Compactor Plate Scheppach HP1200S reviewed

The mighty Scheppach HP1200S compactor plate is a step up from the popular 110S whacker plate from Aldi, and comes in at twice the price!
This compactor plate retails between £400 and £500 in the UK. According to the brochure this 60kg compactor has a powerful 6.5 HP petrol engine that provides 15000N compaction force and 25cm compaction depth. It has a 450 x 350mm self-cleaning plate for great results and a travel speed of 25 m/min for improved productivity. It also came with a black rubber pad for block paving work.

For the groundwork project undertaken in this review on the Scheppach compactor plate, I will not need to use the rubber pad or trolley. I will be compacting tarmac for my trench which you can read about here.

Unboxing the compactor plate

When unboxing the first job I had was to fit the handles. These have thumbscrews and do not need any tools. Once I had fitted these, I then bolted on the throttle using two spanners which were a number 8 and 10. I then had to clip the throttle cables with supplied cable ties.

The next job was to fill up the compactor plate with about half a litre of oil through the dip stick. I found that this process was not documented in the instruction manual. Due to the angle of the drain I had to use to use a small funnel. I had to check the level by screwing in the dip stick and then unscrewing it. This is not the best design as if its full you need to re-screw it in again. I then filled it up with E10 petrol from the pump.

Compacting sand and ballast

To start the compactor I set the engine switch to on and then pulled the cord. The compactor jumped into life on the first pull. The first test I did was to compact sand and ballast with this compactor. Its easy to steer the whacker plate apart from when the compactor sinks due to its weight. Turning around at the end of a run is heavy and awkward but I found the handles are well placed handles on the frame.

Compacting cold lay tarmac

For the next test I filled up a trench with cold lay tarmac. The tarmac had reviews whereby feedback was that it broke up easily. The whacker plate made easy work of the cold lay tarmac, thoroughly compactor and even in the blistering heat of last summer, followed by the cold of the winter at -8C I had no issues. On tarmac the whacker plate is much easier to turn. As this model is aggresive I found it sometimes left cracks in other places in the drive where there was an underlying fault. All in all I am impressed.

Whacker plate cost

On the finance side if this was all I was doing it would be cheaper to rent. As I need the compactor plate for a few jobs over a long period of time and then will sell second hand, the cost is going to even out. I purchased mine direct from Scheppach on ebay with a voucher code and got 20% off. I could have bought the cheaper model at Aldi but I needed something with high impact.

Personal protection equipment whilst using compactor plate

For PPE I wore steel toe cap boots and eye protection. For long jobs I have purchased vibration resistant gloves and ear defenders.