Wood Chip Calculator — cubic yards and tons of wood chips or mulch
Enter your bed area and the depth of mulch you want, and get cubic yards, tons and bags of wood chips.
Wood chips are light, bulky and almost always ordered by volume rather than weight, which makes them the one material in this set where the cubic yard figure is the one that matters and the tonnage is the interesting footnote.
The bulk density range comes from Cornell University's On-Farm Composting Handbook, converted from its published 445 to 620 pounds per cubic yard. We cross-checked the upper end against the US EPA's volume-to-weight tables, which give 473 lb/yd³ for green wood chips — comfortably inside Cornell's range.
One number worth knowing: the EPA also lists DRY wood chips at roughly half the weight of green ones. Chips straight from a chipper are heavy with sap and water, and dry out substantially in storage. If you are buying by weight, that difference is your money.
A worked example you can check by hand
A 20 ft × 10 ft area at 2 in deep,
with a 5% waste allowance:
Area
200 ft² (20 ft × 10 ft)
Depth
2 in = 0.1667 ft
Volume (before waste)
33.3333 ft³
Waste allowance
5%
Volume (with waste)
35 ft³ = 1.2963 yd³
Density used
16.5 / 19.6 / 23 lb/ft³ (low / typical / high)
Weight (low)
578 lb = 0.2888 short tons
Weight (typical)
686 lb = 0.343 short tons
Weight (high)
805 lb = 0.4025 short tons
How we calculate this — and every number we used
We do not use a hidden "magic number". Here is the entire calculation:
volume = area × depth
volume_with_waste = volume × (1 + waste%)
weight = volume_with_waste × density
Why a range, not one number? Bulk material density changes with
moisture, gradation and compaction. Publishing a single figure would be falsely precise, so we publish
the range our sources support — and we show you exactly where each number comes from.
Why we state the state. This material is only published at one
placement state, so there is nothing to choose — but we say which one it is, because loose and compacted
material differ by 27–60% in volume and most calculators never tell you which they used.
How we chose the typical value. Cornell's On-Farm Composting Handbook gives 445–620 lb/yd³ for wood chips; dividing by 27 gives 16.5–23.0 lb/ft³ and the typical is the midpoint (530 lb/yd³).
Limits of this constant
The source does not state whether the figure is naturally piled or settled after loading, nor the moisture content. Real mulch can vary more widely than this band.
Do NOT use this for bark mulch — bark mulch is a different product and we found no authoritative figure for it.
The EPA's separate figure for DRY wood chips (243 lb/yd³) is roughly half the green figure — chips straight from a chipper are heavy with sap and water, and dry out substantially in storage.
This calculator is only valid under these assumptions. If any of them do not match your project,
treat the result as a rough guide and get a quote from your supplier.
The area is treated as a rectangle, and beds are measured as a single shape.
The material is wood chips, loose and as delivered, including moisture.
Depth is the settled depth of mulch you want on the bed.
This is wood chips, NOT bark mulch. Bark mulch is a different product with a different density, and we found no authoritative figure for it.
Weights are given as a range because the source does not state whether its figure is naturally piled or settled after loading.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a cubic yard of wood chips weigh?
About 0.22 to 0.31 short tons per cubic yard as delivered, with around 0.26 as a working figure. Dry chips weigh roughly half that.
How deep should wood chip mulch be?
Two to three inches for weed suppression and moisture retention around established plants. Keep it clear of trunks and stems. For a play area, six inches or more of chips is a common specification.
Is wood chip mulch the same as bark mulch?
No. Bark mulch is largely bark, which is lighter and breaks down differently. We looked for an authoritative bulk density for bark mulch and could not find one, so we do not publish a number for it. Don't use this calculator for bark mulch without asking your supplier for their density.
How many bags of wood chips make a cubic yard?
A cubic yard is 27 cubic feet, so it takes 14 bags of 2 ft³ or 9 bags of 3 ft³. Bulk delivery is almost always cheaper for anything over a cubic yard or two.
Why is the weight range so wide?
Because the source does not say whether its figure is for naturally piled chips or chips settled after loading, and because moisture varies enormously. Wetter chips are much heavier. For a bulk order, the volume is the figure to rely on.