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Roller usage advice please

One guy construction

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Apr 11, 2017
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S.W. Pa
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Owner/Welder, Hobby Land management
got a 19000 lb single drum vibratory roller for at the farm. Have only been using it to pack in gravel parking lots and all has been good doing that. Now I am into building up my new building pad. plan on pushing out good clay fill dirt in 6" lifts. Can i roll and vibrate in both directions? also with fixing up my old roads can you vibrate down hill?
 

redneckracin

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You sure can roll and vibe in both directions. The only trouble I think you are going to have is with the clay sticking to the smooth drum. A sheepsfoot roller is generally used for soil. Basically with dirt you can beat and pound it to your hearts content. The real limiting factor on asphalt and aggregate is fracturing the stone. PennDOT specs a 'Proof Roll' of a full loaded tri-axle truck at 72,380lbs and if it ruts more than their spec the material isn't accepted.
 

CM1995

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Running what I brung and taking what I win
Soil compaction can be done with your feet if you have thin enough lifts and enough time.:D

A 19,000 lb roller is close in size to my CS 533E which is a smooth drum with a factory sheepsfoot shell kit. Honestly we rarely take the pad foot shell off as it's a PITA as you have to cut the bolts off and buy new ones.

Anyway your roller is more than adequate to compact what you need to build your pad. Without knowing your soils keep the lifts to a loose 8-12" and roll it. Pay attention to moisture content as this is the absolute biggest factor in compacting soil. Too little moisture and it will not solidify, too much moisture and it just pumps and rolls.

Go by trial and error - see how your particular clay will react to compaction. If it seals up hard and the rear tires leave no indentations then you're on the right track. If your roller's rear tires leave indentations but the soil is not pumping continue rolling it. If the clay continues to pump or roll as the rear tires roll over it after several passes, then the clay is probably too wet.

If your fill is too wet, scarify it with whatever you used to spread the fill with let it dry and then re-compact. Soil compaction is a science and an art - it just takes experience.:)
 
Last edited:

CM1995

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Noobie question, but do you mean that the problem is that you can't fracture the stone or the you fracture it too much?

Meaning if you roll it enough with a large enough roller you can break down the stone in addition to over compacting the material.

Over compaction happens when the material reaches maximum density and optimum moisture and the roller pushes it past optimum. The material will break up, loose compaction and you have to start all over again.
 

KSSS

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excavation
I would add on your pad to roll it in one direction and on the next pass roll it 90 degrees from the previous direction. Also over lap the drum from the previous pass. CM1995 is right, getting the moisture content correct on straight clay is no easy task. We seldom have that kind of material in the high desert, its mostly 8" minus pit run. Much easier to compact, and optimum water percentage isn't as difficult to find. If the soil your compacting is bone dry, I would scarify it first once your first lift is laid in. Then add water and relevel, otherwise the top of the lift is wet but its bone dry under it, making compaction misleading, good on top but not so much below the top 4" or so. CM is also correct on it being a science. Lastly, once you have developed a good routine that achieves good compaction. Don't vary from it, do every lift the exact same way.
 

Bls repair

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Redneckracin,
Worked for a contractor that had to proof roll with a loaded truck . Inspector watched him load truck ,then sent to quarry to get weighed. He brought loaded truck back and gave weight ticket to inspector. At the end of the day every one went home,an hour later came back with a big oil tank, dumped the dirt ,put the tank in truck,covered tank with dirt. Finished the job with that truck.:rolleyes:
 

Tones

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Using a smooth drum roller on dirt isn't a good idea. No matter what thickness layers of fill it will laminate (not bind together) hence the reason for pads. A padfood roller can be used for roading gravels but you'll still need a smooth roller to finish, either steel or tyres.
Bls
Have done that a few times but used haybales instead. Ah the old days of the Benkelman Beam Test.
 

redneckracin

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Redneckracin,
Worked for a contractor that had to proof roll with a loaded truck . Inspector watched him load truck ,then sent to quarry to get weighed. He brought loaded truck back and gave weight ticket to inspector. At the end of the day every one went home,an hour later came back with a big oil tank, dumped the dirt ,put the tank in truck,covered tank with dirt. Finished the job with that truck.:rolleyes:
Wow. Thats ballsy. :eek: I can't imagine its worth getting black balled from bidding projects to save some time on the current one. If they were willing to do that though, I bet they tried to cut corners elsewhere too. That contractor would have some explaining to do to if a nuke Guage showed up one day too.
 

Bls repair

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Had another outfit put a check valve on a water line pressure test . Was doing ok till the inspector dumped the pressure and the gauge didn’t move.:eek: They had some explaining to do then:D
 
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