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How many wheelbarrows for a yard of concrete?

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How many wheelbarrows for a yard of concrete? alvinamorey 10-15-2007
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Posted by DerbyDad03 on October 16, 2007, 10:03 am
On 16 Oct, 05:22, alvinamo...@notmail.com wrote:
> On Tue, 16 Oct 2007 00:23:59 +0000 (UTC), d...@manx.misty.com (Don
>
>
>
>
>
> Klipstein) wrote:
> > alvinamo...@notmail.com wrote:
> >> I will be having a delivery this week of concrete. I am getting 3.25
> >> yards. Two and a quarter yards will make a 9 x 20 foot driveway
> >> extension in front of my garage. The other yard will go into a nearby
> >> shed to make a cement floor to replace the dirt floor, which is 6 X 12
> >> ft., plus a small pad outside the door from whatever is left.
>
> >> For the driveway extension the truck can drive right to it. But the
> >> shed is not accessible by truck. That one yard needs to be taken into
> >> the shed with wheelbarrows. I am trying to comprehend how many
> >> (average size) wheelbarrow trips will have to be made to carry that
> >> one yard to the shed. I am asking to get a rough idea so I know how
> >> many friends and wheelbarrows to have on hand. The delivery company
> >> said that their delivery guys cant spend a lot of time at one place,
> >> so I need to be ready to get the cement moved fast.
> >> I know someone is going to ask me what I mean by average size
> >> wheelbarrow. I dont know how they are rated, but the two that I have
> >> are the ones sold at most garden supply places, department and
> >> hardware stores for the average homeowner. My guess is the "bucket"
> >> is about 28" wide, 35" long, and 10" deep (of course the corners are
> >> rounded and the bucket tapers in at the bottom.
>
> >> My guess (and only a guess), is one wheelbarrow load can hold about
> >> 2.5 cubic feet, (without spilling all over the place), and a full yard
> >> of concrete is 27 cubic feet. So my guess is about 11 trips. Does
> >> this sound about right?
>
> > A 35 by 28 by 10 half-ellipsoid is 2.97 cubic feet, and in my experience
> >wheelbarrows are a little closer to conical than to that. A cone
> >(elliptical version as opposed to circular) of the same dimensions is 1.9
> >cubic feet. I would guess about 2.2-2.3 cubic feet.
>
> > Meanwhile, suppose the actual inside dimensions are 33 by 26.5 by 9.5?
> >That's 15% less volume! Sounds to me like 1.9 to 2 cubic feet now.
>
> > Another point - that wheelbarrow will not be level during the filling
> >and the transportation. I think it would be optimistic to fill it 1 inch
> >short of the top, and I think 33 by 26.5 by 9.5 then becomes at best 31 by
> >24.5 by 8.5, and that's with optimistic aggressive filling of the
> >wheelbarrow. That makes the volume 66% of the original figure (of 2.2-2.3
> >cubic feet), meaning about 1.5 cubic feet. Make that 1.6, because that
> >portion of the wheelbarrow gets a little closer to a half-ellipsoid and a
> >little less like a cone.
> > But this is still with filling the wheelbarrows so full that you have a
> >good chance of spilling concrete. I think more realistic is fill it 1.5-2
> >inches short of the top, roughly 1.3 cubic feet of concrete. A cubic yard
> >is 20-21 wheelbarrow loads at that rate. I may be erring a bit on the
> >conservative side - please post your actual results!
>
> > Now, another matter: How much weight to pour into a wheelbarrow?
> >Although the wheelbarrow operator only has to lift about 40% maybe 35% of
> >the weight of the wheelbarrow and the load, keep in mind how much a cubic
> >foot of concrete weighs. I asked a concrete mixer driver how much
> >concrete by cubic yards and tons his truck carries, and IIRC the answer
> >was 10 cubic yards and 20 tons - meaning a density of 2 tons per cubic
