gravel price

[urbanfarmer]

Is this a good price? Does anyone know of a better dealer?

¾” river rock gravel 20 tons for $1532 plus tax and delivery (about $77 a ton).

Delivery was surprisingly well-priced, a little over $100.

Red lava rock was about the same price for the volume (not tonnage). I would rather do lava rock, but I fear it will puncture the 45 mil EPDM liner.

[davidstcldfl]

Was this price at Pebble Junction in Sanford ? Not sure where you moved, since I sent you the fish feed sample ..?

[urbanfarmer]

YES! How'd you know? Is that the cheapest you heard of?

[David - WI]

You must be kidding?

I suppose it depends where you're located, but $10/ton would be a LOT for washed gravel. You can't go to a landscape place; you have to find an actual quarry or ready-mix concrete plant. In Florida try CEMEX/Rinker Materials maybe?

Around here or on the east coast, you could have it delivered in a ready-mix truck and they would spout it right into your growbeds for you (assuming you can get the truck close enough) for probably a lot less than $500.

[urbanfarmer]

You must be kidding?

I suppose it depends where you're located, but $10/ton would be a LOT for washed gravel. You can't go to a landscape place; you have to find an actual quarry or ready-mix concrete plant. In Florida try CEMEX/Rinker Materials maybe?

Around here or on the east coast, you could have it delivered in a ready-mix truck and they would spout it right into your growbeds for you (assuming you can get the truck close enough) for probably a lot less than $500.

Holy #$%! that's a lot better. I will keep looking around and see if that company you mentioned is local to me. I don't know if the truck can get in, but that would save me a lot of time too!

[David - WI]

I would hope it would be closer to $150 - $200 for the stone and $100 to deliver. We delivered stone (crushed) to fill basement floors in our mixers all the time, probably 100 loads a day sometimes; put the chute through the basement window and run it into wheelbarrows inside; it's not a problem for them. I delivered at least a hundred mixer loads of stone myself, when I was a kid.

In Connecticut we filled the big yellow crash/impact drums on the highway off-ramps with dry sand/salt mixture using ready-mix trucks, too.

Make sure you tell them you want "washed 3/4-inch gravel" and not "crushed stone" (assuming you want nice round rocks). If they give you a hard time about delivery in a mixer, make sure you tell them they can just run it off... you're not filling 200 post holes, one at a time.

To save $1200 you might have to take down a portion of a fence or ask a neighbor if they can drive on the grass?

If you can't get the truck back to where you need it and have to wheel it, make sure you have at least 2 or 3 guys with "contractor" size wheelbarrows... they can spout the stone into the wheelbarrows so at least you don't have to shovel it out of a pile. Or, arrange to rent a skid steer or tractor with a bucket they can fill with the chute.

Delivery in a dump truck should not cost any more, probably less... it's just a lot of shovel & wheelbarrow work for you that way.

If you don't get anywhere on the phone, you might want to just go down to the plant and explain what you want to do... it should be NO PROBLEM if you can talk to somebody that knows what they're doing.

[davidstcldfl]

You can't go to a landscape place; you have to find an actual quarry or ready-mix concrete plant

Dave, almost all of our rock comes to FL by train. Closest quarry is propbably 500 miles away....
I would think rinker will only have lime rock...? They might have expanded shale UF...'?'

I bought some in orlando on kaley ave. It was around 90 a ton....but I was only buying part of a ton.
If Dave's idea about rinker dosen't 'pan' out....Most likely, pepple junction will be your best bet....

I'll ask Sahib....he had some rock delivered about a month or so ago.

[commander]

Hey, if they dig to many holes in Florida it will sink or capsize.

[David - WI]

Yes, I've been to Florida a couple dozen times, and I've been in the phosphate mines... but I haven't covered the whole state. LOL

Vulcan Materials has 47 ready-mix plants in Florida... it should only take a phone call to find out what they have for stone: http://www.vulcanmaterials.com/vcm.asp?content=facfind

Hopefully you can find some local gravel: http://www.dep.state.fl.us/geology/g...and_gravel.htm

[urbanfarmer]

Thank you very good advice, I will put it to good use!