What is the difference between a plate compactor and a “Jumping-Jack” compactor?
A. Plate compactors are used most often to compact soil under sidewalks, pads, garage floors and other large flat surfaces. They will compact material up to 6″ thick in one pass. Contractor size plate compactors have a plate size of 20″ x 24″. Smaller plate compactors (we refer to them as “patio” plate compactors) can also be used to compact material behind retaining walls, around pools and even on top of pavement bricks. Patio plate compactor plate size is 13″ x 21″. “Jumping Jack” compactors are used in narrow areas such as trenches. They can compact material up to 12″deep in one pass. The “Shoe” size is 11″ x 13″.