> >yard. I have read a few slightly lesser figures however. A ton per cubic
> >yard is 148 pounds per cubic foot.
> > The Wikipedia article on concrete says that the density is usually
> >around 150 pounds per cubic foot.
>
> > My experience suggests that if someone has to carry much over about 100
> >pounds, there is a good chance that things get wobbly. Beer goes only so
> >far to buy careful driving at best! I am guessing that it takes 10 pounds
> >of force to lift the handles of an empty wheelbarrow of above size,
> >leaving 90 pounds divided by the 35-40% above that I am guesstimating for
> >percentage of weight showing up at the handles. That means 225-257 pounds
> >of concrete. Divide by the Wiki figure of 150 pounds per cubic foot, and
> >that is 1.5-1.7 cubic feet.
>
> > At this moment, I would say probably 1.3 to 1.5 cubic feet per
> >wheelbarrow load, 18 to 21 wheelbarrow loads. Though I would not be too
> >surprised if everyone manages a "good mood chemistry" and gets it done in
> >15 trips - but be prepared for things to not work quite that well and
> >require closer to 20 trips.
>
> > Be prepared to accept the concrete delivery in a timely manner,
> >especially if you are not the last stop for the concrete truck. The
> >driver does need to empty the truck before the concrete hardens, and
> >concrete does not need air to harden. Concrete cures from the cement
> >ingredient (typically "Portland Cement") combining with water to form a
> >rock-like hydrated material.
> > Maybe even if you are the last stop the truck still needs to keep
> >rolling on a schedule - I suspect the truck may need to be rinsed out
> >before the residue hardens! (They say "cures" in that industry.)
>
> > Another thing that may help a little, at least gain a "brownie point",
> >when dealing with concrete people: Don't refer to concrete as cement.
> >Cement is the adhesive component of concrete. Cement roughly means glue!
> >Concrete is a mixture of cement, "fine aggregate" (traditionally sand),
> >and "coarse agregate" (this is often pebbles).
> > The basis for this is that most of the volume is pebbles with sand
> >grains filling much of the space between the pebbles, and pebbles and sand
> >cost a lot less than cement does.
>
> > - Don Klipstein (d...@misty.com)
>
> I just read all the replies on here. I know better than to fill the
> WB (wheelbarrow) to the top. I mixed some concrete for another shed
> by hand (with an electric mixer). I once overfilled the WB and it
> tipped over. What a mess !!!!
> I was originally going to mix this shed by hand, but since I am doing
> the driveway, it only ends up costing $40 more, because they charge
> $30 more per yard for loads smaller than 3 yards. So, by ordering 3
> yards, I am saving $60 on the first two. Or, in other words, 3 yards
> will cost $300, two yards would cost $260. So, I will be paying about
> $65 for that shed floor. (With that extra quarter yard). I can barely
> mix it for that, and it takes a lot of work to shovel all that sand
> and stone and make the mix right.
>
> Here's another idea that I got today. The shed is attached to the
> rear of my barn (it's a feed room). The truck can not get in the rear
> by the shed because the garage and some trees are in the way.
> However, if I close the gate to fence out my horses, the truck could
> drive to the front of the barn where there is a 9foot wide sliding
> door. I know the door is too low for the truck to enter, but their
> chute could come right thru the barn. They'd need a chute about
> 25feet long. The barn itself is 20ft wide so if they parked 2 feet
> from the door, ran the chute thru the barn, (at a slight angle), they
> could pour it right into that shed. The door comes off easily enough.
>
> Does anyone know how long the average chutes are on cement trucks?
>
> Thanks
> Alvin- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

