How to measure fill

[nap61]

I have been ordering and spreading what we call "river sand"; about 50 yards so far, with more to come. My question is: when you order and pay for 10 yards, how do you know if they really delivered 10 yards? Is there an easy way to approximate how much sand they drop? Thanks.

Norm

 

[flusher]

I have been ordering and spreading what we call "river sand"; about 50 yards so far, with more to come. My question is: when you order and pay for 10 yards, how do you know if they really delivered 10 yards? Is there an easy way to approximate how much sand they drop? Thanks.

Norm

Measure the box on the dump truck.

 

[dex3361]

If you get a chance to look at the truck bed and guess at how full it is, then do the math. Length x width x height (in feet) divided by 27(feet in cubic yard). That will give a close estimate of the cubic yards on a truck.

 

[NSBound]

According to the calculator on this website Sablière Demers - Sand Volume Calculator , fill or sand 20X75 ft 3 inches deep (.25 ft.) is just over 10 cubic yds.

 

[slan]

According to the calculator on this website Sabli鑽e Demers - Sand Volume Calculator , fill or sand 20X75 ft 3 inches deep (.25 ft.) is just over 10 cubic yds.

A real quick way after he dumps it is,
((Height of pile X width of pile) / 3) /27)
Thats the rough formula for calculating the volume of a material pile or cone. Being its sand it probably will squat out quite a bit.
:confused2:

 

[JJT]

If you don't trust the guy, order by the ton and ask for the weight slips.

When I've ordered by the yard I always got way more than what I paid for.

The delivery cost is the same if the truck is 1/4 or fully loaded, so order full loads.

 

[Duffster]

According to the calculator on this website Sabli鑽e Demers - Sand Volume Calculator , fill or sand 20X75 ft 3 inches deep (.25 ft.) is just over 10 cubic meters.

Fixed it for you. :thumbsup:

 

[NSBound]

Fixed it for you. :thumbsup:

Thanks, of course you're right! &%&$$##*& Canadian calculators!

 

[nap61]

JJT,
It is not a matter of trust. I have never had any reason to suspect that I was being shorted. I have been ordering from reputable dealers. I may even be getting more than I ordered; I have no way of knowing. I just like to "trust but verify". I always order more than the minimum load so that they don't charge for delivery. I don't think we can order by the ton around here.

Norm

 

[dodge man]

Its usually done by weight. They know roughly what a C.Y. of material weighs and go by that. Of course if it rains a lot, that can change and then you are paying for water. Where I work we often do construction inspection, and some materials we obtain a sample, dry it down, and deduct for a certain amount of the water weight.

There is also a chance they are just guessing and not even weighing the load. If its a big company that does a lot of hauling, they are probably pretty close with each load based on the experience of the guy loading the truck.

 

[nuffer460]

Some places that don't have their own scales, use the size of the loaders bucket. If they have a 3 yard loader bucket, that's 3 full buckets and a half. In reality, it would be a third if a bucket. It's just hard to walk into the pile and get a third. So it usually ends up being half. That is how a past employer wanted us to load topsoil for customers. By the yard, almost always works out in the customers favor.:thumbsup:

Tonage can be a hard thing too. The size of the load can vary, from the amount of moister in it. 20 tons of stone with 5% moisture is larger than a 20 ton load at 25% moisture. ( Like after a heavy rain)::confused2:

 

[pat32rf]

I've found that when it is sitting behind the empty truck it never looks like as much as you ordered. When you start filling the wheelbarrows it always seems like twice as much....
Some of the loaders now have scales built into the buckets. My son works at a pavement plant and can set his rig for a set weight and it will automatically dump out any excess when loading the mix hoppers.

 

[nap61]

Dodge man, Nuffer,
We buy by the yard. They load with a tractor/fel. I guess they eyeball it. I hope it works out even after a few loads.

Pat,
I am now using my new toy, er, tool - a Bobcat 225 w/ fel. I tried the wheelbarrow trick and believe me, it is more than twice the load. http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/images/smilies/mad.gif

Norm

 

[pat32rf]

When we got our JD I think that we had 3 wheel barrows. Still do but now they have flowers growing in them as lawn ornaments....

 

[dboacres]

Be glade you don't buy sand, gravel, fill, etc. in California. They sell by the ton and the state says they must wet the load so it won't blow out. I live in the hills and see gravel trucks leaving a trail of water as they go up the hill. Some one paid for that water.

 

[LoneCowboy]

sand and rock should be sold by the ton
dirt and compost (and bark/mulch) is typically sold by the yard.

sand weighs 1.2Tons per yard (more or less), so he should weigh close to that.

 

[PILOON]

Around here it is all by weight.
Min of Transport have mobile weight stations that spot check truckers loads and fine truckers found to be over weight so they tend to carry less than capacity.
Then we have spring thaw laws that down grade capacities as well.
Consequently you want to avoid projects that call for cartage during the thaw as it increases project costs considerably.

 

[gregsons]

I sell and deliver topsoil / fill

You dont sell a yard of topsoil by weight. you sell a ton of topsoil by weight.
your comparing apples to oranges

Some smarty will say a yard of topsoil /sand wieghs 1500. if i sold it like that i would make more money but rip 1/2 the people off. a good loader will judge the load by sight on the truck. you can also judge it by loaded bucket but as we all know from using out front end loader its hard to see your loaded bucket or load it full all the time. Most of the guys who have been around for a while will load you heavy.

material all weighs differant amount due to differant density. the differance can really change alot it soils, then on top of it all, moisture content. I just hard 2 feet of snow melt here in WNY in the last 14 days. do you think there would be a differance in weight ?

Most places should also say all deliveries are approx.

Post a pic. of a loaded truck

Best way to know the amount is to watch truck get loaded

 

[mjncad]

Be glade you don't buy sand, gravel, fill, etc. in California. They sell by the ton and the state says they must wet the load so it won't blow out. I live in the hills and see gravel trucks leaving a trail of water as they go up the hill. Some one paid for that water.

You mean the People's Republic of California doesn't make the truckers use tarps on their dump beds/trailers? They're used here...when the driver thinks to use it, or the thing isn't beat to crap.

sand and rock should be sold by the ton
dirt and compost (and bark/mulch) is typically sold by the yard.

sand weighs 1.2Tons per yard (more or less), so he should weigh close to that.

That's the way it's done here too. Also the place I buy from puts its empty trucks on the scale and loads that way to get close to a customer's order. The highest price rip-off chain outfit loads the trucks by eye, then weighs them knowing full well they won't dump the excess before heading out to the customer.