Smooth Drum Compactors Dismantled Machines

About Smooth Drum Compactors

Most smooth drum compactors use one or two cylindrical steel rollers to pack down soil, gravel, concrete, asphalt, or surfaces to make them denser and better able to support heavy loads. The weighty machines’ rollers provide sheer compaction force, typically with vibration (rapid up-and-down motion) or oscillation (clockwise/counterclockwise motion) to magnify the drums’ effect on the material. They go by many different names, including “smooth drum roller compactors,” “vibratory smooth drum compactors,” “vibratory utility compactors,” and “road rollers,” just to name a few.

Variations On A Theme

Depending on its number of rollers, a compactor is either a single- or double-drum (tandem) model, although some, such as the Dynapac CS1400 and Sakai R2H, use three drums. Single-drum models may have non-compacting pneumatic tires in the rear. Combination compactors are those with a smooth drum in front and compacting tires in the rear; in contrast, pneumatic compactors have rows of rubber compacting tires front and rear. Finally, walk and tow-behind compactors include models that resemble a push-style lawnmower with either a vibrating smooth drum (or drums) or plate, and unpowered smooth or padfoot drums that can be pulled behind a tractor or other machine.

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Dynapac CC1200Vi Smooth Drum Compactor

Smooth drum compactors come in a variety of weights and drum widths suited to almost any use. Models range in weight from 1.5 tons (1.35 metric tons) to more than 28 tons (25.4 metric tons) to pack material into a dense foundation for streets, highways, airport runways, parking lots, and other projects. Compaction widths range from about 31.5 to 84.3 inches (800 to 2,140 millimeters). Narrow models typically have a tight turning radius for maneuverability around manhole covers and utility panels.

Early Beginnings

HAMM of Tirschenreuth, Germany, is said to have invented the first motorized road roller in 1911, a superior diesel-powered alternative to the steamrollers of the day. In 1983, the company developed an oscillating roller drum, which produced better compaction results than traditional vibratory drums. Its rotational oscillation maintained contact with the surface at all times, unlike the up-and-down motion of a vibrating drum.

Over the years, manufacturers provided various means for the operator to adjust the weight of smooth drum compactors for the best results with the soil or asphalt mixture, such as by adding water, wet or dry sand, steel, magnetite, or concrete ballast weights. Many compactors include water spray options to keep the drums from picking up hot, sticky asphalt.

Modern Features

Today many roller compactors are capable of both oscillation and vibration to make them more versatile. The number of vibrations ranges up to 4,800 per minute in the Volvo DD128C. Meanwhile, HAMM’s DV+ 70i VS-OS and DV+ 90i VS-OS compactors have oscillation drums split into left and right sides for better results on curves. The drums maintain synchronized oscillations as they turn at different speeds around a bend, minimizing shear stresses and avoiding both cracks in the surface and asphalt displacement.

Other advances are making smooth drum compactors more comfortable to operate and able to reach specific compaction densities with fewer passes and in less time. Volvo’s Compact Assist tool, for example, relates pass and temperature mapping data to the operator to help prevent over-compaction and other mistakes. Other Volvo features include an Impact Spacing Meter tool to suggest optimized driving speeds. Meanwhile, CASE’s ACE Force system uses technology to measure and document compaction quality, and to help achieve target compaction levels in fewer passes. The U.S. Federal Highway Administration’s “Intelligent Compaction” initiative calls for compactors to be able to measure the stiffness and temperature of the mat, adjust themselves accordingly, and map out the areas they’ve compacted.

Find The Right Smooth Drum Compactor

Popular manufacturers of new and used smooth drum compactors available on MachineryTrader.com include BOMAG, Caterpillar, Dynapac, HAMM, and Volvo. Some of the most plentiful models on MachineryTrader.com are the BOMAG BW177 and BW213, Cat CS56, Dynapac CA2500, HAMM H11 and HD12, and Volvo SD115.