How many passes per truck

Loading trucks is where the bucket size matters most. If the trucks are lined up waiting, you want a bucket that fills each one in three or four passes, so the line keeps moving. If one truck shows up every half hour, a smaller loader keeps up fine. A 12 cubic yard box takes four passes from a 3 cubic yard bucket, three from a 4.25, and two from a 6.1.

Heavy material changes the math. A bucket of stone or wet sand weighs far more than the same bucket of mulch, and a truck has a weight limit as well as a box. With heavy material, the truck can be at its legal weight with the box only partly full, so figure the bucket by weight: how much the truck is allowed to carry, divided by the passes you want. Our Best Practices article on choosing a wheel loader bucket goes deeper on matching the bucket to the truck and the material.

Match the bucket style to the material

Wheel loader buckets come in four styles, and the material you move most decides which one.

• Light material. A light material bucket holds more than a general purpose bucket on the same loader, so it’s the one for snow, mulch, dry sand, and other loads that don’t weigh much.
• General purpose. Most loaders come with a general purpose bucket. It handles aggregate, sand, and mixed loads, and it’s built tougher than a light material bucket.
• 4 in 1. A 4 in 1 bucket dozes, grabs, dumps, and loads with the same attachment. That versatility costs some capacity and adds weight.
• Rock. A rock bucket has a heavy lip and rock teeth for quarry work and other heavy, abrasive material. It weighs more than the other styles, so on the same loader, a rock bucket is smaller than a general purpose bucket.

If you move a mix, pick the bucket for the heaviest material you handle most of the time.

Compact, medium, or large

Our compact loaders, the ZW30-5B through the ZW120-7, weigh 7,310 to 18,590 pounds and carry buckets up to 2 cubic yards. The smallest, the ZW30-5B, is 5 feet 2 inches wide, and its spec sheet puts the turning radius just under 10 feet, so it works in drive lanes and tight sites.

Our medium loaders, the ZW150PL-6 through the ZW220-7, weigh 27,029 to 41,035 pounds and carry 3 to 4.25 cubic yard buckets, which fills a 12 cubic yard truck in three or four passes. Our large loaders, the ZW250-6 and up, weigh 46,050 to 79,200 pounds and carry 5.25 to 9.25 cubic yards, which fills the same truck in two or three.

These groups are a starting point. The truck math above and the width of your tightest spot decide the model.

Make sure it fits

The widths in our rate guide run from 5 feet 2 inches on the ZW30-5B to 12 feet on the ZW370-6 High Cap. From the ZW150PL-6 up, plan on 8 feet 5 inches or more. Measure the narrowest spot the loader has to get through, like a gate or the lane between two buildings, and leave room on each side for the operator to steer.

Every wheel loader we rent

These are the fourteen Hitachi/Landcros ZW loaders in our 2026 rental rate guide, smallest bucket first. Forks rent for the loaders with 2 to 4 cubic yard buckets, in 60 to 72 inch lengths.

The ZW150PL-6 has parallel lift arms, which keep forks and other attachments level with the ground as they rise, so it’s the one for pallets and tool carrier work.

Getting it to the job site

A compact loader hauls on a trailer. Add the loader’s weight from the table to the trailer’s own weight, and that total has to come in under the load rating on the trailer’s plate. Your truck has to be able to pull that total too. The trailer and license checks in our guide to skid steer and track loader sizes work the same for a compact wheel loader. From the ZW180-7 up, the loader is wider than 8 feet 6 inches, so under Wisconsin law it typically travels on an oversize permit. If you’d rather not haul it, we’ll deliver it and pick it up. Call the location nearest you with the job site address and the dates, and we’ll give you the delivery rate.

Renting and buying

Every loader in the table rents, and we sell all fourteen at our three locations. If you buy one this year, the brand becomes Landcros in April 2027, and nothing about the machine changes. Our guide to Hitachi/Landcros wheel loaders explains the switch and covers the loaders above our rental fleet. Rentals don’t include an operator. Our guide to how renting works covers hours, fuel, insurance, and returns.

What to tell us when you reserve

Tell us what you’ll be loading, what you’re loading it into, and how quickly the trucks need to be filled. Let us know whether you’ll need forks, the narrowest spot on the way in, and whether you’re hauling the loader yourself. With that, we can match the bucket and the loader to your job.