How to get rid of large quantities of soil

Gussoe

My back garden slops up a lot and i'm thinking of ramping it up instead of steps. It would require removing quite a bit of earth, like a couple/few ton bags worth.

Skip hire is not ideal for me as the front door is the only access point and i live on busy road in a town. My concern is that people will throw their rubbish in my skip. I won't be able to mind the skip the whole time.

Is there such a thing as a place that drops off a couple ton bags? Then collects them on schedule? I've seen ton bags outside of peoples houses when they are doing works and I don't recall people throwing their rubbish bin bags in it.

Flinty997

The bags mostly won't take the weight of soil. You can only partially fill them. I guess the solution is to get a skip and fill it quickly. So remove the soil and heap it ready to move to a skip then. Move it all into the skip in as short a time as possible.

bigroad

You could also ask your neighbours do that want any topsoil for flowerbeds ect.Even put a notice in your local shop.

Free to take away.

The Continental Op

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120561698#Comment_120561698

So why do they deliver one tonne of top soil in them? To be safe they are only allowed to be used for a single use and are tested to double the rated load.

Answer is to give the soil away even if it means barrowing it down the road to neighbours yourself. If you have 2 tonnes to get rid of then thats about 24 masochist level full barrows or about 36 if you take it easy.

For the OP's plan this might work? https://www.keywaste.ie/babyskip note they take a tonne ;-)

Flinty997

A guy I know lined his MPV (seats removed) just shovelled it then took it to the recycling centre.

magicbastarder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120561740#Comment_120561740

what's the density of soil anyway? i would assume it's greater than 1g/cm^3 so a 1 cubic metre bag would weigh more than a ton anyway.

Iv used skip bags occasionally to get rid of stuff. They're quite handy depending on where you are and what you are tryng to dispose of.

You buy the bags in woodies/b&q etc and load it when you need it, no organising skip deliveries. Then book pickup online.

I use these guys but there's a few brands out the if you search for skip bags.

https://www.keywaste.ie/babyskip

If you've a lot of soil it may be pricey for all the bags but you'll get a fine workout digging it out and loading the bags.

The Continental Op

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120561804#Comment_120561804

Depends on the soil, where it is how its been handled and if its wet. Where it is sounds stupid but a cubic meter of compacted soil in the ground (banked) can take up 20% less space than loose soil. iirc soil has a load factor of around 0.8 so one cubic meter of banked soil is about 1.25 cubic meters when you start moving it. An important calculation when you are moving a lot of soil. You might thick your digging out 1 cubit meter but it will need 1.25 cubic meters space on your transport.

When you are buying soil, sand or gravel by the 1 tonne dumpy bag that seems to be what you get, 1 tonne. When you are filling a 1 tonne bag with soil to get rid of it you fill the bag till its full and I would guess a meter squared bag would then weigh at least 1.5 tonnes. That shouldn't be a worry as to get a certification as being suitable for a 1 tonne load the bags have to be test to at least 2 tonnes.

Flinty997

The skip and bag companies often have a % fill rules for soil. As its very heavy.

magicbastarder

we've ordered a few bags of soil from mulch.ie ove the years - i note they state '1m3 bag' rather than '1m3 soil' - i didn't get my tape measure out to determine what was actually delivered!

Man Vs ManUre

The best way to get rid of it is to bury it in the back garden.

Gussoe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120561733#Comment_120561733

It's actually like a light brown clay, not suitable for growing

magicbastarder

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zugv1NdMj4

simple.

Gussoe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120562118#Comment_120562118

Not possible as that is where the earth is that i'm wanting to dig out.

magicbastarder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120562137#Comment_120562137

just dig a bigger hole.

Gussoe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120562154#Comment_120562154

Maybe i can just dig through to the other side of the globe and mound it up over there.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120562118#Comment_120562118

That's only digging a hole for yourself.

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

Had the same problem last year @Gussoe , ended up with 14 tonne bags of top soil and couldn't get them shifted no matter what I did. Tried everything including ringing landscapers/farmers. The main issue was transporting it. Luckily I'm in a new-build estate and the builders there were still finishing off some houses so I went down to the foreman and he agreed to take them away for free. Threw him a bottle a whiskey, a few pastries for the office and crate of beer for the fella driving the teleporter. If there's even anyone building a new home in your immediate area it might be worth approaching them.

Sam Russell

Why not use a grab service. Lorry comes and loads your pile of soil into the lorry using a grab crane. I assume you pay be weight.

rje66

Grab lorry costs approx 350 ish per load,