Wacker plate sole protection ??

[RSVr]

I have got a wacker plate from my buddy and was wandering if i need to protect the plate as I am using 60mm tinted concrete pavers?

I am scared that the wacker will scratch the blocks, or will the scratched dissapear with time?

thanks

[lutonlagerlout]

steel plate with concrete blocks should be fine,you get the odd one now and again that cracks or spalls but you should be ok without a neoprene mat
LLL

[mcelec]

when i done my driveway i cracked a couple of blocks and couldnt get the whaker to glide so i fixed a piece of carpet under the plate and it went across the drive nicely no more craked blocks or scratch marks

[mickg]

you don't need a neoprene mat with smooth faced block paving its only if the surface of the block is riven like the Marshall's elite paving block or similar

actually the vibrating plate and kiln dried sand will remove minor scratches rather than making it worse, if its being made worse then there is debris on the driveway which need to be brushed off before you use the vibrating plate

[Tony McC]

I had a semi-tame contractor install a clay pavior drive for me over the summer. I ought to be grateful that they had spades and a wheelbarrow, but when I told them I wanted a neoprene sole fitting to the plate compactor before consolidating the pavers, a look of sheer panic flashed across their faces.

Four weeks later, the pavers are laid, but no sign of a neoprene sole. No-one, allegedly, had ever heard of them; they were an urban myth; they weren't used in Britain; they had tracked one down but it was 100 quid per week and had to be collected from Worcestershire; they couldn't be fitted to non-Wacker plates.....it went on and on.

In the end, they came up with a 15mm thick sheet of expanded polyurethane sheeting, which had been used as packaging around a Big Telly. A piece to fit the plate compactor was cut, lashed on with a short length of 6mm draw rope, and it did a bloody marvellous job! Not a single cracked block, it ironed-out all the minor variations in paver depth, and it actually muffled the usual racket that accompanies the consolidation phase, much to the relief of the neighbours. Total cost? Nowt! Now that's my kind of solution!

[dig dug dan]

No-one, allegedly, had ever heard of them; they were an urban myth; they weren't used in Britain; they had tracked one down but it was 100 quid per week and had to be collected from Worcestershire; they couldn't be fitted to non-Wacker plates.....it went on and on.

unbelievable. got one supplied with my belle!

[JeffreyDujon]

When I did my patio during the summer, I used my Mrs's yoga mat lashed onto the wacker. Did a super job, although the Mrs wasn't overly impressed with the state of her yoga mat after I'd finished.

[Mikey_C]

I think we have just found this year's top contender for the brew cabin's "best use of yoga mat during ground works/hard landscaping"

[Tony McC]

Is that just a trophy or is there a cash award with it? If there's money available, I might have an even better use!