Can my truck carry a cubic yard of "potting mix"?

My wife wants me to pick this up. I can see the GVWR and GAWR numbers in the door, but I'm not sure how that really translates. Mine says 3000 pounds GAWR for the rear axle, but that sure seems like a lot, even after deducting the weight of the truck parts itself (don't know how much this is over the rear).

Does anyone have a data point for what they got away with putting in their bed without settling down onto the stops?

The internet says a cubic yard of top soil could weight 2000 pounds, but potting mix (I think) is lighter since it has fluffy stuff in there, not just dirt.

 

It's too heavy. I suggest you rent a trailer.

 

Rent a trailer, we discussed this recently.

+It's cheap, check your local uhaul/homedepot listings
+It saves your suspension, once you invert an old spring it never gets better again.
+It's legal, going over payload can potentially cost you a ticket.
+It's safer, I've driven with 2200# and it was awful even taking all slow side roads.

 

No. Depending on moisture content it will exceed payload by somewhere between "wreck the springs" to "break something very expensive."

Rent a trailer.

 

Got it, thanks. Not a surprise since I had an 80's 1-ton truck for a while and it didn't take much to make that thing squat even. What do you suppose is a safe amount to carry, in pounds?

 

Nope.

 

I can't find it but someone recently posted pictures of damage to their CAB because the dolt at the dirt yard who loaded his bed hit the truck with the bucket.

 

Probably about 1,500lbs if you want to play it safe. Having a truck in college means I'm constantly hauling people in the bed of my truck. Had 8 people in the bed of my truck 3 saturdays ago, so about 1,300lbs, and it was squatting a little. I have fox 2.0 shocks in the rear so that was probably why

 

Are you buying bags or loose soil?

 

Annually I get a yard of compost mix and/or top soil. The yard where I buy it loads 1/2 yard and I come back for the second load. Its only about a 10 min drive so not a problem to do.
The only advice I will give is that you put a tarp in the bed before loading and make sure that the tarp is long enough to go up the length of the tailgate. That way, as you unload the material it will not fall into the gap between the bed and the tailgate. Its not critical, but makes life a lot easier.

 

8 chicks at 960lbs is a safer bet

 

You’ve got your answer already - too heavy and dangerous. Either haul it in 2 to 3 loads or rent a trailer.

 

There is a sticker on the driver's door jamb listing the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR). There is also a statement that says "The combined weight of occupants and cargo should not exceed XXXX lbs" That is your payload rating. The payload rating varies depending on the truck and you just need to see what YOUR truck is rated for.

GVWR will be the same on all trucks within generations. That is the total weight of the truck and anything you put in, or on it. If you subtract the actual curb weight of the truck from GVWR that is payload.

If you have a basic truck with very few options, the truck will be very light and can carry more payload before exceeding GVWR. The more options you have, the heavier the truck and the less payload you have. Some Tacoma's have over 2000 lbs payload, but they are rare. Most will be in the 1000-1300 lb range. Remember, that also includes the weight of the driver and any passengers in the truck.

My truck's payload is 1200 lbs. I wouldn't want to try to haul 2000 lbs along with my 230 lbs. But if I determined that a yard of potting mix were 1500 lbs or less I'd probably do it. There has never been a truck that wasn't overloaded at some point. If it's only over by a little and done sparingly I'm OK with it. But if I needed to haul that much on a regular basis I'd need a bigger truck.

 

I just want to take a minute to expand on this teeny tiny phrase. I work for a mining company. Depending on type of material and how finely its milled, loose loads can and will carry anywhere between 10%-40% of their own weight in water. It's highly variable, and for our mines that are located in more "seasonal" parts of the world, its not always predictable. On the large scale its a never ending logistical problem when you are shipping rail cars and OTR trucks by the ton and your customers are wanting to pay by volume.

On the small scale however, that half-yard of fall mix might haul fine, while that half yard of spring mix might break your truck. You don't know how much a half-yard will weigh, even if you've hauled it 10 times before. Seriously, you could have been a few hundred pounds underweight all those times before, and that one time you pick up a load in a wet year, oops, you're now several hundred pounds over. Water weight is a bitch.


That's just reason 1 of many why I rave like a froth-mouthed lunatic on every one of these threads about just renting a trailer already.

 

Your springs wont recover if you have old springs...ask me how I know..and riding on bump stops the whole way home is rough..

 

some great pics in this thread

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/hauling-1-yard-of-mulch.213272/

 

Shocks have nothing to do with it squatting or not due to load. It’s your leaf springs.

 

true im dumb LOL

 

Except for a few times I've hauled an appliance (200lb?) or some pavers (800lb), I've pretty much stopped using my truck to haul heavy or large stuff in the bed. I just don't trust the design of the bed over an old domestic with a full steel bed.

 

At least once or twice a year I end up with a yard of potting mix, compost or mulch in the bed of my truck. Never been an issue hauling it. No idea how much it weighed but it's always been easy and not at all a stress on the truck. But, the stuff at my local place is generally dry, not wet.

I've also hauled construction debris to the dump a few times. Once I accidentally overloaded it - when I left the dump and had the truck weighed I found out it was a few lbs shy of 2000. It was over loaded. I was riding on bump stops. But the truck didn't complain at all. I wouldn't want to do it regularly and I'd want to be very careful of what speeds I was driving and what the roads were like. But, it didn't do any damage and I'm not losing any sleep over it. In fact, I'd say my Tacoma actually handled this weight much better than the '99 F-150 I had previously which I also accidentally overloaded a couple times with debris and gravel.