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Soil, Compost & Mulch

Ideas for how to find truck services

12 years ago

My municipality offers free compost but does not provide trucks or backhoes to fill trucks. I would have to shovel into my truckbed, scoop by scoop. Has anyone ever found someone who would pick up materials for them and deliver them? What kind of serviceperson would that be? Arborist, excavating...? Any ideas? Thanks.

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Comments (7)

maryrecord
12 years ago
I'm leaning toward excavating. You need someone to load and haul. I'm not sure but free might not be such a good deal if you have to pay for loading and hauling of the compost. Why not check the prices of a local company that supplies compost and get an estimate for compost + delivery on top of your excavator estimate and see which comes out cheaper.
jonhughes
12 years ago
Craigslist

You are sure to find a few ;-)
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candogal
12 years ago
Or you could rent a pickup at say, U-Haul, and load it yourself, if budget is the issue.

I just picked up 1/2 cu yard of compost from the place I get bark mulch from. I have four 25 gallon tubs I use to sort laundry, plus a metal trash can, plus another smaller tub. It took 2 loads in my station wagon and was a bit silly. But I got 1/2 cu yard of great compost for my potting project for $17. And some exercise...which isn't a bad thing.

If you want a lot, I agree that you might want to look into commercial compost & have it delivered. I only get the town "compost" for small applications, to add some organic material. I don't count on it being as good as my own compost, or be as "alive."
thisisme
12 years ago
There is no way you are going to find someone to bring heavy equipment to any location to load a pickup truck of free compost for less than it would cost to buy compost and have it delivered.

Where I live I can have 10 cubic yards of compost delivered for $ 270.00.

Or you can hire a heavy equipment operator at $ 125.00 to deliver the equipment plus $ 3.00 a mile over 15 miles plus $ 85.00 and hour with a four hour minimum charge.

The moral to the story here is; Free is not always cheaper unless you can do it all yourself.
tishtoshnm Zone 6/NM
12 years ago
For perspective, my 13-year-old and I can fill the bed of our full size pick up truck with horse manure in 45 minutes to 1 hour. When the muscles of my hubby are used in place of the 13-year-old, we do it in half that time. We may not unload instantly upon arriving home but as long as there is no longer manure in my truck when I go to church on Sunday, I am cool with that. If I could get compost free for the loading, I would be there every weekend for a month, and quite pleased.
newbiehavinfun
Original Author
12 years ago
tishtosh,
I'm digging (no pun intended) the family affair idea. We have a pickup that my hubby uses to go to work, but since he's a teacher he won't strictly be needing it ten days from now until September. Hmmm...we could even get the 11 year old involved, build her some muscles!
colleen_mi
12 years ago
I don't even have a truck, I use three Rubbermaid bins across the trunk of my car and make multiple trips. It's all in your motivation. :-)

And I do consider it a good workout.

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