Evolution Power Tools H320-E Hulk Electro Plate Compactor, Electric - Ideal For Levelling Pavement, Artificial Turf Ground Preparation, Patio, Blockwork, Sand, Soil & More - 3 Year Warranty, 230V

Great product. Always wanted a wacker plate. Heavy enough but easy to handle. Doing a great job. Good value. Best money I have spent. Had no problems with handle. Must have improved product as it is very sturdy. Look after the product and it will look after you. Like anything...don't overwork it otherwise like any electrical item it will over heat. Just keep using it in short bursts as I have done and you don't have any problems unless you are unlucky enough to get a faulty item

Okay, this is a five star tool because it's well priced and is in a very small category of one when it comes to electric whacker plates but dropped A Star for a less than perfect handle. It is specifically aimed at the home gamer who is perhaps more enthusiastic than most when it comes to DIY and garden projects not the professional (or in my experience mostly unprofessional) builder.So my review is based entirely on the fact that this is ideal for home use and the price is far less than a reasonable quality fuel powered machine.So, firstly the really good thing. It's electric. And that means a couple of things. In use it's fairly quiet and that counts if you are doing work in your garden over the weekend and don't want to drive your neighbours nuts. Secondly, you don't have to mess around with petrol and lube oil which, inevitably means a cleaner and quicker job.The tool itself does a really good job of flattening sand and other aggregates. In fact, just as good as a half reasonable petrol one which, I was quite surprised about. I had fully expected this to take a much longer to do what I've done before having done a garage build when I borrowed a mates petrol machine to flatten down the hoggin base.The cable is robust and plenty long enough to reach most areas in a moderate sized garden or drive. No problems there.I also noted that in the review section one of the 'Star ratings' was for 'Lightweight' which, is a bit dumb. It isn't meant to be light because it's a whacker and that needs some heft. And by gum, it is pretty weighty. So if you are blessed with arms like Olive Oil then best you prepare yourself....Now, the bad - which I've seen other comments on. The handle is assembled using knobs so that you can disassemble for storage or transport. All well and good but....it's a whacker and therefore vibrates like a ladies bedroom toy on acid. And that means the handle knobs unscrew and fall out. You can tell when they start to slacken off immediately because the vibration in the handle increases dramatically. Given the design there is no way you can stop this because the rounded hollow bars that have the knurled knob tighten against will never allow enough friction to hold anything tight.This would be a problem but to be honest having spent my life on ships, building them and in the offshore oil construction industry and having been pre-warned by other reviews I figured I could MacGyver it some how. If you are not happy with mechanical tools and don't want to have to do a little home work on this, then I could imagine this whacker ending up on EBay quickly...Overall, this is a great bit of kit that works well. However, the handle falling apart will need to be dealt with and if you are not able to do this or don't feel inclined then it will be less than an ideal choice for you.

Did the job i wanted it to do,compacting some type one for a drive.Good price.

Like many reviewers I was still somewhat dubious about buying the Electro before buying. I have a small oddly shaped area in my garden where I intend to lay artificial turf so needed to lay a four inch layer of MOT before I sand and place down the turf. The Electro is just about light enough to be carried or moved to the area you want to compact but just about heavy enough to be very effective. Easy to assemble and I understand that a special 'Pavier' attachment is available for block pavier use. I laid the MOT in several days, laying an inch down each day, compacting and then laying another inch on top, etc. I am incredibly impressed with the Electro - it's done me proud so far. I didn't encounter excessive vibration in the handle when using it. I have scored five for manoeuvrability because on the larger internal area of my MOT lay it was very easy to manoeuvre - not so good on the edges and corners, where I found myself having to pick it up and reverse direction. I have another small area in the garden that will need a sub-base and I shall use the Electro again for that. I worked out it was cheaper and easier than renting. When I have finished I shall place it up for sale on eBay or the local town social media website for £100 ono and it will have only cost me just over £100 to do the compacting. Nice bit of kit and I would strongly recommend for amateur DIYers or those with small projects.

The compactor was delivered quickly.Assembly was delayed as the instruction manual shows 4 thumbscrews also any videos I've watched show the same thumbscrews, these weren't in the box so I decided to contact Evolution customer service.Complaint form not working.Live chat not working.Phone number not working.Email not answered.I finally discovered my self that the unit design has changed and instead of thumbscrews there are now Allen bolts already inserted on the handle.The unit itself is small and suitable for small jobs and has the advantage of being portable compared to petrol units.Seems OK so far and hopefully it doesn't break as the customer service is so poor.

Bought this after seeing a review on you tube by the gosforth handyman. I’m doing a lot of patio work (for the first time) on weekends in my garden so didn’t want to hire one.First impressions were good. Feels well built. Took about 5 minutes to put together.I’ve never used a walker plate before so wasn’t sure what to expect. It obviously vibrates heavily which does start to hurt your hands after a couple of minutes. Probably because you have to hold tight to direct it where you want it to go. The front does bounce up and down a bit at times. I’ve been doing it layers and everything is well compacted and stable.This is aimed squarely at the diy man. Not for professional tradesmen and for that I’d say it does exactly what’s it’s meant to.

Why only 4 stars?Well the handle keeps coming apart, the vibration just shakes all the fasteners undone.I had to tape them up to stop them undoing.Otherwise works perfectly, a lot quieter than a petrol whacker.