i am in the market for a plate tamper. Something with a plate width of about 17 to 20 inches. And about 6,000 Vibrations Per Minute. I was just wondering if any brands are better than others. I've been looking at wacker and multiquip. Im just wondering what your opinions are on them. Thanks
Take a look at Mikasa, they're damn near indestructable! I bought one used from a paving contractor 8 years ago, he had used it about 5 or 6 years himself and it's still my frony line compactor! I picked up a second one that another contractor had abandoned, ran it a few months(made a good mosquito control screen) until the motor blew. Threw on a 5 horse Honda and I'm back in business. I've had to replace the engine on the original compactor too, but other than that I haven't done anything to either one of them! They don't owe me a dime!
I personally like Weber Mt. I have a 10,000 revesible with a Honda motor it is great. I have had for more than a year always outside on the jobor the back of the truck always starts 1st pull.
We bought a used Bomag this spring for $900. Don't know exact specs on it but it's a pretty solid unit. I figured I couldn't go wrong with Bomag, but would have considered buying a Mikasa, Ingersol or Wacker.
I thought I'd bump this thread back up to ask a question. My Mikasa with a 5.5 Honda threw a rod yesterday while being borrowed. It was an ebay special anyway and had given me 3 years of good service so I'm contemplating putting a new Honda on it. Where's the best place to get one, Northern tool? The dealers are foolish in price from my previous experience, so that really isn't an option. I'm checking ebay just in case, but am leary of a used one. Thanks.
I have a Wacker, probably 10 years old. Much heavier then what you get from the rental yard. Good for working, bad if I am alone, need a machine to load it. I also picked it up second from a paver. It is still running the original Tecumseh but I have a Honda sitting in the garage for it. I think I will swap it this this summer for reason below I picked up a factory reman from the Honda dealer this spring. It was just a bit more then Northern & substantially less then a new Honda from the dealer and still carried a warranty.
Old company i used for had an older diesel bomag. Thing had been used on i dont know how many hundreds of house sites and NEVER even had an oil change. still fired right up and ran like a top though. Dont remember the specs on it, i think it was rated for something like 18" in sand/pit run.
I've bought a number of engines from Northern. The price is right, but they sometimes hammer you on the shipping costs. John DiMartino knows of an engine wholesaler on line, if you can wait a day or two I'll get him to respond. I don't know if their prices are any better than Northern or not.
www.smallenginewarehouse.com:yup
Thanks for the link, I just stumbled across that site this am while searching. I'm waiting for them to open to see if they have the model I need.
That's the same place John uses. Good luck!
Check out what's available, with specifications, at www.spec-check.com click on Current Models, then select Light Equipment Compactors Vibratory Plate and then choose by manufacture or size class. Best, L
We have 7 of the Wackers, 5 of the smaller non reversible ones and 2 of the large ones with reverse, all with Honda motors. The small ones get rented a lot and except for the rare belt breaking are one of the most problem free items we carry. The larger reversible ones only go out a few times a year. If I remember right the weght of the large one is 360 lbs.