Grain Cart Sizing Calculator

Cart capacity from unload rate and logistics.

Combine capacity (ac/hr)

Crop yield (bu/acre)

Number of combines

Truck capacity (bu)

Truck round-trip (min)

Harvest hours/day

Tab to move between fields

Recommended cart size (bu)

1,250

Minimum cart size (bu)1,000

Total throughput (bu/hr)2,000

Daily harvest (bu)24,000

Truck loads/day24

Cart loads/day19.2

Daily Acres120

How to Use This Calculator

Enter Combine Capacity (ac/hr) — use the Combine Capacity Calculator as a starting point.
Set Crop Yield (bu/acre) and Number of Combines running simultaneously.
Enter Truck Capacity (bu) and Truck Round-Trip (min) — the round trip is the key constraint.
Set Harvest Hours per Day for your operation.
Read Recommended Cart Size (bu) — sized with a 25% buffer — plus Total Throughput, Daily Bushels, and Truck Loads/Day.

How the result changes with Combine capacity (ac/hr)

Combine capacity (ac/hr): Effective field capacity of each combine in acres per hour.
Crop yield (bu/acre): Expected bushels per acre for the crop being harvested.
Number of combines: Number of combines running simultaneously in the field.
Truck capacity (bu): Grain truck or semi-trailer capacity in bushels.
Truck round-trip (min): Minutes for truck to drive to elevator/bin, unload, and return to field.
Harvest hours/day: Available harvest hours per day.

Recommended cart size (bu): Cart capacity with 25% buffer to prevent combine stops.
Minimum cart size (bu): Absolute minimum cart capacity to buffer one truck cycle.
Total throughput (bu/hr): Combined grain flow from all combines in bushels per hour.
Daily harvest (bu): Total bushels harvested per day.
Truck loads/day: Number of truck loads that need to be hauled per day.
Cart loads/day: Number of grain cart loads transferred per day.

Identify Input Parameters
4 parameters
Combine capacity (ac/hr) = 10, Crop yield (bu/acre) = 200, Number of combines = 1, Truck capacity (bu) = 1000 = 6 input(s) provided
Calculate Recommended cart size
Recommended cart size = minCartCapacity * 1.25
1250 = 1250
Calculate Minimum cart size
1000 = 1000
Calculate Total throughput
Total throughput = throughputPerCombine * numCombines
2000 = 2000