How Much Does A Yard Of Topsoil Weigh?
Are you wondering how much does a yard of topsoil weigh? On average topsoil weighs between 1,800 and 2,700 pounds. This varies with density and added moisture in the soil.
Doing any yard projects with planting and gardens usually requires adding topsoil or dirt. And knowing how much it weighs helps figure out the best way to get the topsoil to your house. In this articles, we’ll discuss how much a yard of topsoil weighs and how to figure out how much you need for your project.
Let’s dig in. 🙂
Table of Contents
How Much Does A Yard Of Topsoil Weigh?
The weight of topsoil is determined by its density and moisture content. Density refers to the amount of space that one cubic foot takes up while moisture content determines how wet or dry the soil is.
By using the standard soil density which is 100 lbs/ft3 , you can calculate that a cubic yard of topsoil is roughly 2,700 lbs. This can definitely be less or more depending on how much moisture and other materials are in the soil.
What Is Topsoil?
Soil is made up of different components including sand, silt, clay, organic matter, air pockets, water, roots, etc. These elements make up what is known as “topsoil.”
These elements make up “Topsoil” which has been classified into three categories based on their sizes; coarse-loamy, fine loam, and sandy soils.
Coarse-loamy soils have large particles ranging from 0.25 inches to 3 inches in diameter. Fine loam soils consist of small particles ranging from.01 inch to.25 inches in diameter. Sandy soils contain very few particles larger than.5 inches in diameter.
You can see the soil pyramid to see what yours is made up of.
How Do You Calculate How Much Topsoil You’ll Need?
To determine how much topsoil you will need for your garden, first measure the area where you want to plant. Measure the length and width and then decide how deep you want your topsoil to be. The depth depends on what type of plants your planting and how deep their roots go. On average, you can use 3-8 inch depth of topsoil for most planting.
Using An Online Topsoil Calculator
For Your Project If you don’t know exactly how many yards of topsoil you need, an online calculator may help you estimate how much topsoil to buy. Here is a great online soil calculator
What Does a Cubic Yard Look Like
While talking about weight, length, width, and depth it’s hard sometimes to visualize what that will look like. Here is a picture and video of us getting one cubic yard for our raised garden bed. When they fill up a trailer, they usually use the smaller loader bucket since it’s the perfect size for it.
How Many Yards of Topsoil Will Fit in a Pickup Truck?
It all depends on the size of the bed. Most trucks come equipped with beds that hold about 6 feet long x 4 feet wide. You also have to look at your truck’s payload capacity. 6ft x 4ft dimensions and 8 inches depth is about .65 cubic yards level. The weight of that topsoil would be between 1500-1800lbs, so just make sure your truck can handle that.
We use a trailer, which has about the same dimensions as a standard truck bed and this works perfectly for towing this amount of dirt. We were able to fill it with a full cubic yard by creating a mound and our Ford Expedition can tow more than 2,700lbs.
How Many Yards are In a Dump Truck?
If you need more topsoil than you can find in bags or in a truck or trailer bed, then using a full dump truck is a better idea. We did this when we got river rock delivered. Typically a dump truck can carry 18 cubic yards of topsoil. This is perfect is you are completely re-sodding your yard or doing a lot of planting.
How many wheelbarrows in 1 yard of topsoil?
A typical wheelbarrow can hold about 3 cubic ft. There are also some shallower wheelbarrows that hold 2 cubic ft. So it will take 9 loads with the 3 cubic feet wheelbarrow and 14 for the 2ft wheelbarrow.
This is super helpful to know If you get the topsoil delivered, then you’ll want to figure out how many wheelbarrow trips you’ll need for the mound of dirt that gets delivered.
Conclusion
Knowing how much topsoil weighs and calculating how much you need for a particular project makes things easier when buying topsoil. With these two factors taken care of, you won’t end up overbuying or underbuying topsoil.
Find out if you should be growing microgreens in soil or hydroponics. Don’t forget to checkout out grass free yard ideas, if you’re wanting to have more of a flat surface yard.
