Cubic feet to cubic yards
One cubic yard is 27 cubic feet, and that block-shaped unit is what landscaping materials are sold and hauled by. That is a box 3 feet by 3 feet by 3 feet. This page converts cubic feet to cubic yards, and flips the other way too, from cubic yards back to cubic feet. You can also check how many cubic feet in a yard for soil, mulch, or gravel.
Cu ft to cu yd
Tap or click the yellow figure to edit it; the button beside it swaps the units.
A cubic yard is the volume inside a cube that is 3 feet long on each side. Multiply 3 by 3 by 3 and you get 27, so there are exactly 27 cubic feet in a cubic yard. That matters when you buy bagged soil or mulch. A standard 2 cubic foot bag is small compared with a yard: divide 27 by 2 and you get 13.5, so you need 13 and a half bags to make one cubic yard. For bulk deliveries, a typical pickup truck bed, loaded level, holds about 2 cubic yards. That gives you a quick capacity reference when you are comparing bag counts with a trip to the landscape supply yard.
Metric users get an m3 toggle on the site's cubic-yard-calculator page. Cubic feet and cubic yards are the US customary units this converter works in.
Why does 'a yard' in landscaping mean a cubic yard?
In landscaping, the word 'yard' on its own is shorthand for a cubic yard, the unit material is sold and hauled by. It comes from the same cube shape: a volume 3 feet by 3 feet by 3 feet.
For a cubic yard, how many 2 cubic foot bags do you need?
You need 13.5 bags. A 2 cubic foot bag covers 1/13.5 of a cubic yard, because 27 divided by 2 equals 13.5.
How much does a typical pickup truck bed hold, loaded level?
A typical pickup bed, loaded level, holds about 2 cubic yards. That is a useful reference when you are deciding between bags and bulk delivery.