If you’re a gardener like the rest of it thinks about the weight of topsoil mostly only when you’re carrying it home from wherever you bought or collected it.
However, how heavy is a cubic yard of actual topsoil?
What else do you need to know before you start filling those raised beds?
Key Takeaway – The weight of a cubic yard of topsoil varies greatly, ranging from about 1000 lbs to almost 3000 lbs. The weight will depend on the type of topsoil, moisture, and whether it has been compacted.
What Is Topsoil?
Topsoil is the top layer of the soil and is an essential part of the Earth’s ecosystem.
Topsoil is necessary for plant growth as it supplies nutrients, water, and air.
Topsoil is usually dark brown or black in color because of the amount of organic matter it contains.
Topsoil is usually removed from an area when development and agricultural activities occur.
From that point it can be used to produce gardens, lawns or agricultural fields, and is typically sold in yards or truck loads.
Why Does the Weight Vary?
There are a few reasons why the weight of topsoil can vary so much.
Soil Type
The first thing is the soil type.
Then, soil can be classified into three primary types.
- sand
- silt
- and clay
Sand weighs the least because its particles are small and don’t retain a lot of moisture.
Clay weighs the most. Clay particles are much bigger and so tightly packed that they retain moisture and exclude air.
Topsoil is a mix of various soil types, depending on where it was collected from; a topsoil with greater amounts of sand would weigh lighter, and topsoils with more clay would weigh heavier.
Moisture
Secondly because of the amount of moisture, in the soil.
Soil that is dry will weigh less than soil that is saturated with water. The soil particle size will determine how much water the soil holds.
Sand, because it is a small particle, is the fastest draining type of soil, while clay is the opposite, and being heavier and larger than sand, it retains water for a long time.
After a rain, would take sand a few days to dry out, while it would take clay a week to dry out.
Organic Matter
The third factor is organic matter.
Which, as you know, is anything that is, or was, once living, i.e., leaves, grass, sticks, manure.
Organic matter eventually decomposes and breaks down into small particles known as humus.
Organic matter is very light, and often makes up a considerable proportion of surface soils. The larger the proportion of organic matter the lighter the surface soil will be.
Reasons to Consider the Weight of Topsoil
I know there may be plenty of variables that can contribute to the weight of topsoil, but it is still nice to have a knowledge of how heavy a cubic yard of soil is.
This is mainly applicable when buying soil for your garden or having soil delivered, of course.
For instance – If you were to purchase 5 cubic yards of topsoil for your garden and if that topsoil was about 2,000 pounds per cubic yard, then you would end up with about 10,000 pounds of topsoil.
That is a very large amount of weight and you’d want to make sure your delivery truck could handle it, or, that you could put that weight in a trailer for your vehicle.
Topsoil weight may also have implications for your project budget.
Some local businesses charge by volume of soil, but there are other companies that charge by weight.
The price per 1,000 lbs varies from about $10 to $60, or double to include delivery, of course.
If you had to pay by weight, then you might want to scour for the cheapest dry soil with less clay in it, on the premise that the dryer the topsoil, the lighter it is, and consequently, the greater potential savings.
How Much Space Will a Cubic Yard of Topsoil Cover?
Now that we’re on the subject of projects, you’re probably also wondering how much area a cubic yard of topsoil will cover.
As a general rule, one cubic yard of topsoil will cover an area of 100 square feet to a depth of 3 inches.
To figure out how much topsoil you’ll need for your project, first, you’ll need to figure out the area you need to cover, and then the depth.
For example, say you want to cover an area of 1200 square feet to a depth of 2 inches, you will need 20 cubic yards of topsoil.
You can use this formula:
Area in square feet x Depth in inches/12 = Cubic yards of topsoil needed.
Or, if you’re not much of a math person, you can use a topsoil calculator to figure out how much you’ll need.
Final Thoughts
Knowing the weight of topsoil is important for a number of reasons.
It will help you with budget planning on a coworkers assess how much area one cubic yard will cover, and help you calculate how much topsoil you will need Kang for your project clearly.
There are several reason that can change the weight of topsoil including organic matter, moisture content, and particle size.
Because of all of these variables, the weight of one cubic yard of topsoil can from 1000 to nearly 3000 lbs in weight.
Now the fun part begins and you can start putting that 3000 lbs of local soil to improve the appearance of your yard!