600 kg Soil Compactors

Lift thickness follows the material, not the machine's ceiling. On sand and sandy gravel a 600 kg plate works lifts of 40–60 cm after compaction, on crushed aggregate 30–40 cm, and on mixes carrying a share of fines 20–30 cm. Plan 3 to 5 passes per lift at 20–25 m/min with a strip overlap of about 10–15 cm. The first pass is run slower so the machine does not float on loose material. Beyond the fourth pass the gain in bearing capacity usually drops below 5%, and further cycles risk crushing the grain.

Weight class follows lift thickness and the width of the working front, not spare power. A 600 kg plate pays off on lifts of 40–60 cm and a front at least 2.5 m wide — on anything narrower the machine loses more time turning than it gains in force. The 500 kg class stays handier along kerbs and inside trenches, because it drives up ramps onto a light trailer. The 700 kg class only earns its keep on lifts above 60 cm and stretches longer than 100 m, where output offsets the cost of a crane or low-loader.

Cohesive soils — loams, clays and silts — take thinner lifts of 20–30 cm and need moisture close to optimum, in practice within roughly 2 percentage points of the Proctor test value. A vibratory plate acts less effectively on such ground than on granular fill, because the energy dissipates within the layer instead of rearranging grains; with a high clay content a tamping rammer is often the better tool. Backfill from rubble and demolition mixes calls for 4 to 6 passes and even spreading, since lumps over 100 mm leave voids hidden once the surface looks compacted.

Working time is capped by hand-arm vibration exposure. Regulations set an action value of 2.5 m/s² and a limit value of 5 m/s², both normalised to an eight-hour shift. Heavy plates in the 600 kg class with a vibration-damped drawbar usually measure 2–5 m/s² at the handle, so at a reading of 4 m/s² the action value is reached after roughly 3 hours of work and the limit value only past 12 hours. Remote control, offered on some configurations in this class, removes almost all exposure and is often the only answer where the machine runs a full shift. Declared values come from the machine data sheet.