4
Operation
USING THE SOIL COMPACTION TESTER
1. Loosen the wing nut on the shock collar and slide the collar down the
shaft at least 1” away from the plastic housing.
2. Your tester includes 2 tips (large and a small) that are stored in the tester
housing. The tips can be removed by simply unthreading them from the
housing. (The tips are threaded on to the housing not snapped on).
Choose the tip that best suites the type of soil you have. The small tip is
used for firm soil and the larger tip is used for loose soil.
*It is recommended that you start with the small tip and obtain some
readings. If you feel the readings are very low or the soil is very loose
then change to the larger tip.
Once you have chosen a tip, thread the tip on to the end of the Soil Com-
paction Tester’s shaft.
Note: No valid readings can be obtained from the tester if a tip is not at-
tached to the end of the shaft.
3. Position the tip of the tester on the ground in the area you wish to test.
Apply even downward pressure on both handles of the tester to keep
the shaft and tip penetrating the soil at a slow even pace.
4. The tester shaft is marked at three inch intervals for easy depth measure-
ment. As the tester’s shaft penetrates the soil, the gauge readings at the
3”, 6”, 9” 12”, 15” and 18” depths should be recorded. (Be sure to use the
correct scale for the size tip that you are using on the shaft as indicated
on the dial face)
5. A compacted layer can be determined by the gauge indicator increasing
upward into the red range and then moving back down into the yellow
or green after passing through the compacted layer. The depth of the
beginning of the compacted layer and depth of leaving the compacted
layer should be noted.
Note: multiple readings must be taken from each area of the field. To get
an accurate determination of whether or not you have a soil compac-
tion problem and at what depth the problem exists. The same procedure
should be repeated in other areas of the field as well. One area may not
represent the condition of the whole field.
6. When the tester is not in use, loosen the shock collar’s wing nut and slide
the shock collar up the shaft until it comes in contact with the plastic
housing and tighten the wing nut. This will help prevent damage to your
Soil Compaction Tester.
