Bricks, Masonry, Asphalt and Concrete - Homemade Hand Tamper?

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Rider93hawg
05-25-09, 08:19 AM
Hello,
Doing a brick walkway out in front of the house. Any ideas what to use or how to build a hand tamper so I can pack the dirt down before I add rock and sand. So far I have come up with attaching an old iron barbell weight to a bar or picking up a cinder block and dropping it all around for a while to pack the ground. Was wondering if anyone had devised something that they found worked well. Thanks.

Tscarborough
05-25-09, 08:42 AM
Cut a piece of 1/2 or 3/4 plywood 8x8. Screw it to a 4x4 about 6-8 inches long. Drill a hole in the 4x4 4-4 inches deep just the size of a broom handle. Either cross screw the handle or keep it damp.
spdavid
05-25-09, 09:59 AM
Well a real tamper isn't all that expensive...

A cinder block is going to break up before too long.

If you have the wood base then buy a section of 1/2 or 3/4 pipe and a flange and screw some wood to the bottom.Your barbell could add some weight or you could improvise with something else.

Pecos
05-25-09, 11:30 AM
I've screwed a foot long piece of 2 x 10 or 2 x 12 board to the head end of a sledgehammer before. the sledge handle is about the right length and the weight of the head makes for a good tamping weight.