A wacker plate, or a plate compactor if you prefer, is what makes a sub-base actually a base. It vibrates loose stone into a solid layer so whatever you lay on top stops moving. Skip it and the job looks fine for a summer, then the blocks start to dip where the car parks.
It is one of the most hired things in the yard and one of the most misused. The plate is barely doing anything on a deep pile of loose stone. The compaction comes from working in layers, and that is where most driveways go wrong.
Getting it to the job
We have these in several sizes, and all of them fit through any gate you are likely to meet. Tell us the area you are compacting and we will send one that suits it rather than the biggest one on the yard.
The weight is what people underestimate. Even the smaller ones are fine on the flat, awkward up a step, and a proper two-person job into a boot. Bring someone, and ask which size you are getting before you plan on collecting it.
The numbers
Wacker Plate specification
Hire typeDry hire
Getting it thereCollect or delivered
Getting it to the job
Carried in by hand, so access is not the question it is with the plant.
It still has to get to site: collect it from the yard in Etruria, or we will run it out with the rest of your hire.
The rest of the sheet
Ring the yard if a figure matters to your job and we will check it against the machine before you travel.
What comes with it
Serviced and tested between every hire
Fuelled and ready to work when you take it
Delivery to site, or collect it from the Etruria yard
Off hire from the day you ring, not the day it comes back
What you will need
Two of you to load it, or a tail lift
Boots, gloves and ear protection
Sub-base in thin layers rather than one deep pile
Dry hireCollect or deliveredServiced between hiresSame day when we have it
What people hire it for
The jobs it actually gets used on
Six of the jobs the wacker plate goes out on most. Keep scrolling and they stack.
01/ 06
Block paving and driveways
Compacting the sub-base before the sand and blocks go down, then again over the finished blocks to settle them in.
02/ 06
Patios and slabs
Getting the base solid so the slabs are not rocking a year later.
03/ 06
Shed and garage bases
Anything with a slab going on top wants a compacted base under it, or it cracks.
04/ 06
Backfilling trenches
Compacting fill over a drainage run in layers, so the ground does not sink along the trench line.
05/ 06
Base for artificial grass
The base under artificial turf needs to be as solid as one under paving, and this is what does it.
06/ 06
Repairing a sunken drive
Lifting the affected area, recompacting properly and relaying, rather than topping it up and waiting for it to dip again.
How it works
Hiring the wacker plate start to finish
01
Ring, message or send the details
Tell us the job and the dates. We will say whether it is in, when it is back if it is out, and whether it is the right machine for what you are doing.
02
Collect it, or we run it out
Pick it up from the yard on Brick Kiln Lane in Etruria, or we will deliver it to site. If you ring early enough and it is free, it can often go out the same day.
03
Ring when you are done
We off hire it from the day you ring rather than the day it happens to come back, and collect it from site if we delivered it.
Before you book
What you need to know
Wacker Plate, in the yard on Brick Kiln Lane, Etruria.
01
Work in layers
The single most common mistake. Compact in 75 to 100mm layers, not one deep pile. A plate can only densify so far down, so one pass over 300mm of loose stone leaves a firm crust sitting on nothing.
02
Damp helps, wet does not
Slightly damp sub-base compacts far better than bone dry. Saturated does not compact at all, it just pumps. If it is standing wet, wait.
03
Not the machine for clay
A forward plate is built for granular material such as type 1 and sand. On heavy clay it bounces. If you are compacting clay you want a trench rammer, so ring the yard and tell us the material.
04
Ears, eyes and boots
It is loud and it throws grit. Bring proper protection, and boots rather than trainers.
05
Fuel and checks
It comes to you fuelled and tested. Keep an eye on the level on a long day, and ask at the yard what they want doing about fuel on the way back.
06
Need it today
Usually one we can get straight out, but ring ahead so we can check it’s available rather than you assuming.
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The yard is on Brick Kiln Lane in Etruria, a couple of minutes off the A500, so most of Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme is a short run either way. Collect it yourself if you have something that can carry or tow it, or we will deliver it to site and collect it when you are finished.
Nothing, they are the same machine. Wacker is a manufacturer name that became the everyday word for it in the trade, the way people say Hoover for a vacuum.
Work in 75 to 100mm layers. A forward plate properly densifies around that depth per pass whatever size it is, so build the base up in layers rather than trying to compact one deep pile in one go.
Usually, with the seats down, but these are a two-person lift whichever size you get. If you are not confident about that, we will deliver it.
For anything bigger than a couple of slabs, yes. Compacting the base is what stops slabs rocking and dipping later, and hand tamping does not get near the same density.
Get it booked
Tell us the job. We will tell you the machine.
Ring the yard and you get a straight answer on whether the wacker plate is available, when it is back if it is out on hire, and whether it is the right thing for what you are doing. If it is not, we will say so.
