I am building my own trail this autumn and want a trail-compacting tool. I'm not sure what the correct name is for this tool. It looks like a square-flat-metal-plate attached in the middle it to a shaft. Not knowing the name for the tool has led to fruitless internet searching! I think these tool are more regularly used for patios and drives (groundforce probably had one). If my memory is correct I saw it in the Weekend-pump-track edition of ST. Any ideas? Ta

it's called a tamper

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=vc0&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-GB%3Aofficial&q=hand+tamper&aq=f&aqi=g10&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

Is it a Tamper?

The specific tool you're referring to is a Mcleod. It's a fire fighting tool and costs a bloody fortune.

Tarmac Tamper ?? – http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&biw=1004&bih=581&&sa=X&ei=R3eSTJLiAuDU4wb5tKSoBA&ved=0CCQQBSgA&q=tarmac+tamper&spell=1

can you put a bit of wood under a sledgehammer, or spade in left hand sledge in right

sounds like a tamper, but if it is a Mcloed i got my local blacksmith to make me one for 25 quid and mines slightly more robust so you can dig, chop, tamp and rake 😀

You want a small whacker.

Like this?
http://www.screwfix.com/search.do?_dyncharset=UTF-8&fh_search=78224&x=11&y=9

Loads of different ones available. Local hire shop is your friend

Yes! Thank you everyone, I wanted a Tamper! I've tried a spade but it's hard to put your weight into it and it feels like the bones in your hand are about to rattle loose. Perfect!

mcleod is the proper trail building tool, but near impossible to get in the UK. Most I've seen were homemade. A tamper would work fine and you could get a larger plate welded on if you wanted.

I've just looked up the McLeod. Indeed, the McLeod looks a perfect all-in-one trail building tool! If only one of the well-known UK dirt-jump bike companies could produce such a tool in strong heat-treated steel(DMR?).

mcleod UK seller @£178

mcleod UK seller @£178

Furk me. I'm going to have to start keeping ours on chains, like pens at the bank.

OP, if you have reasonable access to where you're building, permission to use machinery and a fair stretch of trail to tamp, it might be worth hiring or borrowing a plate compactor. If you tamp the surface down by hand, it'll get there in the end, but the result won't be as good straight away.

the McLeod looks a perfect all-in-one trail building tool!

But a lot of trail builders hate them too – they're not ideal for any of the things they can do (with the possible exception of fighting forest fires).

Mcloed has big surface area, it will compact the soil but depending on moisture / soil type etc it probably wont be compacted enough to ride on straight away without damage.

The Wildfire Warrior Fire Rake and Cutting Tool is used to remove leaves, needles, and to chop grass and small limbs

😯

Like everyone else says, MacLeod is what you're probably after. Tampers tend to be heavier, harder work and a smaller face area.

I find Macleods work fine as far as the unavoidable compromises inherent in a tool that's designed to do several things (rake, tamp, scrape, dig). A good chillington hoe / azada is also very useful in the right situation, as is a long handled (48"), round point, swan neck shovel. Anything long handled is a bonus TBH (saves the back 😉

Just like the bike you ride or the tyre you run though, the right tool for you will depend on what you're digging through and what you're trying to build.

I could go on for hooooouuuurrrrssss ……………….. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

😎

Cheeky Monkey is right in my experience. A Mcleod is a superb compromise tool but it is exactly that.

It's a useful tool for a trail builder to have available but a small selection of other tools including a soil rake, spade and mattock for example is much better.

Our trail building group had 20 made around 8 years ago by a metal fabricator and most are still going strong.

Why don't you just use the back of a spade? Its what we've been using.

What aboput a pogo stick with a plate welded to the bottom, you would look like a proper trail building tool.

Tamper's a bit of a one trick pony but does a job.

You'll need a range of tools i.e:

http://www.stantonhope.com/Tools_26_Equipment_062270_Foresters_Axe_complete_with_Shaft_.asp

and

http://www.northerntooluk.com/forestry-and-logging/forestry-manual-tools/pulaski-axe_119923E.html

I tend to have a spade, shovel, mattock and Chillington hoe on hand when building. A Macleod is useful for tamping due to it's surface area. A lot of the time though we find continuous walking over a laid section of limestone with full barrows does all the tamping needed. Ideally you want to keep riders off until nature has bedded the trail in with a couple of weeks of rain.

lol piston

Really compact stuff with an irish motorbike…

Then give it some with a Wacker

back of the spade for me. other than my skills trail which we ran a wacker plate down it

dont bother with the spade, you wanna get yourself an AZADA!

Similar to a mattock but longer handle and lighter/wider/sharper head.
much more efficient at digging than a spade

Hi, some good food for thought here. I am building on a steep slope in a small bit of woodland and just wonder whether a wacker might struggle on such a gradient. Any thoughts?

Azadas look like a really good tool and I will definitely get hold of one. Thanks.