Crushed Stone Calculator
Ordering crushed stone or aggregate for a driveway base, drainage trench, or landscaping project? Input your dimensions to calculate the cubic yards, tons, and 50lb bags needed.
Results
Yards for the order, tons for the invoice
Crushed stone is quoted by the ton at most quarries and by the cubic yard at most landscape suppliers, so a project usually needs both numbers. The conversion runs through density:
cu ft = length × width × (depth ÷ 12), then cubic yards = (cu ft ÷ 27) × waste factor, and tons = cubic yards × density.
| Stone | Tons per cu yd | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Crusher run / quarry process | 1.45 | Compacted base under driveways and patios |
| 3/4 in crushed stone | 1.35 | General purpose, driveway surface |
| Clean #57 stone | 1.30 | Drainage, where water must pass through |
| Crushed limestone | 1.25 | Paths, drives, agricultural lime base |
The spread is not trivial. The same 4-yard hole takes 5.9 tons of crusher run but only 5.1 tons of limestone, a difference of nearly a ton — which is real money when stone is priced by weight.
Fines are the whole difference between the types
Every grade above is crushed quarry rock. What separates them is whether the fines — the sand and stone dust produced by crushing — were screened out or deliberately left in.
Crusher run keeps the fines. They fill the voids between the larger stones, so the material compacts under a plate compactor into a dense, near-rigid layer. That is exactly what a driveway or patio base needs, and exactly why it does not drain.
Clean #57 has the fines washed out. It stays full of voids, water runs straight through, and it never truly compacts — it just locks up by friction. That makes it right for drainage trenches and wrong under a slab that must not settle.
Getting these backwards is the most common and most expensive stone mistake: crusher run in a French drain produces a trench that does not drain, and clean stone under a patio produces pavers that move.
Depth by application, and why compaction is not waste
| Application | Depth |
|---|---|
| Walkway or garden path | 3 to 4 in |
| Patio or paver base | 4 to 6 in |
| Residential driveway | 6 to 8 in |
| Driveway over soft or clay soil | 8 to 12 in, often in layers |
Those depths are compacted depths, which is why the waste factor is not optional here. Crushed stone loses roughly 10% to 20% of its loose volume when properly tamped, and more on soft ground where the first inch is driven into the subgrade. Order the compacted volume exactly and the finished surface will sit low.
Depth over 6 inches should go down in layers ("lifts") of about 4 inches, each compacted before the next. A single thick pour cannot be compacted through and stays soft in the middle.
What the estimate leaves out
- Excavation and spoil. A 6-inch driveway base means digging 6 inches of soil out first, and that soil has to be hauled somewhere.
- Geotextile fabric. Over clay or soft ground, fabric under the stone stops the base from sinking into the subgrade. It is cheap and it roughly doubles the working life of a driveway.
- Compaction equipment. A plate compactor rental is a day rate; without it the numbers above do not mean much.
- Delivery. Usually a flat fee, and trucks have weight limits — a large order may arrive as two loads and be billed as two.
Bag counts are shown for completeness, but they are rarely the right answer. The default 30 × 10 ft driveway base works out to 220 fifty-pound bags, which is 5.5 tons carried by hand.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between crushed stone and gravel?
Crushed stone is a mechanical product made by crushing quarry rocks, giving it jagged, angular edges that interlock tight (perfect for bases). Gravel is naturally weathered, rounded river rock with smooth edges (great for decorative walking pathways).
How deep should a crushed stone base be for a patio?
A pedestrian patio base typically requires 4 inches of compacted crushed stone. Driveways or heavy-load areas require 6 to 8 inches.
How many tons of crushed stone are in a cubic yard?
Between 1.25 and 1.45 tons, depending on the grade. Clean drainage stone is lightest at about 1.30 tons per yard because it is full of voids; crusher run is heaviest at about 1.45 because the fines fill those voids. The common 3/4 inch crushed stone runs about 1.35 tons per cubic yard.
Should I use crusher run or clean stone for a driveway?
Crusher run, for the base. The fines in it let the material compact into a dense layer that carries weight without rutting. Clean stone never fully compacts and will shift under vehicles. Clean stone belongs in drainage applications, where the goal is water passing through rather than load-bearing.