Gravel calculator
Enter the finished size and depth to get a shopping list in tons, the loose volume, and a bag count for small jobs. Compaction is built in.
Enter your measurements
More options: Compaction · Waste · Price …
- Loose volume (as delivered)
- 2.72 cu yd (73.5 cu ft)
- Bulk order (rounded up)
- 4 tons
20 ft × 10 ft = 200 sq ft
200 sq ft × 4 in ÷ 12 = 66.7 cu ft ÷ 27 = 2.47 cu yd
2.47 cu yd compacted × 1.05 = 2.59 cu yd loose × 1.4 tons/cu yd = 3.63 tons
+ 5% waste = 3.81 tons
Effective rate: ≈ 1.54 tons per cu yd compacted
Bulk: 3.81 tons rounded up to the next ½ ton = 4 tons
- Quarries and landscape yards sell by the ton or half ton and deliver in full loads — ask about minimum orders and short-load fees.
Quick answers for common sizes
| Example | Answer |
|---|---|
| How much gravel for a 10×12 shed base | 3.2 tons |
| How much gravel for a 12×16 shed base | 6.13 tons |
| How much gravel for a 10×10 area | 1.91 tons |
| How much pea gravel for a 3×30 ft garden path | 1.26 tons |
| How much gravel for 20 m² at 10 cm | 3.66 tonnes |
Gravel needed by depth
| Depth | Gravel to order | Loose volume (as delivered) |
|---|---|---|
| 2 in | 1.91 tons | 1.36 cu yd |
| 3 in | 2.86 tons | 2.04 cu yd |
| 4 in | 3.81 tons | 2.72 cu yd |
| 6 in | 5.72 tons | 4.08 cu yd |
| 8 in | 7.62 tons | 5.44 cu yd |
Tons are how quarries and yards sell stone. Crusher run packs down about a fifth when you tamp it, clean stone only a little, so the calculator orders the loose amount it takes to end up at your depth. (A cubic yard is 27 cubic feet: a box 3 ft on each side.)
From area to tons
Start with the finished volume: area × the depth you want after the stone is tamped. Then turn it into what the yard loads. Stone in a pile is fluffier than stone packed in place, so the calculator multiplies by a compaction factor for the material to get the loose volume, then by the loose weight per cubic yard to get tons. A small waste allowance (5% by default) covers low spots and spillage.
compacted cu yd = length (ft) × width (ft) × depth (in) ÷ 12 ÷ 27 loose cu yd = compacted cu yd × compaction factor tons = loose cu yd × loose density × (1 + waste)
Worked through: 200 sq ft of crusher run at 4 in is 2.47 cubic yards in place. Crusher run needs about 1.25 times that loose, 3.09 cubic yards, and at 1.5 tons per loose yard that is 4.63 tons; with the 5% waste default the calculator shows 4.86 tons.
| Material | Typical loose weight | Loose yards per compacted yard | Common uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| #57 stone (about ¾ in, washed, no dust) | ~1.4 tons/yd³ | ~1.05 | Shed pads, drainage, driveway middle layer |
| Pea gravel (about ⅜ in, rounded) | ~1.4 tons/yd³ | ~1.03 | Paths, patios, play areas — not load-bearing bases |
| Crusher run / dense-grade (crushed stone plus its own dust) | ~1.5 tons/yd³ | ~1.25 | Compacted base for driveways, pads, patios |
| #411 (#57 mixed with stone dust) | ~1.5 tons/yd³ | ~1.2 | Driveway top layer that packs firm |
| #3 stone (1–2 in) | ~1.4 tons/yd³ | ~1.08 | Driveway base layer, drainage |
| River rock | ~1.35 tons/yd³ | ~1.0 | Decorative beds, dry creek beds |
How much does gravel compact?
Dense-graded base (crusher run, DGA, road base) loses roughly 20–30% of its loose volume when it is compacted, because the dust fills the gaps between the stones — so you order about 1.25 times the compacted volume, which works out near 1.9 tons per compacted cubic yard. Wisconsin DOT’s conversion factors for compacted dense-graded base run 1.75–2.1 tons per cubic yard. Clean stone such as #57 has no fines to fill the gaps and compacts much less, typically 5–10%. Leave Compaction blank to use the typical figure for the material, or type your own under More options.
Depth in this calculator always means the finished, compacted depth. If you are just spreading decorative stone that nobody will tamp, the clean-stone factors are small enough that it hardly matters.
Buying it: tons, half tons and bags
Quarries and landscape yards sell by the ton, usually in half-ton steps, so the shopping list rounds up to the next half ton and tells you what to ask for. Under about a ton and a half, bagged stone from a home center is the other option: a 0.5 cu ft bag weighs about 50 lb, so the list also gives the bag count and roughly what the whole lot weighs — worth knowing before you load a car. Bigger jobs come by dump truck; under More options you can enter the yard’s minimum order, truck size and delivery fee to see the delivered cost and how many loads it takes.
Crushed stone or pea gravel under a shed?
For anything that carries weight — a shed, a hot tub, a parking spot — use angular crushed stone. The FHWA’s gravel roads guide explains why: broken, fractured stone locks into the surface and resists movement under load far better than rounded stone. Pea gravel is pleasant underfoot but rolls like ball bearings, so a shed’s skids or blocks slowly push it aside.
