414 Landscape Design, Installation, and Management Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Grading Equipment Most sites need to be cleared of debris, existing plant material, or thick brush, rocks, and other debris before they can be graded. The amount of clearing work and the size of the area may require the use of larger equipment, such as a bull- dozer, in place of a skid-steer. Skid-steers are compact machines that can be used in both large and small areas. They are the most common machinery used for grading landscape projects, Figure 15-20. A skid-steer can be used to scoop and level soil and to carry large loads, such as pallets of sod or mature trees. Compactors In landscaping, tamping is the process of packing (compacting) the sub- surface of a hardscape to help level the site and minimize shifting. Tampers may be power or hand-operated and the type used will depend primarily on the size of the area being tamped. Hand tampers have long handles with a fl at metal plate attached at one end, Figure 15-21A. Power machines are referred to as vibratory tampers. Vibratory tampers are walk-behind power machines with a large metal plate that vibrates on the subsurface to compact the mate- rial, Figure 15-21B. Power machines signifi cantly reduce the amount of time it takes to prepare the subsurface for hardscape installation. These tools are also referred to as compactors. Safety First Always call 811 to have all buried telephone, gas, electrical, and water lines marked before beginning any excavation work. Safety First Grading and other machines must be loaded and unloaded from trailers by experienced drivers wearing a safety belt. The rollover protection device must always be kept in place when the machine is being driven and loaded or unloaded from a trailer. Orange Line Media/Shutterstock.com Figure 15-20. Skid-steer loaders are available with tracks or wheels. Roman Korotkov/Shutterstock.com