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The tonnage quoted, permitted or delivered.
About 1.15 short tons per cubic yard for screened topsoil; slightly lighter than unscreened because stone has been removed.
Approximate volume
8.696 yd³
About 1.15 short tons per cubic yard for screened topsoil; slightly lighter than unscreened because stone has been removed. Loose material occupies more space than stacked or compacted material.
- Conversion factor applied
- 0.87 yd³ per short ton
They open the calculator with your figures already in it
Screened Topsoil Tons to Cubic Yards Calculator: 8.7 yd³ — shown in imperial, US market. The link sets both, so the result they see is the one on your screen.
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How this was calculated
Formula source(s)
- Inverse of approximately 1.15 short tons per cubic yard
- 1 short ton = 2,000 lb; a metric tonne is about 10% heavier
Inputs used
- Screened Topsoil weight (short tons)
- 10
Intermediate steps
- Conversion factor applied
- 0.87 yd³ per short ton
Confidence note: About 1.15 short tons per cubic yard for screened topsoil; slightly lighter than unscreened because stone has been removed. Loose material occupies more space than stacked or compacted material.
What this calculation does not cover
- Bulk bags are filled by volume and labelled with a nominal weight, and where that label is metric it does not match the short tons this calculator takes: a metric tonne is about 10% heavier, so a tonne figure entered unconverted returns a volume roughly a tenth short. The printed weight also carries whatever moisture was in the soil at filling, so where the supplier states a volume per bag, work from that instead.
- The volume this returns is loose soil, and part of it goes into the formation before any depth registers on top. A subgrade that has been ripped or scarified — which is the right preparation, since it relieves compaction and prevents an interface that perches water and stops roots getting down — has furrows to fill, and one rutted by plant has more. Allow for that fill as a quantity separate from the finished depth.
- The volume has to stand somewhere between delivery and spreading, and beyond one lorry-load it arrives as separate drops rather than a single heap you can plan around. Screened soil is fine material, so a heap sheds fines in heavy rain and packs down into something harder to shift, and grass under one left for weeks does not recover. Check the footprint against the standing you can spare, and sheet or board it if the soil will not be moved quickly.
Estimated cost — your price
This site holds no price list for this material — local prices vary too much to publish honestly. Enter your supplier's price and the result is costed with it.
Computed in your browser — nothing you enter is uploaded. Presented in US customary units and US trade terminology. Where a formula follows a published standard, that standard and its edition are cited beside it on this page; where none governs, the page says so. Local amendments override model codes — verify against the code in force where you build.
Sources checked 2026-08-26 · in the site-wide review of 2026-09-06 · v1.0.0
Regulatory standards & verification citations2
- Inverse of approximately 1.15 short tons per cubic yard
- 1 short ton = 2,000 lb; a metric tonne is about 10% heavier
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Converting a screened topsoil tonnage into volume is the check on whether a delivery will cover the beds to the depth planned. Settlement is the factor most often forgotten: freshly spread topsoil consolidates over the first weeks under its own weight and rain, so a bed filled level on the day sits low by the next season. Spreading slightly proud accounts for that. Screened soil settles somewhat more evenly than unscreened, because there is no stone fraction to bridge and create voids.