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Cubic yard

802MARK

Active Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2009
Messages
27
Location
panama S.A.
OK I have a 325 deere with a 72c bucket on it. What I would like to know, how many bucket fulls will it take to make a cubic yard of say sand. I am just starting out with a block company and we sell sand as well. I know a yard is 3 by 3 by 3. but not sure on how many good size scoops it would take to make a yard. I don't want to cheat anyone on material. my best guess is one and a half.
 
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TALLRICK

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 28, 2007
Messages
195
Location
florida
I know with the 60 inch bucket full it takes two to make a yard. However, the style of filling makes a huge difference as the bucket geometry alone cannot compare to a full bucket over the edges.
 

digger242j

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Joined
Oct 31, 2003
Messages
6,628
Location
Southwestern PA
Occupation
Self employed excavator
The advice above is good, but to test it for complete accuracy in your case, I don't think it would be too hard to bang together a 3 x 3 x 3 box out of old plywood or something, and see just how many bucketfuls it takes to fill it....
 

Willis Bushogin

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2007
Messages
855
Location
NC
Occupation
owner
cubic yds

The advice above is good, but to test it for complete accuracy in your case, I don't think it would be too hard to bang together a 3 x 3 x 3 box out of old plywood or something, and see just how many bucketfuls it takes to fill it....

Dont have any plywood, dig a 3x3x3 hole in the ground. It might be better to dig it with a smaller bucket. Im from the old school and this is the way I do things
Good Luck
 

digger242j

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Southwestern PA
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Self employed excavator
Dont have any plywood, dig a 3x3x3 hole in the ground. It might be better to dig it with a smaller bucket. Im from the old school and this is the way I do things
Good Luck

Then you have to dig the sand back out of the hole unless you're willing to just waste it. That's just a little too old school for me. ;)

(Besides which, I'm sure I can cut plywood to within 1/16 of an inch, one way or the other. That's a whole lot more precisely than I can dig a hole...)
 

Steve Frazier

Founder
Staff member
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Oct 30, 2003
Messages
6,599
Location
LaGrangeville, N.Y.
I don't doubt Orchard Ex's information on the bucket, but for anyone wondering about their own bucket, there's usually an ID tag welded on the bucket somewhere with serial number and capacity listed.

digger, the local gravel bank here has one of those boxes you describe set up at the scale house so the weekend warriors can get an idea of the scale of things. They have listed how many wheelbarrows are in it too, though I don't recall that number.
 

RocksnRoses

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 14, 2008
Messages
770
Location
South Australia
Occupation
Owner operater crushing & contracting business
Why not just get a small tip truck or even a box trailer, work out the cubic capacity of the body, load it to water level and see how many buckets it takes to fill it, then you can work out the cubic capacity of the bucket.

Rn'R.
 

brubro

Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2009
Messages
11
Location
Palm Beach, Florida
With absolutely no disrespect to anyone, I wouldn't worry about being extremely precise on delivering exactly a yard. There is more than enough info here to get in the ballpark, and that is all anyone in sand/rock sales does. I know I've been shorted many times, and I'll mention it if that is the case. I've also gotten a bit extra, even from the same companies that have shorted me. Most owners of the yards don't want to short anyone but unfortunately, it falls under the "weakest link" theory. The weakest link of any business is usually the lowest paid or most disgruntled employee. If a company has one of these loading, or if the guy has had a bad day, is in a hurry, etc, it can happen.

Just figure it out based on the bucket tag/stamping and have the person loading it understand that it is unacceptable to short people. As long as it is in the ballpark, no one is going to complain. Buying rock or sand by the yard is not an exact science. Most places that do volume sell it by the ton and use drive on scales to maximize efficiency and minimize expenses and losses.

That's my two cents!


"Maintenance is Always Cheaper Than Repairs"
 

mustbecrazy

Member
Joined
Jul 11, 2009
Messages
14
Location
eugene, Oregon
The local sawdust seller makes sure they "Fluff" the sawdust before loading the bucket.Then loads it just to the top of the bucket. I would like to make a 3X3 box in my trailer and then pack it down until I can't get any more in but who's got that kind of time?
 

RonG

Charter Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2003
Messages
1,833
Location
Meriden ct
Occupation
heavy equipment operator
Back in my mixer days we always figured 8 wheelbarrows to the yard.I have counted them out many times.You often got jobs where they wanted a certain amount in several different spots such as sealing or backing up pipe etc.Ron G
 
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