Worked examples
- How much gravel for a 10×12 shed base: the pad runs a foot past the shed on every side, so it is 12 × 14 ft.
- How much gravel for a 12×16 shed base: a 14 × 18 ft crusher-run pad, compacted.
- How much gravel for a 10×10 area: a small patio, bin store or hot-tub spot, where bags and bulk compete.
- How much pea gravel for a 3×30 ft garden path: fabric, edging, and a half-ton step of stone versus a car full of bags.
- How much gravel for 20 m² at 10 cm: the same job in metric, sold by the tonne.
Typical depths
- Garden paths: 2–3 in of pea gravel or fines over a firm base.
- Shed pads: 4–6 in of compacted crushed stone.
- Patios with pavers: 4–6 in compacted base (see the paver calculator).
- Decorative stone along a foundation or in a dry creek bed is priced by the ton too — see how much river rock for a 3×40 ft strip by the house and how much river rock for a 3×25 ft dry creek bed.
- Driveways: a base layer plus a top layer — for a typical single drive, see how much gravel for a 12×50 driveway.
- Drainage trenches: clean stone around a perforated pipe — the French drain calculator sizes the stone, pipe and fabric.
For a rundown of stone names and grades, see gravel types for driveways and paths; for loose versus compacted weights, the landscape material weight chart. New to the vocabulary? Words you’ll hear at the yard.
What you’ll need
- Wheelbarrow (6 cu ft class)Mid-range price
Most home wheelbarrows hold 4–6 cubic feet — so a cubic yard of mulch is five or six trips. Two wheels are steadier on soft ground.
See options on Amazon (opens in a new tab) - Bow rake / landscape rakeBudget price
Steel tines for spreading gravel and soil and leveling it flat. The flat back of a bow rake doubles as a leveling tool.
See options on Amazon (opens in a new tab) - Hand tamper (8 × 8 in or 10 × 10 in)Budget price
Compacts gravel in small areas and along edges where a rented plate compactor won’t reach. For a whole patio base, rent the plate compactor.
See options on Amazon (opens in a new tab) - Landscape fabric (woven or heavy non-woven)Budget price
Separates stone from soil under gravel and rock. Less useful under wood mulch, which breaks down into soil on top of it anyway.
See options on Amazon (opens in a new tab) - Measuring wheelBudget price
Rolls off long distances — driveways, lawn edges, fence lines — quicker and more accurately than a tape for one person.
See options on Amazon (opens in a new tab)
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Links to products are affiliate links — they cost you nothing extra and help keep these calculators free.
Frequently asked questions
How many tons of gravel are in a cubic yard?
Loose, as it comes off the truck, typically about 1.4 tons for #57 stone or pea gravel and around 1.5 tons for crusher run. Compacted in place, crusher run weighs more — around 1.9 tons per cubic yard — because the same stone has been squeezed into less space. Moisture and stone type move these numbers, so ask your supplier.
How much area does a ton of #57 gravel cover?
About 55 sq ft at 4 in deep, 73 sq ft at 3 in, or 110 sq ft at 2 in, allowing for #57’s typical 1.4 tons per loose yard and a little settling (before waste). Crusher run covers less per ton once compacted: about 43 sq ft at 4 in.
How much gravel do I need for a 10 × 10 area?
About 1.9 tons of #57 stone at 4 in deep, including a little for settling and 5% waste — roughly 74 bags if you buy it bagged. The full breakdown is on how much gravel for a 10×10 area.
How much gravel for a 3 ft wide garden path?
At 3 in of pea gravel, about 0.42 tons per 10 ft of length with settling and waste. A 30 ft path takes about 1.26 tons — ask for 1.5 tons, or buy about 49 bags — worked through on how much pea gravel for a 3×30 ft garden path.
Should I put landscape fabric under gravel?
For paths and decorative areas, a woven or non-woven geotextile helps keep stone from mixing into the soil. Under driveways, a heavier geotextile is often used on soft soils. It won’t stop all weeds — seeds land on top and root in the gravel.
Related guides
Sources
- FHWA — Gravel Roads Construction and Maintenance Guide (2015) (opens in a new tab) — Why crushed, fractured stone holds under load better than rounded stone
- Wisconsin DOT research report 0092-22-05 — Weight-Volume Relationships and Conversion Factors for Soils and Aggregates (2024) (opens in a new tab) — WisDOT conversion factors for compacted dense-graded base: 1.75–2.1 tons per cubic yard (Table 1.2); measured 1.78–1.98 (Table E2)
- FHWA-HRT-15-034 — Strength Characterization of Open-Graded Aggregates for Structural Backfills (opens in a new tab) — No. 57 stone: minimum (loosest) 95.4 pcf, maximum (vibrated) 108.7 pcf dry unit weight (Table 7)
- Gravel Monkey — How many tons of gravel in a dump truck? (opens in a new tab) — Typical payloads: single-axle about 6–10 tons, tandem 12–16, tri-axle 18–25; gravel hits the weight limit before the bed is full.