Soil compactors include hand-guided and ride-on compaction equipment for compacting soil, gravel and paving sand. Unlike rollers, they are used on smaller areas, in trenches and in confined spaces.
The main types are vibratory plates (forward and reverse models, 50–700 kg) for gravel, paving and asphalt repairs, rammers (vibratory rammers, vibro-rammers) for trenches and cohesive soils, as well as mini-rollers with tandem tyres for medium-sized areas.
Common manufacturers include Wacker Neuson, BOMAG, Weber, Dynapac, Ammann, Hatz, Mikasa, Belle and Atlas Copco.
Soil compactors are used in gardening and landscaping (paving, slab surfacing), for laying service connections, in trench construction for utility lines, in the repair of asphalt surfaces, in building construction for floor slab sub-bases, and for municipal repair works.