Padfoot Compactors Dismantled Machines

About Padfoot Compactors

Padfoot compactors, sometimes called “tamping rollers,” are excellent as vibratory soil compactors for cohesive (sticky) and semi-cohesive materials such as silt and clay. They use cylindrical or wheel-shaped drums studded with distinctive pads, cleats, or tips that focus much greater pressure on the areas under their “feet” than a smooth drum’s broader footprint. Padfoot rollers may also mix together any layers of different kinds of soil lying under the surface.

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Caterpillar CP54B Padfoot Compactor

Landfill compactors look similar to padfoot models, but are made for use on garbage storage sites and have protective features to guard against debris and even fires. Smooth drum compactors, meanwhile, use smooth-surfaced drums to compact soil or fresh asphalt. Other paving models include pneumatic compactors with rubber tires and combination models with one smooth drum and one row of rubber tires.

Features

Padfoot compactors use tapered or straight feet that penetrate the ground with square, oval, or other tip shapes. Caterpillar recommends oval-faced pads for better performance on cohesive soils and square-shaped pads for semi-cohesive materials. Oval feet penetrate the ground (or lift) more deeply, whereas square feet tend to seal the surface well. Other pad shapes have been called prismatic, pegfoot, spindle, and clubfoot. A variant with a slender, tapered tip is called a sheepsfoot. The pad tips may or may not be replaceable. Depending on their shapes, the feet may also be optimized for traction, fuel economy, and/or stability on slopes.

It takes multiple passes for a padfoot compactor to cover the areas its feet missed on previous passes. It may employ a scraper to keep its pads from becoming clogged with clay. Rollers with longer pads such as a sheepsfoot model will leave a loose layer of churned soil behind, necessitating final compaction with a smooth roller afterward.

Technologies

Some newer padfoot compactors use compaction-measuring systems that tell the operator when maximum compaction has been achieved. An example is Cat’s Machine Drive Power, or MDP, which ascertains rolling resistance to gauge the stiffness of the soil. Some compactors also feature mapping systems to guide the driver to areas that need additional passes. Also, like most recent machinery, new padfoot compactors support telematics for wireless reporting of location and operating data.

Popular Brands & Models

Leading manufacturers of padfoot compactors include BOMAG, Caterpillar, Dynapac, HAMM, Ingersoll-Rand, and Sakai. Some of the most plentiful models on MachineryTrader.com are the Cat 815, 825, CP44, and CP56, as well as the BOMAG BW177 and BW213.