Cade Tyrell

Math 1030 - 29 January 2019

Working In The Yard!

My first step in finding the amount of dirt to be used is dividing the yard into square sections.
This will allow me to find the square feet and volume of dirt needed for one area, then they can
be added together to find a total. I turned the 4in of dirt into feet = 0.33ft so that units would be
correct.
● Biggest section (backyard): 95L x 53W x 0.33 ft high
● Side yard (not by driveway): 85L x 12W x 0.33 ft high
● Front yard: 52L x 33W x 0.33ft high
● Front yard (little square by entrance): 22L x 12W x 0.33ft high
● Side yard (behind driveway): 40L x 18W x 0.33ft high
● Grass strip next to driveway: 45L x 8W x 0.33ft high

Now that I have all of the dimensions, I can calculate the area of dirt needed.
● 1661.55 cubic feet (backyard)
● 336.6 cubic feet (side yard)
● 566.28 cubic feet (front)
● 87.12 cubic feet (front patio)
● 237.6 cubic feet (side yard behind driveway)
● 118.8 cubic feet (driveway strip)
● TOTAL: 3,007.95 cubic feet dirt for the whole yard of a 4 in layer
How much will the dirt cost? ​$18/yd, so convert 3,007.95 cu ft to cubic yards. One yard is
approximately 3 feet. Since we are finding the volume of dirt, converting to a cubic yard is
necessary. One cubic yard is 3lx3wx3h= 27 cubic ft.
Dirt to yards: 3,007.95/27=​111.41 yd dirt total. This has to be increased to 111.5 yd because
the dirt is sold in ¼ yd increments. ​multiplied by $18 gets a​ final cost of $2,007 just for the
dirt.

Delivery/Trip Calculations:
The next step is to find how many cubic feet his truck holds. ​The truck bed is 80 inches long, 69
inches wide, and 20 inches tall. 6.6L x 5.75w x 1.6ft high = ABOUT​ 63.6 cubic feet of dirt.​ I
divided the amount of dirt he can take in one trip by the total amount of dirt needed to find out
how many trips he would take. 3,007.95cubic feet/63.6 cubic feet= 47.3 or about ​47 personal
dirt trips to the store.

Gas: ​1 round trip to the store is 18 miles. At his trucks 17mpg, it uses 1.06 gallons for every
back and forth trip he makes. For 47 trips, he needs about 49.82 or about 50 gallons of gas.
50x$3.79/gal=​~$189.50 just for gas.

Dump Truck: ​To compare with the dump truck- it holds 18 cubic yd per delivery, and we need
111.5 cubic yards of dirt total. 111.5/18= ​6.194 trips, which must be 7 trips because the
dump truck does not charge less delivery fee for a smaller load​. For $30 a load (7loads) the
cost of delivery would be $210.

What is the most cost effective? The delivery/pickup cost is most important because the
dirt is the same price either way. ​Technically, it is slightly cheaper to take 47 trips back and
forth to the store​ if my neighbor is to choose ​only one option or the other solely based on
cost​ ​(they’ll have to drive for ~31 hours if it takes 20 minutes to drive there.
40min(roundtrip)x47trips=1880min/60=31.3hr)​.​ ​Although I wouldn’t recommend this,​ due to
the annoyance of that many trips, wear and tear on their pickup, and wasted time. ​It is cheaper
to do 6 deliveries and 2 trips to the store and overall the best option in my opinion.​ In the
end, it only saves ~$1 but it is much more efficient to get larger deliveries.

The main reason the dump truck is more expensive is that it has to take the remaining 3.5 cubic
yards for a full price of $30 delivery. ​If my neighbor chooses to get 6 loads delivered (108
cubic yards dirt) for the price of $180 and picks up the remaining 3.5 yd in his truck, it will
be cheaper and more convenient than making 47 trips.​ Remember, his truck holds 2.35
cubic yards of dirt. 2 pickup truck trips uses 2.12 gal of gas. 2.12 @ 3.79 a gal= $8.03, so the
total cost of getting 6 deliveries and finishing up on his own (not including dirt cost)=$188.03

Wrap-Up:
 ​Best Option:

DELIVERY: STORE PICKUP: ​COMBO (6 delivery, 2 store trips):

$210 $~189.50 gas ​ $180 delivery (108yd)
+$2007 dirt +$2007 dirt ​+$~8.03 gas (pickup last 3.5yd)
+$2007 dirt

$2217 111.5 $~2196.50 111.5 ​ $~2195.03 111.5

cubic yd cubic yd ​ cubic yd