About Plate Compactors

Compaction is the step people skip and then pay for. Loose fill holds air and water, and once that settles unevenly the surface above it moves. A plate compactor drives that air out and locks the aggregate together, giving you a base that carries load evenly instead of one that quietly fails from underneath.

Forward Plate Compactors

Forward plate compactors travel in one direction and are the workhorse choice for open base work, driveways, walkways, paver bases, and asphalt patching. We carry them with plate widths from 14 inches up to 20 inches on Honda GX160 engines. The narrower plates get into confined areas and along foundations, while wider plates cover open ground in fewer passes.

Reversible Plate Compactors

A reversible plate compactor compacts while travelling both forward and backward, which matters in two situations: trenches and tight areas where turning the machine around is awkward or impossible, and deeper lifts where the added compaction force lets you work thicker layers in one pass. Our reversible model runs a 15 inch plate on a Honda GX160 and includes a wheel kit for moving it between work areas.

What You Will Use One For

Paver and flagstone bases, driveway and parking pad sub-base, trench backfill after utility work, footing preparation, asphalt patch repair, and general grading cleanup. Any job where loose material needs to become a load-bearing base is a plate compactor job.

Choosing a Plate Compactor

Start with the material. Granular soils, sand, and gravel respond well to plate compaction, while heavy clay generally wants a rammer instead. Next, match plate width to your working space, remembering that the narrowest area you have to reach sets the maximum size you can actually use. Then decide forward versus reversible based on whether you will be working in trenches or compacting deep lifts. Each listing states the plate size, engine, and configuration.

Related Categories

Compaction is base prep, and the pour comes next: batch on site with our concrete mixers, close the surface afterwards with a walk behind power trowel, and cut control joints or open up existing paving with our concrete saws. If your crew runs hydraulic breakers or tampers, a hydraulic power pack supplies them away from a machine. Everything here comes from the BRAVE equipment line.