Knowing the number of wheelbarrow fillings required of different materials makes many gardening tasks easier. In this article you will find out how many wheelbarrows are in one cubic meter of sand, earth & co.
In a nutshell
- Volume of the wheelbarrow important factor
- different materials have different densities and volumes
- Calculation is easy
- Results are for guidance only
- practical factors must be taken into account
Table of contents
- Determine the size of the wheelbarrow
- Different materials
- garden soil
- gravel
- topsoil (fine)
- topsoil (rough)
- potting soil
- sand
- gravel
- frequently asked Questions
Determine the size of the wheelbarrow
Before the number of wheelbarrow loads required can be calculated, the size or volume of the respective wheelbarrow must first be known.
Most standard models hold between 80 and 120 liters.
Anyone who is unsure about their own wheelbarrow can determine the capacity in three ways.
water method
A liter of water corresponds to 1,000 cubic centimeters or 0.001 cubic meters. With this knowledge and a bucket or watering can, it is easy to determine the exact and, above all, usable volume of the wheelbarrow.
To do this, as many buckets of water are filled in until the cart reaches a level that can still be moved. It shouldn't be about to overflow. Otherwise, solid materials such as earth or sand will also be lost later.
The volume can be determined by counting the buckets required.
A notice: This method is also often referred to as "gauging".
hardware store
If you want to save effort and water, measure the wheelbarrow in height, width and length. A comparison with identical models online or in the hardware store saves the necessary calculation of the volume, since the filling quantity is usually specified.
Calculate
Wheelbarrows are roughly in the shape of an upside down truncated pyramid. However, the calculation formulas are cumbersome.
Tip: it is easier to have the volume calculated online by a program. Simply entering the measured values is sufficient.
Different materials
Knowing the volume of the wheelbarrow is important, but not enough on its own, as different materials have different densities and volumes. It ultimately depends on how many cubic meters fit in the wheelbarrow.
Example
sand is denser than looser ones due to the fine grain garden soil. Depending on the variant, the sand density is between 1.2 and 1.6 tons per cubic meter. On Earth it is about 0.8 to 0.9 tons per cubic meter. So more sand fits in a wheelbarrow load than soil. As a result, the sand requires fewer fills and passages than the substrate.
The following overview can help to calculate the number of wheelbarrows for the fabrics:
- Garden soil 0.8 tons per cubic meter
- Gravel about 1.6 tons per cubic meter
- topsoil (finely screened) 1.5 tons per cubic meter
- Topsoil (screened) 1.4 tons per cubic metre
- potting soil 1 ton per cubic meter
- Sand 1.2 to 1.6 tons per cubic meter
- Crushed stone 1.8 tons per cubic meter
- Water 1 ton per cubic meter
Tip: When purchasing building materials or substrate, the weight should be specified. This allows a more accurate calculation to be made.
garden soil
The substrate is relatively loose and has a weight of about 0.8 tons per cubic meter.
How to calculate how many wheelbarrows you need:
- Earth weight: 0.8 t/m³
- Volume of the wheelbarrow: 0.08 m³
- 0.8 t/m³: 0.08 m³ = 10 wheelbarrows
So it takes ten wheelbarrow loads to move one cubic meter of garden soil.
A notice: For our example calculation, we assume a wheelbarrow that holds 80 liters and thus has a volume of 0.08 cubic meters. For models with a capacity of 100 liters (or 0.1 m³) or 120 liters (1.2 m³) correspondingly fewer loads are required.
gravel
The building material can have different grain sizes, which means that it also has different volumes. For the example calculation, we assume 1.6 tons per cubic meter.
- Gravel weight: 1.6 t/m³
- Volume of the wheelbarrow: 0.08 m³
- 1.6 t/m³: 0.08 m³ = 20 wheelbarrows
topsoil (fine)
Finely screened topsoil has a weight of about 1.5 tons per cubic metre. This results in the following calculation:
- Floor weight: 1.5 t/m³
- Volume of the wheelbarrow: 0.08 m³
- 1.5 t/m³: 0.08 m³ = 18.75 wheelbarrows
A notice: So 19 wheelbarrows are needed for one cubic metre.
topsoil (rough)
Only roughly sieved topsoil has a weight of 1.4 tons per cubic meter. In the calculation this means:
- Earth weight: 1.4 t/m³
- Volume of the wheelbarrow: 0.08 m³
- 1.4 t/m³: 0.08 m³ = 17.5 wheelbarrows
In practice, 18 wheelbarrow loads are required here.
potting soil
At one tonne per cubic metre, potting soil is roughly equivalent to the weight of water.
- Earth weight: 1.0 t/m³
- Volume of the wheelbarrow: 0.08 m³
- 1.0 t/m³: 0.08 m³ = 12.5 wheelbarrows
sand
Depending on the grain size, sand weighs 1.2 to 1.6 tons per cubic meter. For the lightest and thus roughest variant, this results in the following calculation:
- Sand weight: 1.2 t/m³
- Volume of the wheelbarrow: 0.08 m³
- 1.2 t/m³: 0.08 m³ = 15 wheelbarrows
gravel
At 1.8 tons per cubic meter, gravel is a heavy building material with a relatively high volume, which means that more wheelbarrows are needed:
- Earth weight: 1.8 t/m³
- Volume of the wheelbarrow: 0.08 m³
- 1.8 t/m³: 0.08 m³ = 22.5 wheelbarrows
frequently asked Questions
Due to the volume of the cart and the material, it can be calculated relatively accurately. It should be noted, however, that the full volume of the cart cannot be used because it is never filled to the brim.
When purchasing or delivering substrates or building materials, a corresponding statement is often made. In the case of collection, a 10 liter bucket can be completely filled and weighed to provide guidance and the basis for weight per cubic metre.
There are several reasons for that. These include, among other things, the planning of manpower and working hours, the required Size of a container when disposing of or evenly distributing the material on a Surface.
