Pleased to announce that our HAMM HC130i compaction roller is now available for hire across the South West. It’s a serious bit of kit, top spec across the board, and a properly capable machine for any job involving cohesive soil compaction. If you’re working on earthworks, embankments, road sub-bases, or landfill compaction, this is the roller you want behind the wheel.
Big thanks to CCE Plant Sales for supplying the machine. Always good to deal with a supplier who knows their kit and delivers what they promise.
The HC130i sits in HAMM’s H-series single-drum compactor range, and it’s built for the work that lighter rollers simply can’t handle. Operating weight comes in at around 13 tonnes, which puts it firmly in the mid to heavy class. That’s the sweet spot for most large-scale civils and groundworks projects. It’s powerful enough to compact deep lifts properly, but still manoeuvrable enough to work efficiently on site without the access headaches you get with the really big machines.
The padfoot drum is what makes this configuration particularly useful. Smooth drum rollers are great for granular materials and finishing work, but when you’re dealing with cohesive soils like clays, silts, and mixed fill, a padfoot drum is what you actually need. The pads dig into the material and knead it as the drum rotates, breaking up clods and driving compaction down through the layer rather than just sealing the surface. For anyone who’s tried to compact heavy clay with the wrong machine, you’ll know exactly why this matters. Get the wrong roller on cohesive ground and you end up with a compacted crust over uncompacted material underneath, which is exactly the failure mode you don’t want on a structural fill.
The HC130i is fitted with HAMM’s Hammtronic system, which is one of the genuine selling points of this machine. Hammtronic is essentially an intelligent machine management system. It coordinates the engine, hydraulics, and vibration system electronically to optimise performance based on what the machine is actually doing. In practical terms, that means lower fuel consumption, better compaction output, less wear on the driveline, and a noticeably more comfortable cab for the operator. Long days on a compactor are physically demanding work, and reducing operator fatigue translates directly into better quality output across a full shift.
The cab itself is built to a high standard. Proper visibility around the drum, ergonomic controls, climate control, and low noise and vibration levels. HAMM have put real thought into operator comfort on the H-series, and it shows. For hire customers running a machine on a long-term project, the difference between a comfortable cab and a basic one is the difference between an operator who’s still working efficiently at 4pm and one who’s flagging.
In terms of typical applications, the HC130i covers a lot of ground. Earthworks contractors use it for embankment construction and road sub-base compaction. Civils firms use it on commercial development sites, infrastructure projects, and major housing schemes where large volumes of fill need to be placed and compacted properly. Landfill operators use it for daily cover and cell construction. Quarries and aggregate sites use it for haul roads and processing areas. Anywhere you’re placing cohesive material in lifts and need to compact it to specification, this machine will do the job.
Hire availability matters because not every project justifies buying a £150,000+ machine outright. For contractors taking on a one-off earthworks package, a phased programme, or a project that just needs additional compaction capacity to keep up with the muck shifting, hiring in the right roller for the duration makes a lot more sense than tying up capital. We’ll deliver, the operator runs it for the period you need, and we collect at the end. No maintenance worries, no depreciation, no parked-up machine when the job finishes.
Delivery is sorted via our own low loader, so you’re not waiting on a third-party transport company to fit you in. We can have the machine on site when you need it, and off site when the job’s done. That control over logistics is part of why hiring through an operator who runs their own heavy haulage makes life easier. You’re dealing with one company end to end rather than coordinating between separate hire and transport providers.
If you’ve got a project coming up that needs serious compaction capacity, the HC130i is ready to go. Rates available on request. Get in touch for a quote based on duration, site location, and any additional requirements like operator hire or fuel.
If you want more information regarding HAMM HC130i hire, padfoot roller availability, or compaction plant for your project, contact Aardvark on 01392 832124.