Jumping Jack

[badranman]

I bought a used Bomag BT60 jumping jack compactor at an auction the other day. It's in great condition and I paid $300.00 for it. My question is, how much material can this compact per lift? I tried it out in the yard and it was pounding a hole to China pretty fast so I assume it can do a reasonable amount of compaction.

 

[Squizzy246B]

I just ordered the 4 stroke Dynapac of the same size. Jumpin Jacks can actually acheive a better lift than large plateys just they are slower. The specs should be available on the Bomag site or from your dealer. Our Dynapac can run more than a 12" lift depending on the soil type.

 

[badranman]

Thanks Squizzy. Their website is showing a "maximum compaction depth" of 21 inches. Ay Carumba, can that be true? Seems like alot to me.

 

[Squizzy246B]

Thanks Squizzy. Their website is showing a "maximum compaction depth" of 21 inches. Ay Carumba, can that be true? Seems like alot to me.

Well, believe it or not it can be true. We just finished preping for a big wall with a two stroke Wacker pogo stick. Compaction prior was; 1st 12" 3 blows, 2nd 12" 6 blows. After about 4 or 5 passes with the Jumpin Jack we had 8 and 10 blows and thats down to 24". I wont always be as good as that but they do avery good job if used correctly...just slow thats all but we find in the tight spots there is nothing else as good. We also find they are less likely to bring a back slope on trench in on top of you compared to a high frequency plate compactor.

On the job above we actually hired two wackers for the day just to make sure we got it done.

All compactors will suffer when there is clay around though.

 

[ForsytheBros.]

Badran-

We also own a used Bomag series rammer- BT65 2 cycle is our model and we've been nothing but happy with it. Many Many compaction cycles and had few problems, although a few bolts we bought from the dealer were pricey.

Regarding lift thickness, we generally stick to a smaller lift, generally max 12". I preface this by saying that most of our compaction work is limited to clay backfill areas of high plasticity. Our lift thickness is more related to getting the rammer stuck or difficulty advancing the rammer in the trench versus it's ability to make density. We find that makes us a little more productive overall and keeps the humps and valleys down a little as we progress the backfilling operation..... we wish you equally good results with yours..

 

[Lashlander]

We go 12" max. Thats a good deal on that compactor if its any condition at all.

 

[SlickNick]

This can vary with the type of material used, and time to take to do it.

but 12" is very fair for standard soil, more for sand, and less for clay materials.

Ill never forget my first day on the job of a heavy equipment site, i was handed a shovel and a jumping jack and i had to compact the sides of storm drain being laid. IT XXXXXX SUCKED. But i was 18 years old than and didnt even know how to hook up a chain then, but after a while you learned to let the jumping jack do the work. After i masterd the jumping jack it was off to the trench roller, than the bobcat, than the roller, loader, and so on. I look back now and im greatful of that day running that jumping jack and it was the start to learning how to run alot of equipment.

Im sure alot of you guys may have started out the same way eh?