is there a way of working out its kg/m2 ?

[seanandruby]

as you say you can "go out in the evening and do an hour or two". so just hammer the shite out of it and you will be fine. just make sure its 150 layers. :laugh:

[IanMelb]

just make sure its 150 layers. :laugh:

Mind you, I've found a bit more info on it. The plate says that it weighs 91kg and the motor is a 4HP honda.

I've not been able to find any web info or manuals about it.

[seanandruby]

91kg in L S P is about 200lbs. that's a fair old weight to wack it down. you get used to knowing when you've done enough. half dozen passes should do it. good luck.

[IanMelb]

It does seem thump down quite hard - it certainly kicks up a fair bit of dust on dryish soil (I'm tempted to dampen it down a bit before compacting).

looking at posts in the rest of the 'Cabin' it may well hold its second hand value enough for me to sell on when the job's done (as I've promised the Mrs) - mind you, I reckon I'd be quite sorry to let it go, goodness only knows when it would come in handy ...

[IanMelb]

Actually, whilst I think about it, how does the power of the engine affect the perfromance of the compactor?

Whilst looking around for info on my bomag, I've found that similar models have 5.5HP engines and others (like mine) have 4HP engines. If the motor is powerful enough to get the weight of the plate moving, then how does any extra power help it? Does it make it compact deeper, faster, better?

As you can guess, I'm quite new to all this malarkey

[Dave_L]

Whilst looking around for info on my bomag, I've found that similar models have 5.5HP engines and others (like mine) have 4HP engines. If the motor is powerful enough to get the weight of the plate moving, then how does any extra power help it? Does it make it compact deeper, faster, better?

As you said really.



Edited By Dave_L on 1177352918

[IanMelb]

Cheers.

(Aside - does this kind of thing happen to anyone else, i.e. get involved in a new project and then as part of it discover that all the mechanics and "how to's" are at least as interesting as the project itself?)

[andpartington]

(Aside - does this kind of thing happen to anyone else, i.e. get involved in a new project and then as part of it discover that all the mechanics and "how to's" are at least as interesting as the project itself?)

yes

we bought a wacker on ebay and sold it on ebay for a profit and got the drive done
andy

[lutonlagerlout]

probably more interesting to the semi-pros or enthusiastic DIYers than us poor sods who have to carry these interesting tools etc into the van every morning and back into the lock up every night so the thieving chavs cant nick them and flog them on ebay
LMAO
LLL
ps no offence meant to you andy,there are loads of straight sellers and buyers on ebay,my mrs bought me a dolce and gabbana cardigan for £4 last week,and its real,it says so on the label!!



Edited By lutonlagerlout on 1177365401

[IanMelb]

probably more interesting to the semi-pros or enthusiastic DIYers than us poor sods who have to carry these interesting tools etc into the van every morning and back into the lock up every night

Yeah, I can kind of appreciate that, mind you, it's not just in this area that I get sidetracked - if I need a new program to do something then it is more fun writing and debugging it than it is using it. And it's more fun watching the New Yankee in his Workshop trying to pick up new ideas than it is bashing out the same old lap joint all the time ...

[IanMelb]

However, saying that, quite a few of you 'poor sods' must still have some passion for your work, otherwise you'd probably not be here helping out us newbies with your words of worldly wisdom (for which I, and others, are really grateful)

[lutonlagerlout]

i hear ye ian.
its my biggest pet hate,every night i get home and have to carry the wacker,mixer,breaker,stihl,hilti and 2 transformers from the road into my lock up.its like ground hog day
i love doing building work its the admin and logistics i dislike
cheers LLL

[IanMelb]

I've not been able to find any web info or manuals about it.

Well, I emailed the Bomag UK web contact with all the details, within a day they haad sent me the complete set of manuals in PDF format.

Fanatastic customer service !

[Tony McC]

Do the manuals give a plate force value?

The effectiveness of plate compactors can be quite complex. the simplest value is total mass ÷ plate area, but the force of the eccentric vibration unit has some effect and can complicate matters.