I assume you've already determined that the ground where the truck
will be driven/parked can handle the weight?


Posted by Don Klipstein on October 16, 2007, 9:03 pm
DerbyDad03 wrote:

>I assume you've already determined that the ground where the truck
>will be driven/parked can handle the weight?

Holy cow! Now comes to my mind... When I asked a concrete truck driver
about weights and yards, best as I remember besides a full load being 10
cubic yards and 20 tons, is what the truck weighed empty... That gets a
little foggy now, but I'm pretty sure in or near the range of 12-15 tons.

You might want to find out if you are not the truck's last stop.

However, my experience has been that driveways don't get destroyed by
having a small number of incidences of heavy trucks using them. You may
get some cracks, etc.

Then again, ask the driver when the truck is approaching your property.
The driver will probably have enough experience to be the expert to ask in
that area.
And I also advise to have enough wheelbarrows and well-fed well-fueled
well-hydrated friends (soda and bottled water, make sure you have caffeine
available, as well as beer and food) to be prepared for a bad answer from
the truck driver.
Also, I give some chance that offering the truck driver a soda or two to
drink and a beer to take home can help - and also have bottled water in
the cooler (a case of bottled water is usually $5-something at Target in
my experience). Some people who you need to work with you may want at
least at some moment water more than sugar, caffeine, food or alcohol.

- Don Klipstein (don@misty.com)

Posted by Don Klipstein on October 16, 2007, 8:45 pm
alvinamorey@notmail.com wrote:
>On Tue, 16 Oct 2007 00:23:59 +0000 (UTC), don@manx.misty.com (Don
>Klipstein) wrote:
>
>> alvinamo...@notmail.com wrote:
>>> I will be having a delivery this week of concrete. I am getting 3.25
>>> yards. Two and a quarter yards will make a 9 x 20 foot driveway
>>> extension in front of my garage. The other yard will go into a nearby
>>> shed to make a cement floor to replace the dirt floor, which is 6 X 12
>>> ft., plus a small pad outside the door from whatever is left.
>>
>>> For the driveway extension the truck can drive right to it. But the
>>> shed is not accessible by truck. That one yard needs to be taken into
>>> the shed with wheelbarrows. I am trying to comprehend how many
>>> (average size) wheelbarrow trips will have to be made to carry that
>>> one yard to the shed. I am asking to get a rough idea so I know how
>>> many friends and wheelbarrows to have on hand. The delivery company
>>> said that their delivery guys cant spend a lot of time at one place,
>>> so I need to be ready to get the cement moved fast.
>>> I know someone is going to ask me what I mean by average size
>>> wheelbarrow. I dont know how they are rated, but the two that I have
>>> are the ones sold at most garden supply places, department and
>>> hardware stores for the average homeowner. My guess is the "bucket"
>>> is about 28" wide, 35" long, and 10" deep (of course the corners are
>>> rounded and the bucket tapers in at the bottom.
>>
>>> My guess (and only a guess), is one wheelbarrow load can hold about
>>> 2.5 cubic feet, (without spilling all over the place), and a full yard
>>> of concrete is 27 cubic feet. So my guess is about 11 trips. Does
>>> this sound about right?
>>
>> A 35 by 28 by 10 half-ellipsoid is 2.97 cubic feet, and in my experience
>>wheelbarrows are a little closer to conical than to that. A cone
>>(elliptical version as opposed to circular) of the same dimensions is 1.9
>>cubic feet. I would guess about 2.2-2.3 cubic feet.
>>
>> Meanwhile, suppose the actual inside dimensions are 33 by 26.5 by 9.5?
>>That's 15% less volume! Sounds to me like 1.9 to 2 cubic feet now.
>>
>> Another point - that wheelbarrow will not be level during the filling
>>and the transportation. I think it would be optimistic to fill it 1 inch
>>short of the top, and I think 33 by 26.5 by 9.5 then becomes at best 31 by
>>24.5 by 8.5, and that's with optimistic aggressive filling of the
>>wheelbarrow. That makes the volume 66% of the original figure (of 2.2-2.3
>>cubic feet), meaning about 1.5 cubic feet. Make that 1.6, because that
>>portion of the wheelbarrow gets a little closer to a half-ellipsoid and a
>>little less like a cone.
>> But this is still with filling the wheelbarrows so full that you have a
>>good chance of spilling concrete. I think more realistic is fill it 1.5-2
>>inches short of the top, roughly 1.3 cubic feet of concrete. A cubic yard
>>is 20-21 wheelbarrow loads at that rate. I may be erring a bit on the
>>conservative side - please post your actual results!
>>
>> Now, another matter: How much weight to pour into a wheelbarrow?
>>Although the wheelbarrow operator only has to lift about 40% maybe 35% of
