How Much Does a Yard of Gravel or Dirt Weigh (Oregon)

Quick Verdict

How much a yard of gravel weighs in Oregon depends on the material and how wet it is, but as a rule of thumb a cubic yard of gravel runs roughly 2,400 to 2,900 pounds, and a cubic yard of dirt or topsoil runs roughly 2,000 to 2,700 pounds. Sand sits in a similar range, and wet material weighs noticeably more than dry, sometimes hundreds of pounds more per yard. That matters because these weights decide how much your trailer can safely haul and how many truck loads your project needs, and in rain-soaked Oregon winters the same dirt can weigh dramatically more than it did in summer.

Why Weight, Not Just Volume

You order material by the cubic yard (volume), but you have to move it by weight. A small utility trailer or pickup has a payload limit measured in pounds, and a single yard of wet gravel can be near or over that limit. Underestimate the weight and you overload the trailer, which is unsafe and illegal; underestimate the number of loads and you under-order. So knowing the weight per yard is really about safe hauling and accurate ordering, the core of our excavation materials and hauling guide.

Typical Weights by Material

These are general planning figures; actual weight varies with moisture, gradation, and source rock.

• A cubic yard of most materials is in the ton-and-a-half range and up.
• Wet always weighs more than dry, often by several hundred pounds.
• Clay shows the biggest swing because it holds so much water.

Why Wet Material Weighs So Much More

Water is heavy, and porous material soaks it up. Dry gravel has air in the gaps between stones; rain fills those gaps with water, adding weight without adding volume. Soil is worse, clay and topsoil absorb water into the particles themselves, so a yard that weighed one amount in August can weigh substantially more in February after weeks of Oregon rain.

This is a real Oregon planning issue. Order winter material from a pit and it comes out heavier and stickier than the same material in summer, which affects both haul weight and how it handles. If you are converting between yards and tons for a wet-weather order, see cubic yard to ton conversion.

Trailer and Truck Payload Safety

The number that matters for DIY hauling is your trailer or truck's rated payload, not what it looks like it can hold. A few practical rules:

• Know your rating. Check the trailer's GVWR and the truck's payload before loading.
• One yard can max a small trailer. A single yard of wet gravel can approach or exceed a light trailer's safe payload.
• Spread the load. Overloading also throws off braking and handling, not just the weight limit.
• County road weight limits. Some Oregon county and rural roads post seasonal weight limits, especially in wet months, that affect loaded trucks.

For how many yards different trucks actually carry, see dump truck load sizes.

Weight vs. Volume Billing

Material is sometimes sold by the yard and sometimes by the ton, and the two are linked by the material's weight per yard. Because wet material weighs more, a ton of wet material is fewer yards than a ton of dry, which can surprise you on a winter order billed by weight. When comparing quotes, make sure you are comparing the same unit, and account for moisture if the order is by the ton.

How This Affects Cost

Weight drives haul cost because trucks are limited by weight, so heavier material means more loads for the same volume.

Industry Baseline Range: crushed gravel delivered runs roughly $45 - $110+ per cubic yard, fill dirt delivered runs roughly $20 - $75+ per cubic yard, and dump-truck haul runs roughly $250 - $750+ per load. Wet material can mean extra loads for the same yardage.

These are industry baseline ranges for planning only -- actual pricing depends on site conditions, soil, access, depth, haul-off, and current market conditions. Get a site-specific quote.

Current Market Reality

Winter orders cost more to move because wet material is heavier, so the same project can need more loads than a summer estimate assumed. Long hauls and seasonal road weight limits add to it. Small material jobs carry a $500 - $1,500+ minimum once delivery and labor are added.

How Many Yards Fit on a Truck

Weight, not volume, is what limits how much a truck can legally carry, and that catches people off guard. A truck bed might look like it could hold more, but once the legal weight limit is reached, the truck is full regardless of how much room is left. Because heavier material hits the weight limit sooner, a truck carries fewer yards of a dense, wet material than of a light, dry one:

• A standard dump truck is limited by weight, so a load of heavy wet rock is fewer yards than the same truck's load of light dry topsoil.
• Overloading a truck is illegal and unsafe, and seasonal road weight limits on some Oregon rural and county roads tighten this further in wet months.
• For DIY, the same logic applies to your trailer, the rated payload, not the trailer's visual capacity, is the real limit.

This is why a contractor talks about your project in both yards (what you need) and loads (how it gets there), because the weight per yard determines how many trips the material takes.

A Quick Worked Example

Say you need to fill a parking pad 20 feet by 20 feet with 6 inches of compacted gravel. The volume is 20 times 20 times 0.5 feet, which is 200 cubic feet, or about 7.4 cubic yards before compaction. Add roughly 20 percent for compaction and you are ordering close to 9 cubic yards. Now the weight: at roughly 2,700 pounds per dry yard, that is about 24,000 pounds, and in winter, wet, it could be several thousand pounds more. That weight decides how many truck loads it takes and whether a seasonal road limit is a factor. Running the numbers this way, volume to weight to loads, is how you avoid both under-ordering and an overloaded trailer, and it is exactly the kind of math a contractor does before a delivery so the material shows up in the right amount on the right number of trucks.

The Bottom Line

A yard of gravel runs roughly 2,400 to 2,900 pounds, a yard of dirt a bit less, and wet weighs noticeably more, so plan your trailer loads and order count around weight, not just volume. If you want material delivered and placed without guessing the haul, we can size it for you. See our excavation services or request a free estimate.