3,600 pounds

[Mike Cruz]

Oh, c'mon...you know you've always wondered what Three Thousand Six Hundred Pounds of mulch looks like, right? I weighed in at 7,360 before picking it up, and 10,960 on the way out! That may have been a little over 3/4 of a ton...:eek: And only a 40 minute ride home. :D

[Jeff Monson]

That Chevy does not look really happy with the load. I didnt realize mulch weighed that much.....I bet there's another bandsaw buried in there somewhere. :)

[Mark Engel]

And now you get to take it out one shovelfull at a time. :)

[Dan Hintz]

I bet there's another bandsaw buried in there somewhere. :)
That's how he sneaks tools past Les... under the cover of night (and mulch).

[Myk Rian]

3600# is more like 1 3/4 ton. That's a heck of a load.

[Dan Hintz]

3600# is more like 1 3/4 ton.
I thought my math was failing me for a moment there... that's almost as heavy as my S2000, so imagine an entire car sitting in his truck bed.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Hey - the steering wheels are still touching the road. I don't see any problem here. :D

[Shawn Pixley]

I thought my math was failing me for a moment there... that's almost as heavy as my S2000, so imagine an entire car sitting in his truck bed.

I don't know what you have in your S2000, but mine weighs in at 2664 lbs. 3600 lbs would an S2000 and a bandsaw. 'Course that would be sweet...

[Myk Rian]

Mike;
Were you in the truck when first weighed? :D

[Dan Hintz]

I don't know what you have in your S2000, but mine weighs in at 2664 lbs. 3600 lbs would an S2000 and a bandsaw. 'Course that would be sweet...
Ack! Forgot to move the decimal point ;)

With me in it, I think mine was in the 2,850 range with a full tank... then I started removing dead weight (and no, that didn't include me). I'm actually letting the ol' girl go :(

[Bruce Page]

That reminds me of the time I picked up a load of retaining wall cement blocks. I think my front wheels were touching the ground about every 1/8 mile!

[Belinda Barfield]

Ack! Forgot to move the decimal point ;)

With me in it, I think mine was in the 2,850 range with a full tank... then I started removing dead weight (and no, that didn't include me). I'm actually letting the ol' girl go :(

Geez, you just married her!

Nice load of mulch. Glad you're shoveling, and not me!

[Dan Hintz]

Geez, you just married her!
I am not letting Amy see that comment ;)

[ray hampton]

Just one simple Question, how wet were the Mulch ?

[Mike Cruz]

The mulch wasn't very wet at all. I mean, it was damp, as mulch alway is, but no more.

As the for the Chevy not looking happy, what is a bit deceiving is that it is parked slightly uphill, so it looks more weighed down than it is. When I hook my 3 horse gooseneck to it (which weighs about 6500 lbs) I'm sure there is close to a ton easy in the bed. Then, with one horse in the box stall (ahead of the trailer's wheels), I'm not far off this weight. The truck pulls like a dream. The ONLY reason I went 50 mph home was that the tarp didn't make it all the way back over the mulch. So, the wind, over 50, was blowing it off. With a normal sized load of mulch (3,000 lbs), I still go 65 on the highway and still get 18 mpg...I've checked.

Belinda, I read it the same way, and Dan, you are NOT allowed to let Amy see that comment...I don't have the room for you and all your stuff here...

As for one shovelfull at a time...well, it is one pitchfork actually. And this is my third load within the last week. I have one more to go. This, after hiring a bunch of landscape knuckleheads to do the job. Yeah, they got all the edging done, but grossly misunderestimated (that one is for you W.) the amount of mulch it would take to do my job. They got 4 loads on their trailer. I stopped them and said, we're over budget...go home. Yes, I paid them. I know, I know... It was easier. I didn't pay them for anything they didn't do. They edged, they brought mulch, they spread it. They were due their money. At that point, I just had to make an executive decision as to whether I could keep paying them to complete the job, and decided to do the rest myself. They did what they did while I was unable to due to a lack of time. Now, I get to finish the job. :)

Oh, and yes, I was in the truck when it was weighed...so take 200 lbs off if you want to know what the truck weighs... :) But I was in it on the way in and out, so the weight is accurate to the mulch.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

I don't know what you have in your S2000, but mine weighs in at 2664 lbs. 3600 lbs would an S2000 and a bandsaw. 'Course that would be sweet...

The band saw is in the S2000 I am sure.

