How much does a 'standard' paving slab weigh?

[usenet]

How much does a 'standard' 600mm x 900mm paving slab weigh (approximately)? I want to know so I can guesstimate how many I can put in the back of my car.

[Set Square]

If you're talking about the pressed granite sort used by local authorities, I always reckon that a 2x2 weighs a hundredweight, and a 3x2 a hundredweight and a half.

On that basis, one of your 600x900 (nearly a 3x2) will be about 70Kg.

[usenet]

Thanks, so about a person per slab, maybe two lots of 5 would be sensible then.

[chris French]

In message , Set Square writes

Not a bad estimate.

There is a table down towards the bottom of this page on Cormaic's excellent site.:

It gives approx. weight for 600x900x50 mm flags of 64 kg.

All I know is if you are trying the lay the buggers, they are bloody heavy, and hard work to lay if you've not had plenty of practise.

[Set Square]

I don't think I'd want to carry 5 at once in my car. OK, they weigh about the same as 5 people - but you'll still presumably have a driver?! Also, the distribution is likely result in far more load on the back wheels than when you have 5 people in the car.

For most cars, 3 at a time would probably be a sensible limit.

[troubleinstore]

Wouldn't it be most simpler and cheaper to have them all delivered in one go. Saves on petrol, probabl damage to vehicle etc.

-- troubleinstore

mail can be sent via website Email address on posting is ficticous and used as spam trap

[Chris J Dixon]

I was fascinated to watch some cut stone paving being laid in a pedestrianisation project. They used a neat little machine with a big suction hose to lift and place each slab.

Chris

[Matt Beard]

A stone? :-)

[Lee]

Depends entirely on the car...

Personally I wouldn't want to try carting around 350kg in the back of a modern FWD car... :)

Lee

[Set Square]

Very droll! . In reality, more like 12 stone. Is that a boulder?

[nightjar]

Look in your handbook for the maximum permitted tow hook weight to get an idea of what the boot can cope with. You can go up slightly on that, because the moment arm is less, but not by much. My guess would be two or three slabs in the average car.

Colin Bignell

[usenet]

It depends rather whether you put the slabs behind or in front of the rear wheels. If they're in front of the rear wheels then I think you can quite legitimately load the car up to its maximum permitted weight. The car is an XM hatchback, i.e. it's a big car, and I will lower the back seats and put the slabs where the back seats were.

[usenet]

I've checked the XM specifications, maximum payload is between 500 and

550kg according to model, so 5 slabs should be OK (350kg plus me).

I've also found the maximum towing weight which is way more than I thought it was - can I even pull a two horse trailer legally, wow!

[Christian McArdle]

The maximum tow bar weight has very little to do with the rear axle maximum weight. Almost no car will allow more than 100kg on the towbar (whilst 75kg is more normal) whilst the majority will allow you to exceed that as useful load on the rear axle. Remember that when towing with a 70kg noseweight, you are still allowed to use the boot, provided you don't exceed MAM or GTW.

As a very rough estimate, you can fill the boot with half the useful load (MAM-kerb weight) of the vehicle. However, if you are cutting it that fine, then you should book an appointment at a public weigh station and check it. You will then have a much better feel for how much you can take in one go, which may be very useful for the future, or if you will need many trips. Note that you can't be done for being overweight on a trip to the weigh point, provided you don't take the piss and can justify your calculations.

Overloading vehicles is dangerous and you can get really quite severe penalties for it, but the fact that you asked the question suggests that you have the right attitude. I saw a complete nutter loading up in B&Q a few weeks ago. He had a Ford Tourneo (small minibus transit van) that required him to place almost the entire load behind the rear axle. A quick calculation showed that he loaded over a tonne into that gap. I reckon he exceed not only MAM by around 200kg, but the rear axle weight by a whopping

500kg. I seriously considered phoning the police, whilst this nutter thought it was a great laugh trying to squeeze in one more dense concrete block or bag of plaster. When it comes to building materials, vans and cars are seriously weight limited, not volume.

Christian.

[Christian McArdle]

Put this would require even loading. Check the rear axle limit and make sure you don't exceed it. Alternatively, spread the load throughout. Put a slab in the passenger seat and two either side of the back seat. The remaining two can go in the boot. This will ensure you can use the full load available.

Be careful. Often the legal weight limit published by the car manufacturer is too high for safety and is based on getting the thing going on a certain slope. However, to prevent instability and snaking, you shouldn't exceed 85% of your car's kerb weight, which is usually less than the published braked trailer limit. An experienced tower could get away with 100% of kerb weight, but don't do this until experienced and NEVER exceed 60mph with a trailer. It isn't big, it isn't clever and may kill someone. Instability can bite suddenly at high speed and it is very easy to forget that you have the trailer on the back (at least it is for me, as the van is wide enough to obscure most trailers).

Christian.

[Christian McArdle]

P.S. When loading unfamiliar building materials, take an old set of bathroom scales along and weigh everything before purchasing/loading.

Christian.

[usenet]

There is *no* "legal weight limit" for cars in the UK. See:-

slope. However, to prevent instability and snaking, you shouldn't exceed 85%

I'm not aiming to pull anything near the manufacturer's suggested maximum, I was just commenting that I was surprised how much it was. In fact I doubt if I'll be towing anything in the immedate future.

[usenet]

The XMs have two different tow bar maximums, some are 70kg, some are

100kg. Since the rear wheels are very near the back I agree that I don't see that the towbar maximum has much to do with it.

I don't *think* cars (i.e. passenger carrying vehicles) have a legal maximum weight, there are just the manufacturer's recommendations. This certainly applies to trailers towed by cars but I'm not quite sure about the loading of the car.

Since he was overloading a van then there would be a legal (plated somewhere) limit for the van's maximum total weight.

[Christian McArdle]

Just because there isn't a specific infringement, doesn't make it legal. I bet if you towed a full 3500kg behind a car they'd still do you. Whether it is under construction and use, or just simply dangerous driving or whatever, they'd still issue a prohibition and may prosecute.

Saying to the magistrate that the fact that you've towed a 3500kg trailer whilst the vehicle manufacturer says anything over 1300kg is dangerous, and you'll see what I mean.

Christian.

[Bob Mannix]

Indeed:

b. A person is to be regarded as driving dangerously if it would be obvious to a competent

and careful driver that driving the vehicle in its current state would be dangerous. In

determining the state of the vehicle for this purpose, regard may be had to anything

attached to or carried on or in it and to the manner in which it is attached or carried.

THE MAXIMUM PENALTY FOR DANGEROUS DRIVING IS 2 YEARS IMPRISONMENT.

THE MAXIMUM PENALTY FOR CAUSING DEATH BY DANGEROUS DRIVING IS 10

YEARS IMPRISONMENT.

from the same website as referred to.