Pickup Process and Guidelines
Many customers prefer to pick up their material instead of having it delivered. Picking it up can be economical if you are only getting a small amount or would like to save yourself the delivery fee.
You Get What You Pay For
Stone Forest strives to serve each customer honestly and with integrity. Here is how we accomplish this:
- Stone Forest is a Georgia Certified Weigher.
- Our scales are calibrated and maintained by professionals. They are also tested regularly by the Georgia Department of Agriculture, Weights and Measurements Division.
- Mulch and soil is sold by the cubic yard. Our skilled staff uses specially designed loading equipment to ensure you get a full cubic yard every time.
Loading
With all the heavy machinery and literally tons of material constantly in motion at Stone Forest, it may seem overwhelming. Safety is our main concern, so please follow this guide to ensure you feel comfortable with our procedures.
Child Saftey
Please keep children in your vehicle while it is being loaded and close to you while selecting material. Our facility is a working stone yard. We will take every precaution necessary to ensure that you and your family stay safe while visiting Stone Forest. This includes refusing to load your vehicle when there is an unsafe condition present.
Vehicle Loading
Our staff has been through extensive training using our specialized loading equipment to ensure your vehicle is loaded correctly and safely. We load thousands of vehicles each year with precision and care. If you are concerned about damaging your vehicle you may want to bring some type of protective covering such as cardboard or old carpet. Another option is to load your material by hand.
Vehicle Requirements
When purchasing bulk material it is always a good idea to bring the proper vehicle. Stone Forest will not be able to load any vehicle with bulk material that does not have an open bed like a pick-up truck with a tailgate or a trailer with a solid floor (raised sides are also preferred). Sorry, no box trucks, vehicles with camper tops or taunno covers will be loaded with bulk material by our equipment. If you don’t have access to a pick-up truck, they are available for rent at local home improvement stores. Any vehicle will work if you load it by hand and do not overload it, but your sports car might need a bit of detailing afterwards! Don’t forget, delivery services are available.
Secure Your Materials
Make sure to check and fill any gaps in your tailgate where it attaches to the truck. Also, please secure any loose material in your vehicle with a tarp or other acceptable means. This keeps the material in your vehicle and off the road.
Tire Inflation
Check to make sure your tires are properly inflated. Too much or too little air can be hazardous when loading and/or driving with the extra weight of your materials. We provide air if you need it. Please see a member of our yard or sales staff for information.
How Much Material?
The amount of material that can be loaded into your vehicle depends on several variables including: what type of vehicle is it, if it is brand new or old and tired, does it have towing or off-road packages with stiffer springs, etc. Our staff has been trained to recognize these factors and will be happy to help you determine your safe load capacity. We reserve the right to refuse to load anything that our staff feels is unsafe or overloaded. Here is some information to consider:
- As far as weight goes, it’s always best to check your GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating). This number states the weight of the load you can carry safely. It is located on the inside of the driver’s side door jamb on most vehicles. For example if your GVWR is 5,000 pounds and your vehicle weighs 3,000 pounds with you in it, than your safe load capacity is 2,000 pounds max.
- Gravel, sand, heavy soils and stone in most cases will not fill up a truck bed before the weight limit is reached. Lighter material may fill up a truck bed before the weight limit is reached.
- Most pick-up truck can carry 1 to 2 cubic yards of light material such as mulch.
- A standard “half-ton” pick-up truck (Ford F150, Chevy or GMC 1500 and Dodge 1500) can usually carry close to one ton of material (3/4 to 1 ton.)
Where to go when picking up your materials
- For mulch and soil pick-up, please pull to the back of the yard where the mulch is located. A staff member will direct you from there.
- For sand, gravel, bulk river rock and bulk fieldstone pick-up, please pull onto our truck scale. A staff member will then load you accordingly.
- To pick-up mortar supplies, you may back your vehicle into the pallet scale bay area. A staff member will assist you from there.
- For palletized stone pick-up of a full pallet, please park in the parking spaces provided in front of our store. Speak to one of our staff members inside the showroom and they will help you pick out your material. Then we will simply load it into your vehicle in the parking lot.
- To pick up a partial pallet of stone, please park in the parking spaces provided in front of our store. Speak to one of our staff members inside the showroom and they will help you pick out your material. Our staff will bring the pallet to our pallet scales in the bay area. You will then back you vehicle up to the pallet and we will help you load material from the scale directly into your vehicle. Following this procedure will ensure you know how much material you are getting as you are loading it.