>>the weight of the wheelbarrow and the load, keep in mind how much a cubic
>>foot of concrete weighs. I asked a concrete mixer driver how much
>>concrete by cubic yards and tons his truck carries, and IIRC the answer
>>was 10 cubic yards and 20 tons - meaning a density of 2 tons per cubic
>>yard. I have read a few slightly lesser figures however. A ton per cubic
>>yard is 148 pounds per cubic foot.
>> The Wikipedia article on concrete says that the density is usually
>>around 150 pounds per cubic foot.
>>
>> My experience suggests that if someone has to carry much over about 100
>>pounds, there is a good chance that things get wobbly. Beer goes only so
>>far to buy careful driving at best! I am guessing that it takes 10 pounds
>>of force to lift the handles of an empty wheelbarrow of above size,
>>leaving 90 pounds divided by the 35-40% above that I am guesstimating for
>>percentage of weight showing up at the handles. That means 225-257 pounds
>>of concrete. Divide by the Wiki figure of 150 pounds per cubic foot, and
>>that is 1.5-1.7 cubic feet.
>>
>> At this moment, I would say probably 1.3 to 1.5 cubic feet per
>>wheelbarrow load, 18 to 21 wheelbarrow loads. Though I would not be too
>>surprised if everyone manages a "good mood chemistry" and gets it done in
>>15 trips - but be prepared for things to not work quite that well and
>>require closer to 20 trips.
>>
>> Be prepared to accept the concrete delivery in a timely manner,
>>especially if you are not the last stop for the concrete truck. The
>>driver does need to empty the truck before the concrete hardens, and
>>concrete does not need air to harden. Concrete cures from the cement
>>ingredient (typically "Portland Cement") combining with water to form a
>>rock-like hydrated material.
>> Maybe even if you are the last stop the truck still needs to keep
>>rolling on a schedule - I suspect the truck may need to be rinsed out
>>before the residue hardens! (They say "cures" in that industry.)
>>
>> Another thing that may help a little, at least gain a "brownie point",
>>when dealing with concrete people: Don't refer to concrete as cement.
>>Cement is the adhesive component of concrete. Cement roughly means glue!
>>Concrete is a mixture of cement, "fine aggregate" (traditionally sand),
>>and "coarse agregate" (this is often pebbles).
>> The basis for this is that most of the volume is pebbles with sand
>>grains filling much of the space between the pebbles, and pebbles and sand
>>cost a lot less than cement does.
>>
>> - Don Klipstein (don@misty.com)
>
>I just read all the replies on here. I know better than to fill the
>WB (wheelbarrow) to the top. I mixed some concrete for another shed
>by hand (with an electric mixer). I once overfilled the WB and it
>tipped over. What a mess !!!!
>I was originally going to mix this shed by hand, but since I am doing
>the driveway, it only ends up costing $40 more, because they charge
>$30 more per yard for loads smaller than 3 yards. So, by ordering 3
>yards, I am saving $60 on the first two. Or, in other words, 3 yards
>will cost $300, two yards would cost $260. So, I will be paying about
>$65 for that shed floor. (With that extra quarter yard). I can barely
>mix it for that, and it takes a lot of work to shovel all that sand
>and stone and make the mix right.
>
>Here's another idea that I got today. The shed is attached to the
>rear of my barn (it's a feed room). The truck can not get in the rear
>by the shed because the garage and some trees are in the way.
>However, if I close the gate to fence out my horses, the truck could
>drive to the front of the barn where there is a 9foot wide sliding
>door. I know the door is too low for the truck to enter, but their
>chute could come right thru the barn. They'd need a chute about
>25feet long. The barn itself is 20ft wide so if they parked 2 feet
>from the door, ran the chute thru the barn, (at a slight angle), they
>could pour it right into that shed. The door comes off easily enough.
>
>Does anyone know how long the average chutes are on cement trucks?

I have seen plenty of these chutes, and *DOGGONE IT NOW* I have trouble
remembering if they are about 6 feet long, 8 feet long, 10 feet long or 12
feet long. I would say almost certainly under 15 feet. I am starting to
think around 7 to 10 feet.

But if the chute stops 10 or 20 feet short of where the concrete has to
go, you only need 2 or 3 wheelbarrows and wheelbarrow operators, maybe
just 1 case of beer, maybe a boombox playing some good energizing "classic
rock" or good energizing dance music from back when they knew how to make
it!

Also, if you need the driver to do you favors and take some extra time
or do tricky truck maneuvering, I think you have a good chance of gaining
at least half a brownie point calling the stuff concrete rather than
cement.

- Don Klipstein (don@misty.com)

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