Are you looking for soil which you could buy for landscaping or for you to fill a hole? You came to the right place as through this article, we shall discuss information and details on how much dirt you would need and how much your vehicle could handle.
Dirt suppliers have a service of delivering your purchased dirt to your place which you could avail with no worries or problems. However, keep in mind that this would cost you additional fees. Hence, depending on the amount of dirt you will be hauling, paying additional fee could be worth it especially if you are hauling a lot of dirt. However, if you have your own truck or vehicle, you could use it to bring your purchased dirt to your home. This method is cheaper and at the same time a faster option.
With this, if you are wondering how much does a yard of dirt weighs and if you could bring the dirt yourself safely to your home through the use of your own truck, read further and learn more.
What is a cubic yard of dirt?
Dirt is sold through measuring the volume which consists of length, width and height. This is better compared to a box which you could imagine as a yard long, 1-yard wide and 1-yard high. Another way to put it, this could be called as a cubic yard of dirt. Thus, if you will convert it, a yard is three feet and one cubic yard is 27 cubic feet.
How much does a yard of dirt weigh?
The weight of dirt depends on a lot of factors such as moisture and other materials that are mixed with it. Topsoil- cubic yard would weigh about 2200 pounds. Hence, if you decide to purchase dirt, you will first have to learn and know the difference between topsoil dirt and fill dirt.
A topsoil dirt is often utilized for landscaping and gardening. It includes some organic matters and compositions that are perfect for growing plants. Its organic matter, however, over time, degrades.
Fill dirt on the other hand is used for covering ditches and trenches in your yard or around the foundation of your house. This does not have any organic matters in it. However, it could contain some small rocks and debris. This is what you should order if you need a stable non-shifting ground area. Furthermore, if you purchase fill dirt, keep in mind that this would weigh more compared to topsoil dirt.
Dirt Types and its Weight
- Loose Top Soil 2,100 lbs
- Compact Top Soil 2,500 lbs
- Clay dirt weighs (dry) 2,300 lbs
- Gravel 3,300 lbs
- Gravel (wet) 3,450 lbs
- Loose dirt 2,800 lbs
- Sand weighs (dry) 2,700 lbs
- Sand weighs (wet) 3,100 lbs
- Fill dirt weighs 2,150 lbs
- Pulverized dirt weighs 2,300 lbs
How many pounds is a yard of dirt?
If you are landscaping or fixing your garden, you would need to haul topsoil. This means, you would need to purchase a yard of dirt. If you will convert this to pounds, you will need about 2,100 pounds. However, if you will be purchasing pulverized screened soil which is fine and loose, you would need about 2250 pounds. Of course there are external variables which could affect the weight of your soil such as mentioned earlier the moisture and debris mixed in it. Hence, if you are buying fill dirt with less debris, you will probably be getting more consistently 2150 pounds.
How many yards of dirt will fit in a pickup truck?
If you have purchased dirt and you plan to use your own pickup truck instead of paying for delivery, then we could say that half-ton truck like Ford F150 or Dodge Ram could handle half cubic yards of soil as the maximum limit. If you want to be sure, you could check your truck manual to gauge the maximum hauling capacity.
Gross Combined Weight Rating (GCWR) – maximum weight of your vehicle (weight, cargo, passenger, fuel and trailer cargo weight)
Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) – truck’s maximum weight including passenger, cargo and tongue weight
Dirt weight which could fit your pickup truck
- One ton 2000 pounds (1 cubic yard dirt load)
- Half ton 1000 pounds (half cubic yard dirt load)
- 3/5 ton 1500 pounds (3/4 yard of topsoil load)
Take in mind that you will need to know what is the maximum weight limit before you load dirt into your pickup truck. Your truck’s towing capacity will depend on the frame, suspension, brakes and engine.
The more muscular your pick-up is the more you will able to haul more dirt into it in a single trip. When you load your truck, ensure that you do it slowly and check how it is handling all the weight.
How much dirt can a dump truck haul?
This depends on the truck rating which is also dependent on the volume of the bed of your dump truck. You will be able to approximately haul between 22,000 to 28,000 pounds of weight or 11 to 14 cubic yards of dirt.
Huge dump truck could even carry up to 28,000 pounds of dirt while smaller one could handle about 15,000 to 18,000 pounds of dirt.
How much topsoil would you need for landscaping?
This is easy to calculate. All you need to do is known the area you wish to place your topsoil on and how deep or high you wish for it to fill. You could easily do this through the use of a measuring tape. Check the length and width. If you would like to place around the foundation, you will need to check the height as well. Once you have identified the length, width and height, you could multiply all three which will give you your volume.
If you wish to double check, use a soil calculator.
How many bags of dirt makes yard?
There are some retailers which sells dirt by the bag. Some comes in a 28 to 30-liter bag. To make a cubic yard, you would need about 27 bags of dirt. Hence, if you are purchasing soil for a garden or lawn, ensure that you get the right kind. Take in mind that gardening soil comes with a mixture of sand, clay, silt and organic compost. If you are not sure which type of gardening soil you would need, we suggest to consult a gardening professional or advisor.
Conclusion:
This concludes our article and we hope that we were able to provide you knowledge on how to determine measurement of dirt. To summarize this article, a cubic yard of dirt will weigh about 2100 to 2200 pounds depending on the type of dirt and other factors such as rock, moisture and other foreign objects.
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