[Dan Hintz]

Belinda, I read it the same way, and Dan, you are NOT allowed to let Amy see that comment...I don't have the room for you and all your stuff here...
Come on, Mike, think of what you could do with another 18" bandsaw (it's three hooorsepoweeeeeeerrrrrrr :)), a metal lathe, a CNC ;)

[Bob Turkovich]

Geez, you just married her!

Nice load of mulch. Glad you're shoveling, and not me!


Actually, Dan was already doing a fair amount of shoveling on the divining rod post. :D

(Sorry, Dan. Couldn't pass it up...);)

[Larry Frank]

I am shocked that it weighed that much and think you should check the scale. That is the same weight as a cubic yard of dirt. I bought a yard of mulch this last weekend and it weighed well less than 1000#.

I think that a shovel is the wrong thing to use to move mulch. I used to do it that way and no have a narrow tined hay fork and that makes it much easier.

[Mike Cruz]

Yes, Larry, I use a pitchfork, too. Shovel would be like banging my head against the wall... Not sure exactly, but if a cubic yard is 3 feet by 3 feet by 3 feet equaling 27 square feet, then this load of mulch, measuring about 5 feet by 8 feet by 3 feet equals 120 square feet which equals about 4.5 cubic yards. If, as you stated, a cubic yard is less than 1000 pounds, say 800 lbs, times 4.5 would be 3600 lbs. Sounds like the scale is right on!

[Mike Cruz]

Yeah, and if you are funding the expansion of my shop, we can start talking. I've already figured on how I can expand out the back to get me another 12 x 24!!!!!!!!!

[Brian Elfert]

1/2 ton, 3/4 ton, and 1 ton no longer have much of anything to do with how much the truck can haul. Any reasonably modern pickup can handle well more than the ton rating assigned to it.

[Rick Markham]

Mulch Smulch... You just swept up the shop didn't you! :p

[Belinda Barfield]

I've already figured on how I can expand out the back to get me another 12 x 24!!!!!!!!!

That's easy Mike! Just eat lots of chocolate ice cream and donuts!:p:D

[Mike Cruz]

Brian, while I totally agree with you, I think the rating is more of a "3/4 ton on this pickup will allow the truck to still handle as it should" thing. When you open the driver's side door, there is a sticker that tells you what the GVW is. Mine says 9200 lbs. Well, 9200 minus what I weighed in at (7360) is remarkably close to 3/4 of a ton. So, they "say" that I can haul 3/4 of a ton, but as you pointed out, the truck can handle much more.

Belinda, thanks for pointing out my vagueness... What I MEANT to say, was I figured out how to get an extra 12 x 24 for my SHOP...not for ME. :)

[Mike Cruz]

Ok ya got me... I went to John Keaton's and cleaned out around his lathe before he took that pic of his "filthy lathe"....

[Rick Moyer]

1/2 ton, 3/4 ton, and 1 ton no longer have much of anything to do with how much the truck can haul. Any reasonably modern pickup can handle well more than the ton rating assigned to it.

Albeit illegally, generally. The registration is often the limiting factor in what you can, or should I say,"may" haul.

I just say this thread, Mike. I got and spread 21 scoops of mulch (Saturday), too. Don't know how much it weighed. I made several trips with the utility trailer behind the Suburban.

[ray hampton]

not all scoops weigh in at the same number but one scoop of sand weigh close to 4 thousands lbs and that amount of sand will fit in a F150 bed with room to spare

[Brian Elfert]

Brian, while I totally agree with you, I think the rating is more of a "3/4 ton on this pickup will allow the truck to still handle as it should" thing. When you open the driver's side door, there is a sticker that tells you what the GVW is. Mine says 9200 lbs. Well, 9200 minus what I weighed in at (7360) is remarkably close to 3/4 of a ton. So, they "say" that I can haul 3/4 of a ton, but as you pointed out, the truck can handle much more.


9200 lbs GVWR for a 250/2500 truck is a little low these days. The 2011 F350 is at 9,800lbs. They claim carrying capacity of just over 4,000 lbs, but that is certainly based on the regular cab 4x2 with smallest engine. Most 350/3500 trucks can carry well over 1 ton. The GVWR on the 250s/2500s is kept under 10,000 lbs due to regulations/licensing in some states.

Many states will let you license a pickup for about as much weight as you want to carry regardless of how much the truck is supposed to carry. In other states a truck has to be licensed for the weight of the truck and any trailer that is towed.

I once helped load an older 2500 truck with a stake bed body at a Scout camp. We put so much firewood in it that the springs were bent upwards. The wood was all the way up to the top of the stake bed sides.