skip prices for soil

[Tom Woods]

I have a lot of surplus soil in my garden which i want to get rid of.

I have been starting to get prices for a skip, but was surprised that all the companies i have tried so far dont seem to care what i am putting in it.

I would have thought that a skip full of soil should cost a lot less to remove than a skip full of mixed rubbish. My soil can just be dumped elsewhere if it is needed whereas mixed rubbish needs to be sorted and recycled and so on.

Am i expecting too much or do i need to try some different companies that specialise in removing soil?

I am only talking 3 m^3 / 4 cu yards worth of soil at the moment, but have another similar amount i also intent to dig out (and i can do this sooner if it makes things cheaper)

[Malcolm Stewart]

I bet they assume that people would use soil to cover up nasty things! I've always assumed that skips go to landfill sites, unless they're obviously collecting sorted scrap metals.

[Tom Woods]

On all the websites they all seem to imply that they have to sort and recycle stuff where possible.

The worst my soil has to offer is rocks and the odd house brick and bits of ancient litter that have got mixed in over the years.

[Great Scot]

If what you have is soil and not not subsoil or builders debris I would most heartily recommend that you hang on to it. 3 or 4 cu.m. isn't a huge amount. Make a feature of it, down there in the shady bit. Use your imagination. Put it into landfill and it's gone forever. Next year, or maybe 3 years hence, you or your neighbour or a friend will be wanting a couple of barrowsful of topsoil. Call a couple of local suppliers and ask what they would charge for topsoil. You might be surprised at the cost and the product may well be sh1te. GS

[Robbo]

Contact a local Allotment club/site.

[Andrew Mawson]

If it is topsoil, then it has a value. Advertise it locally and 'buyer collects' and you will save the cost of a skip and may make a few pounds.

Oddly enough, if it is moved as a waste product of some other activity (ie landscaping) you need a waste licence to move it, whereas the same soil sold as a product doesn't! (As I found out last year when I was looking for 500 cu metres of topsoil to cover rubble landfill by a previous owner)

AWEM

[The Natural Philosopher]

halfway decent topsoil is around £12 a ton delivered.

I suggest you tell us where you are, and if you can sort the rubble out, thats also a saleable item.

I swapped a few dump trucks of rubble for a a few tons of horse manure..to our local stable who were building an access road..

Topsoil I kept..

[adder1969]

I paid =A3150 cash in hand for a 10 tonne grab lorry to come take mine away. It's a lot for what they do but cheaper in my area than a skip plus you don't have to load it.

[Tom Woods]

As recommended in the thread responses ...

Does anybody in north staffordshire/cheshire want some soil? Free to a good home and i'll even help you load it! ;)

Its a bit clay'y in parts and has a few rocks and stones in.

I'm near crewe.

[Tom Woods]

I'm not sure i'd call mine that decent, but things grow in it!

Crewe

[Tom Woods]

I havent got that large a garden that I can easily loose it somewhere out of the way :(

I've already taken a few loads round to my parents house but they dont want any more. I've found one place who will have it (a local scout camp), but by the time i've moved it there half a ton at a time its going to have cost me £30+ in fuel and a lot of time.

What we need is a soil supplier who do small ads and take a percentage off or charge a fee for it!

Where can i advertise soil?

[Andrew Mawson]

imagination.

somewhere

percentage

eBay

AWEM

[The Medway Handyman]

Last time I needed some topsoil removed I called one of these 'dig it & dump it' firms. The guy didn't want my job, but he did tell me that if a skip holds only topsoil or hardcore the skip should be cheaper - but they won't automatically offer a lower price.

Rather than paying to dump the contents they can sell them. I asked & got £20 knocked off the asking price.

[Autolycus]

't join freecycle if your blood boiling point is low: you get some rather optimistic "wanted" ads, and one may be tempted to post the odd "OFFER: Feck" advert, since so many of the participants seem utterly without it.

[Mark S.]

I've tons of the stuff and you can't give it away....

And I'm buggered if I'm paying the £1200.00 I was quoted to dig it out and take it away.

The guy was the worst tradesman I have ever met, to say it was his chosen business he made it sound like the worst job in the world to sit on a mini digger all day...

Mark S.

[mogga]

Freecycle it?

[Mark S.]

Tried that a few times, offered it to people who asked for it too...

Mark S.

[Tom Woods]

i'm about to try that..

If that doesnt work I may offer my parents a small amount of cash (or perhaps favours like moving some of my stuff out of the house/garden/loft) in return for dumping it there

[PJ]

You could try small sacks/bags worn under your trousers tied with a loop not which empty as you walk through the local park.

Panniers on the back of a cycle would hold more.

Large sacks in an estate car with a slightly open tailgate driven down a road with speed bumps. ;-)

[The Medway Handyman]

Or a wooden vaulting horse................

Or has that been done before?