Crushed Stone Calculator

How to calculate how much crushed stone you need

Crushed stone is sold by the ton or by the cubic yard. Start with the volume of the space, then turn it into weight with the density of the stone you are buying.

A depth in inches must be divided by 12 before you multiply, because 4 inches is 0.3333 feet. This calculator does it for you, and it also reads measurements typed like 10'6" or 10 ft 6 in. For a round area, pick “Circle” and type the diameter. Add one area for each separate piece and the total updates as you type.

Loose depth or finished depth?

Crushed stone settles when it is compacted. GoodGravel explains it for crusher run: compaction is about 15 percent, so a 6 inch loose layer ends up about 5 inches. If the depth you have in mind is the finished depth, you need more stone than the plain volume says. Tick “The depth I typed is the finished depth after compacting” and the calculator finds the loose depth with this formula.

The compaction box fills in with the figure GoodGravel lists for the material you pick, and you can change it. It stays off by default. The weights from Rohrer’s Quarry in the menu marked “compacted” are already after compaction, so the box is switched off for them.

Example: a driveway with a crusher run base

A driveway strip measures 10 ft by 40 ft and you want 4 inches of crusher run as the finished depth, with the 15% compaction GoodGravel lists for it. The figure used here is 3,200 pounds per cubic yard, the midpoint of its 3,000 to 3,400 range.

With the full 3,000 to 3,400 range instead of the midpoint, the same job weighs 8.71 to 9.88 tons. Without the compaction allowance the volume would be 4.94 cubic yards and the weight 7.90 tons, so ignoring compaction here leaves you about 1.4 tons short.

How much does a cubic yard of crushed stone weigh?

Crushed stone is sold by a size number, and a smaller number means bigger stone. GoodGravel is an information site and gives a range and a compaction figure for each size. The sizes below are the ones it describes, and other quarries draw the limits a little differently.

Stone Centers, a stone supplier in Ohio, gives 2,700 to 3,400 pounds for crushed stone. Rohrer’s Quarry in Pennsylvania gives a loose and a compacted weight for each product. It does not say which ton its calculator uses, and as a US quarry we read it as the 2,000 lb short ton, converting tons per cubic foot × 2,000 × 27.

Luck Stone and Mulzer, two quarries, use one flat figure for every product in their own calculators: 2,800 and 3,000 pounds per cubic yard. Gravelshop uses 2,410 for every stone product we opened, including #57, #67, #89 and #4, and adds 15% for compression on top. All of these are in the material menu. If you know the density of your product, choose “Custom density” and type it.

How many square feet does a ton of crushed stone cover?

A ton fills 2,000 ÷ (pounds per cubic yard) cubic yards, and a cubic yard spread over a surface covers 324 ÷ depth in inches square feet. The table uses a loose Rohrer’s figure for #57, the midpoint of the GoodGravel range for #57 and the midpoint for crusher run. The second tab of the calculator does the same for any amount and depth.

Layers and depths

How deep the stone goes depends on the job. Stone Centers recommends 4 to 6 inches of crushed limestone or paver base under paver paths, walkways and driveways. GoodGravel describes a standard three-layer gravel driveway as 4 inches of #3 or #4, then 3 to 4 inches of #57, then 2 inches of #8 or crusher run, and says 4 to 6 inches of crusher run alone can work on firm ground. It also describes the paver base as 4 inches of compacted crusher run under 1 inch of sand or stone dust. Run the calculator once for each layer, because each layer is a different stone. Follow the specification of your contractor or your town for the real build.

What “3/4 inch” stone means

GoodGravel lists “3/4 inch crushed stone” as another name for #57 and “3/4 inch minus” as another name for crusher run. They are different products, one clean and one with the dust left in, so ask your supplier which one they sell before you pick a density. For loose stone of all kinds in one calculator, see the stone calculator. For decorative stone, see the pea gravel and river rock calculators.

Tips for ordering crushed stone

• Ask the supplier how they sell the stone. Many quarries give their estimates in tons, so the tons in the result are the number to compare.
• Decide first whether your depth is loose or finished, and use the compaction box to match.
• Ask for the weight of the exact product and use “Custom density” to type it.
• Use the extra box for the allowance your supplier or contractor recommends. It raises the volume and the weight together.

Frequently asked questions