Soil Compactor Bit?

Winston wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@news2.newsguy.com:

Don't use too short a chunk of pipe.

One end should be on the ground while the finished combination has the hammer at your waist level.

Hopefully this will let you work standing up straight.

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Yup, that is the plan.

I want to balance 'ease of use' with wear on my chipping hammer.

Mass is going to be an issue. I wonder if steel 'rigid metal conduit' would make a better 'pipe' than plain black pipe, considering weight and the ability to use a larger diameter, boosting crumpling resistance.

I think I just convinced myself there.

--Winston

You're on the right track---The added mass will cut down the impact stroke to very little---The length will absorb most of the force from a chipping hammer & turn it into heat.

The workable solution would be a 2 or 3" plate on a short chisel stub and then get down in the hole with it..---welds may not last long either.Jerry

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I'd like to test both those options. I guess that if the sheer amount of steel in the RMC was about the same as in one of my chisel bits, I shouldn't have too much power lost in the conduit. I figure that either of these methods would be more effective and easier on my back than my current method.

The good news is that the tamper would be very portable and easy to reinforce or repair if necessary.

Thanks, Jerry.

--Winston

THey have spoons and digging equipment for those that only hammer. I have a drill/hammer or drill. Rats.

My 1/2" SDS Plus is a beautiful electronic brake and powerful machine.

But like you, I needed a hammer only.

Rats.

Go ahead - Don't make it very big - smaller flat goes in deeper.

In fact - you could use drills - poking them in but a flat would be better. Use an old drill blank maybe!

Mart> I Googled unsuccessfully.

I think Ive got a Black and Decker Impact Drill..doesnt spin, was originally used to drive those star shaped concrete bits into concrete. Its a stout! bastard.

If you are interested.

Gunner

"First Law of Leftist Debate The more you present a leftist with factual evidence that is counter to his preconceived world view and the more difficult it becomes for him to refute it without losing face the chance of him calling you a racist, bigot, homophobe approaches infinity.

This is despite the thread you are in having not mentioned race or sexual preference in any way that is relevant to the subject." Grey Ghost

Winston,

I too want to build a 'small area' compactor for my hammer drill. Would sure like to learn from your experience. Are you done yet? Have you built one? Are you happy with it?

Thanks, Ivan Vegvary

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Still researching, Ivan.

Not yet. My path was corrected by Jerry Wass and Andrew.

I now understand that I need a *short* distance between the chuck of the chipping hammer and the working surface of the soil tamper because of all the impact energy that would be dissipated in the shaft of a long tamper.

Ideally I would like to remain standing while using the tool so I need to devise some kind of 'extension handle'.

This is a poser because I don't know how to design a detachable handle for this purpose and my Google-fu has not revealed a retail solution.

Right now a few 'honeydos' are in the way of further work so I shall ponder the problem in spare moments.

If you come up with a way to do this, I am very interested in your discoveries.

Thanks!

--Winston

My landscape contractor borrowed my chipping hammer to do some foundation trimming. He wanted me to give it to him at the end of the project. :)

Additionally, (as I have learned) the distance between chuck and the soil must be *very short* so that the largest possible amount of power couples, rather than be dissipated in the tamper itself.

Now I'm looking for an 'extension handle' to put the chipping hammer in the hole while I am comfortably standing.

Thanks!

--Winston

I have a feeling that you would do better with a demolition hammer/road drill rather than an SDS based tool. If it's got 1 1/8" hex bits it'll manage soil compaction. SDS just isn't big enough.

I would be surprised if the DIY sheds/Wallyworld don't occasionally carry them.

The one I got here in the UK is quite happy breaking up 7" concrete, although I haven't had need to fit a tamper bit on it yet.

Mark Rand RTFM

I've worked with the 70 lb. demo hammers and I agree they would be stellar performers in that role. I'm just not willing to work that hard for that level of performance. :)

What I am doing now appears to be sufficient. That is, I'm compacting soil by spearing it with the flat end of a 8' 2x4. Each strike appears to push about 1/2" of air out of the soil. So I backfill and ram, then backfill some more than ram some more until the bottom of the hole is 'at grade'. The soil thus compacted maintains its shape very well when I dig the new post hole and offers very similar resistance as does the surrounding undisturbed soil.

I guess that an SDS hammer would do at least as good a job with far less effort on my part.

I could get one here via rental or my good friends at CPO.

I've done 8" of concrete with the 70 lb. demo hammer. Luckily it was in 2, 4" thick layers. Had to remove the brick layer first though.

Then I had to recover for a week. :)

Thanks for your thoughts

--Winston

On Tue, 27 Apr 2010 13:29:58 -0700, the infamous Winston scrawled the following:

Grok that. I've had folks wanting me to use their tiny front-wheeled rototillers on their half acre gardens and I immediately tell them "I don't do that kind of work. Sorry!"

Why aren't you flippin' drill pipe down those old holes with a backhoe and dropping in steel fence posts for longer life and easier replacement, Winnie?

-- Losing faith in humanity, one person at a time.

And yet the rear-tine jobbie do's are absolute cake to run. Dad had a 5 HP Ariens Rocket when I was but a tadpole. Nice machine! Scrawny 14 year old had no problems using it.

(...)

No budget or storage room for said backhoe or drill pipe. Other than that, sounds like a blast!

--Winston