A Soil Compactor and Procedure Used for Preparing Soil Cores for Measuring Physical Properties

A motor‐driven soil compactor is described. The action involves a dropping technique while the soil surface is simultaneously under spring loading. A procedure is proposed for compacting moist samples. A typical curve is shown relating compacted bulk density to water content at compaction. The curve displays a minimum bulk density at a water content associated with a 5‐bar suction value used to equilibrate the fragmented soil sample prior to compaction. Compacted cores obtained with water content as a controlled variable are being used for obtaining soil physical properties in order to evaluate effects of field management and added amendments.