How much does steel weigh?

[700R]

Not exactly sure where to put this question, but this forum seemed like the better fit...

I might be going to pick up some steel soon and I am wondering what it would weigh. The steel plate is 36"x36"x1" (2 of them), and one plate measuring 36"x36"x2". Sheetmetal is 4'x8'x3/16". Solid bar, measuring about 3" or 4" in diameter, 61" long. Along with another few hundred pounds of random pipe, small safe/file cabnet combo, and angle iron.

I don't want to be considered crazy for wondering if my 1-ton pickup can haul it 250 miles without a car/equip. trailer (highly doubtful).

[DSW]

My table here lists

3/16" plate at 7.66 lbs / sq ft.
1" plate at 40.84 lbs / sq ft.
2" plate at 81.68 lbs / sq ft.

3" round at 24 lb / ft
4" round at 42.73 lbs / ft

I don't see that as a problem. I regularly have more than 2-3K loaded in my F350 all the time. You really don't want to know just how much that truck's had in the bed short distances.

[MoonRise]

Steel is 0.283 lb/in3

So your 36 x 36 x 1 plates weigh approximately 367 lbs each.

Your 36 x 36 x 2 would weigh 734 lbs.

The 4 x 8 x 3/16 sheet weighs 245 lbs.

You add it all up. :D

[Matt_Maguire]

I usually add the 6 on the end, .2836lbs per cu in, and figger someone's got their thumb on the scale anyway.

Also rounds would be Pi x Radius(squared) x.283 = weight per inch of length. For the 3" it's 3.14 x (1.5x1.5) x .283 = 2.0lbs per inch, x 12inches = 24lbs per foot etc.

Chebby folks remember the weight number pretty easy, well the old ones do anyway! :laugh:

Matt

[trackbird]

I'm sure this is well known by most of the truck owners here, but I'll go ahead and add the info for anyone who might find it useful.

My 2007 "Classic" Chevy 3500 SRW (non dually) is rated for 4,300 lbs of cargo capacity (Truck weighs 5,600 lbs and GVWR is 9,900 lbs). The dually model is rated for over 5k in the bed (weighs a touch more, but GVWR is about 12,500 lbs). "One ton" isn't really just 2,000 lbs these days (with the possible exception of Dodge, who seems to rate all their trucks with very low GVW's compared to Ford and Chevy, I think I looked at a Dodge dually that had a GVWR of 8,800 lbs). Weigh the truck empty, look at the GVWR rating on the door decal (or title) and subtract the difference. That's your load capacity (subtract weight for passengers, luggage, etc or weigh the truck loaded with you, gas, etc and work from that number).

Now back to your regularly scheduled discussion on hauling steel...

[Jack Olsen]

The better question might be how you plan to load it.

[700R]

Thanks for all the info fellas. My truck is a '06 Ram 3500 (SRW) with the CTD in it (shortbed however).

I just checked, and I have been outbid. So it doesn't look like I will be getting them after all. The next bid would be $1100, and I can't go that high for what they are. I was just going to make a couple welding tables out of the 1" and sell the 2".

[stainless steel]

alot!!! hahahahahahahaha!!!! try aluminium!! its lighter!

[forhire]

700R, sorry you lost the bid.

For future reference you might try one of the many online calculators like this one: http://www.onlinemetals.com/calculator.cfm

[700R]

Yes, I will. I will have to print out the cheat sheet I saw in another thread...

For some reason, at the time I posted this, I was thinking the 2" plate was upwards of 1500lbs. LOL

[Gmmandan]

Still not a bad price for the steel if you have a good profitable use for it. Which auction site was that on?

[Donald Branscom]

Not exactly sure where to put this question, but this forum seemed like the better fit...

I might be going to pick up some steel soon and I am wondering what it would weigh. The steel plate is 36"x36"x1" (2 of them), and one plate measuring 36"x36"x2". Sheetmetal is 4'x8'x3/16". Solid bar, measuring about 3" or 4" in diameter, 61" long. Along with another few hundred pounds of random pipe, small safe/file cabnet combo, and angle iron.

I don't want to be considered crazy for wondering if my 1-ton pickup can haul it 250 miles without a car/equip. trailer (highly doubtful).

When you buy the steel look at your reciept.
The plate is per pound,
The tube is by the pound or by the foot.
Multiply the per pound price by the number of sq ft.
Multiply the tube by the per foot price or the per pound.

[denrep]

I think 700R was trying to guesstimate the weight of some steel being offered as a bulk auction lot.

For a quick rough guess, I usually calculate at .25 lb per cubic inch, because it's easy.
To get even closer add 10% to the total.

Good Luck

[BLAZO]

There is a formulas for calculating material weight on this site but its metric.http://www.engineeringcivil.com/weight-calculator.html