My long term loaner plate tamper finally gave up the ghost. It was a single direction Whacker and when I got it it was already rode hard and put away wet for years and years.

I figure I might as well use the opportunity to upgrade.

When I worked for a landscaping company awhile ago we had Bomag reversible tampers, there were super effective, but massive and you needed a machine to load and unload them. Probably 500 lbs.

I noticed in the Northern catalog they offer two reversible tampers under 200 lbs with a small plate, I feel like that might be ideal since most of my work is walkways and small patios anyway.

Is it worth the extra 1000 bucks to get a small reversible, or should I just get another single direction and use the hell out of it for another 20 years?

The small reversible ones are great for compacting narrow trenches where you can't easily turn one around.



Sounds like the regular style would be fine for walks and patios.



-Speaking from over twenty years excavating experience.

Harbor Freight has them also fwiw.

I highly doubt they come with a honda strapped onto them though.

How is maintenance on them?

The best part about the single direction is take care of the little Honda, change the eccentric oil every now and then and keep it out of the rain, dead simple.

The reversible ones? The same as the single direction. An engine and vibrator.

However, if direction control fails or gets "buggy", it turns into an extremely heavy single direction, or gets a mind of its own.



Belt replacements are the most common issue I've dealt with.



 

Buy once, cry once.

Get a single direction Multiquip or Wacker and run the shot out of it until you retire.