How Many Baseballs Fit in a 5-Gallon Bucket? (2024)

The most common method of transporting baseballs is by the use of a bucket. Most baseball teams will use a 5-gallon bucket or a 6-gallon bucket, depending on how many baseballs they have and what type of bucket is most accessible to the team. Before a lot of baseball games, I carried our team’s bucket of baseballs, and eventually, I started wondering about how many baseballs we had in our bucket. How many baseballs fit in a 5-gallon bucket?

Between 48 and 50 baseballs can fit in a 5-gallon bucket if a lid is used, which equals about four dozen baseballs. However, roughly 72 baseballs can fit in a 5-gallon bucket if a lid is not used.

There are a couple of different ways to measure how many baseballs fit in a 5-gallon bucket, so I counted the number of baseballs by using a few different scenarios. Keep reading to learn all about how many baseballs can fit in a 5-gallon bucket as well as how much a full bucket of baseballs weighs.

Remember, you can use other size buckets for carrying around your baseballs. Learn about how many baseballs fit in a 6-gallon bucket.

48 to 50 Baseballs Fit in a 5-Gallon Bucket With the Lid Closed

When thinking about how many baseballs will fit in a 5-gallon bucket, most people tend to wonder about how many baseballs they can fit while still getting a lid to fit on the bucket. I tried this out myself to see just how many baseballs I could stuff into a 5-gallon bucket.

I was able to fit 48 baseballs in a 5-gallon bucket and still get the lid to easily close. However, I found that I was able to get the lid to close if I packed in another two baseballs.

In total, I was able to fit 50 baseballs in a 5-gallon bucket and still get the lid to close correctly. The lid did not close at all if I added any additional baseballs to the bucket.

How Heavy is a Full 5-Gallon Bucket of Baseballs?

If you’re a player who is tasked with carrying one of those full 5-gallon buckets of baseballs to the dugout, you might also be wondering how heavy this bucket of baseball weighs. I found myself wondering how heavy a full 5-gallon bucket of baseballs is so I used my kitchen scale to weigh my bucket that was filled with 50 baseballs.

A full, 5-gallon bucket of baseballs weighs about 17 pounds, 12 ounces. Of course, the weight will vary depending on the weight of your 5-gallon bucket and how many baseballs are in your bucket.

So players who are tasked with carrying a bucket of baseballs are also getting in a little bit of a workout. For more information on the weight of baseballs, read my other article on how much does a baseball weigh.

72 Baseballs Fit When the Bucket Has No Lid

I was also curious what the maximum number of baseballs was that I could fit into a 5-gallon bucket. Of course, there is not a real-world scenario where any coach would fill up their bucket of baseballs to the maximum level, but I still wanted to see exactly how many baseballs I could fit in that bucket. So I got rid of the lid and started piling in baseballs.

I was able to fit a grand total of 72 baseballs into a 5-gallon bucket. However, 6 baseballs fell out when I tried lifting the handle to see if I could carry all of those baseballs. So I was only able to carry a maximum of 68 baseballs in my 5-gallon bucket with no lid.

About 37 Baseballs Are in a 5-Gallon Bucket that is 3/4 Filled

Most baseball teams only have one bucket of baseballs and most teams don’t typically end the season with the same number of baseballs they started with. Sometimes they lose baseballs during practice and sometimes they gain baseballs that were used during games.

Either way, most baseball teams have a bucket of baseballs that is either almost full or filled about 3/4 of the way. So I filled up my 5-gallon bucket three-quarters of the way to see how many baseballs that would be.

A 5-gallon bucket of baseballs that is three-quarters full will equal about 35-40 baseballs. So roughly 37 baseballs are in a 5-gallon bucket that is 3/4 filled.

About 25 Baseballs Are in a 5-Gallon Bucket that is 1/2 Filled

A lot of baseball teams will have a bucket that is only about half-full of baseballs. How many baseballs are in a 5-gallon bucket that is half-full?

A half-filled 5-gallon bucket of baseballs will have between 22-27 baseballs. After all, the most number of baseballs that can fit into a 5-gallon bucket is 50 so it makes sense that half of that would be 25 baseballs.

About 13 Baseballs Are in a 5-Gallon Bucket that is 1/4 Filled

On occasion, baseball teams run low on their supply of baseballs. In these scenarios, teams might only have about a quarter of a bucket of baseballs left. How many baseballs are in a 5-gallon bucket that is one-fourth full?

A 5-gallon bucket that is 1/4 full of baseballs will contain between 10-15 baseballs. So roughly 13 baseballs total.