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How Much Does a Yard of Mulch, Gravel or Stone Weigh?

One cubic yard of gravel or stone weighs about 2,600–2,800 lb — roughly 1.3 to 1.4 tons. That is more than most half-ton pickups should carry in a single load. Mulch and soil are far lighter and are sold by volume, because their weight swings by hundreds of pounds a yard between dry and soaked. The table below is what we actually load at the yard.

Will it fit in my truck?

Before you hitch up, do this one piece of arithmetic — it takes ten seconds and it is the difference between a good day and a tow truck.

1. Open your driver door and read the sticker. It gives a payload figure — the combined weight of people, gear and cargo the truck is rated for. Payload varies hugely between trucks that look identical, so use YOUR number, not a rule of thumb from the internet.
2. Subtract yourself and whatever is already in the truck. Two adults and a toolbox is easily 400 lb of that budget gone.
3. Divide what is left by the weight per yard in the table. For most half-ton pickups and #57 stone, the honest answer is about half a cubic yard.

A pickup bed will happily hold more volume than the truck can carry in weight — that is the trap with aggregate. The bed fills long after the axle has had enough. If the load is bigger than your truck, let us deliver it: the trip is priced by the mile, and loading at the yard is free either way.

How much do I need?

One cubic yard covers about 108 square feet at 3 inches deep — the depth we recommend for mulch in a bed. At 2 inches it stretches to roughly 162 square feet.

Measure each bed, add the square footage together, divide by 108, and round up to the next half yard. Ordering half a yard short means a second delivery fee; ordering a yard long means a pile living on your driveway all summer.

Or skip the arithmetic — the calculators do it per product, and SkyMeasure™ measures your beds from aerial imagery if you would rather not walk the yard with a tape.