HOW MANY ROCKS?

[27goldfish]

I think I paid 65 dollars for my stone. Not delivered, but 2 tons

What they look like:
http://s160.photobucket.com/albums/t181/blackabbydog/?action=view&current=000_0038.jpg
http://s160.photobucket.com/albums/t181/blackabbydog/?action=view&current=pond1.jpg

I thought I had a pic of the 2 ton pile, but I can't find it. It's really just a guess, unless you feel like doing a lot of math on the fly!!

 

[addy1]

Nice stones.

 

[Waterbug]

no need for forklift, I could just drag them off the trailer into the grass and move them with the tractor one by one.

It would be difficult as the truck driver would also be beating you senseless while you're trying to drag rocks off his truck one at a time.

That's another good point...to pull off ordering directly from the quarry you have to be a professional landscaper or designer. They hate selling to retail for exactly this reason..."you want to unload a rock at a time?"...they'd go out of business doing that. The $250-300 + delivery retail cost is to cover the coffee in the office, a pretty receptionist, endless back and forth, lots of time explaining stuff, and endless complaints like "my rocks were delivered upside down".

So when you talk to these guys you have to know what you're talking about or they're just refer you to a retailer. They generally don't ask for a business license or a resale permit as long as you pay in advance. But a resale permit is easy to get and gets you into all kind of places the public can't, products not available to the public, and good deals.

As a landscaper or designer you can request discounts at retail stores too, including the local rock place. And here's something I thought strange...retail discounts for licensed landscapers is 10-15% and you need to show your license. Discount for a "designer", about 25% and all you need is a web site and/or business card as long as you're not looking for credit.

Yea, If she is planning on getting a few pallets or more I would think buying them direct from one of the quarry's would be the way to go.

For flag the quarry I've bought from a load is 8 pallets. And here's a strange deal...they don't like to deliver 6 pallets even if they charge me for 8. I never got into it with them, but my impression is that smelled like retail...they hate retail. I've run into this with many wholesalers and manufacturers...they're not set up for retail, they want no part of retail at any price. Plus they don't want to upset their retail customers which is most of their business.

 

[27goldfish]

Just call a quarry and ask them. None in my area gave me greef about selling to me, an individual. Nice thing about when I picked up mine is I got to go in the huge rock pile and hand pick mine. I would recommend finding someone with a truck and a nice strong back though.

 

[Mmathis]

How many rocks? A lot and then some

 

[brandonsdad02]

I live in central Iowa and we have plenty of rocks. Right behind my house is a large field that is owned by the county fair grounds. They have the storm sewer running thru there so after a good heavy rain, I'll go looking in the field to see what the rain has exposed this time. 99% of my rocks that I have I have gotten for free. This past weekend we went to Menards to buy some mulch and found out that they sell the defect bag of mulch or rock for $1 a bag. They defect the bag if it has a rip, tear, or hole in the bag. I bought 13 bags of the 1 1/2" river stone and 20 bags of mulch. We fit that all in the back of my Jeep Grand Cherokee. You might put a ad on craigslist for rock or see if someone is giving it away. I have also went walking along the river and picked up rocks. Also check if they are doing any highway work, they might have piles of rocks they have dug up.

 

[j.w]

You are the Rock King in my book Ryan! How much better can you have it w/ being able to pluck them right out your back door almost and what a deal w/ the bags of rock and mulch! And a river and highway picker too!

 

[brandonsdad02]

We also go on a lot of random camping trips up in northeast Iowa and there are a lot of large bluffs in that area of the state. They have carved the road thru some of these large bluffs so there is always plenty of rocks to pick from. We always load up the Jeep with rocks on our trips. Some of the trout streams up there have lots of rocks along the banks and in the camp ground areas.

Some of the rocks I've gotten out the field behind our house have been so big that I had to use the neighbors 4 wheeler with a strap tied around the rock and had to drag it back to the pond area.

 

[HARO]

Ryan brought something up that may help some of you out; many garden centers and the like sell damaged bags of just about anything for a dollar or two. Soil, mulch, sand, limestone screenings, as well as pea gravel and river rock. Sometimes a stone or two may be missing, but it's still a bargain.
John

 

[j.w]

Sometimes a stone or two may be missing, but it's still a bargain.
John

A stone or two missing on certain things is not good John..................

 

[HARO]

rofile:

 

[j.w]

Never mind..........I'm not going into detail

 

[brandonsdad02]

I just filled my bog this weekend with close to 3000 lbs of pea gravel from menards for $45. All were the defect bags. They weren't ripped but the packaging place had printed the labels with no bar code. Yea it sucked having to load 45 bags of pea gravel but I got them for $1 a bag.

 

[j.w]

You sure can't beat that Ryan!

 

[sissy]

yeh I always look for that stuff haro and they get everything .I bought a whole pallet full of stuff for 5 dollars ,peat ,fertilizer ,rocks ,dirt and even my favorite lava rock