Guide
Skip hire vs grab lorry
Both take away waste, but they suit different jobs. A skip is flexible and you load it in your own time. A grab is fast and does the loading for you, especially for loose heavy waste.
The short answer
A skip is the better choice for mixed waste, a job with no fixed timescale, and where you are happy to load it yourself. A grab lorry is better for a large volume of loose heavy waste like soil and rubble, because the grab arm loads it straight from a pile in minutes, and it is usually cheaper for that kind of load.
How each works
The core difference
Skip hire
A container is delivered, you fill it in your own time, and it is collected. You do the loading, it handles mixed waste well, and it can stay for the standard hire period, which suits a job that runs over days.
Grab lorry
A lorry with a hydraulic grab arm arrives, scoops the waste straight from a pile, and takes it away, usually in one visit. You do no loading, it is fast, and it is built for loose heavy waste like soil, rubble and hardcore.
The deciding factor
Why weight usually settles it
The choice so often comes down to soil and rubble because of weight. A skip has a safe carrying weight as well as a volume, and dense waste reaches that weight long before the skip looks full. Fill a large builders skip with rubble and it can be too heavy to lift safely while half the space is still empty, so you end up paying for volume you cannot use. A grab lorry is built and weighed to carry dense loads, which is why it is usually cheaper per tonne for heavy material.
For light or mixed waste it is the other way round. A skip uses its full volume before it reaches the weight limit, so you get the whole container, and it copes with the variety of a renovation or a clearance. A grab is designed to scoop loose material of one kind, so it is the wrong tool for mixed waste however much there is.
Choose a skip
When a skip wins
- The waste is mixed, from a renovation or a clearance.
- The job runs over days or weeks and you want the container to stay.
- You are happy to load it, and it can sit on your drive.
- The volume of heavy waste is small.
Choose a grab
When a grab wins
- You have a large volume of loose heavy waste: soil, rubble, hardcore or aggregate.
- You want it gone fast, in a single visit, with no loading by hand.
- The pile is reachable from the road for the grab arm.
- Cost per tonne matters, because a grab is usually cheaper for bulk heavy waste.
Can it reach
Access decides whether a grab is even an option
A grab loads with a hydraulic arm from wherever the lorry can park, usually the road, reaching over a wall or fence to the pile. That reach is limited, commonly around six metres, so the waste has to be within range and the lorry needs a legal, safe place to stop while it works.
A pile at the back of a long garden that the arm cannot reach is a skip job, not a grab one, unless the material is first barrowed to the front. Tell us where the waste actually is and we will say whether a grab can get to it before you count on it.
Not always either or
Some jobs use both
A landscaping project might take a grab for the dug-out soil and hardcore and a skip for the timber, turf and general waste the grab cannot handle. There is no rule against running the two together, and for a job that is part heavy and part mixed it is often the cheapest combination. If you are not sure how to split it, describe the waste and we will say which does what.
Related
Useful next steps
For loose heavy waste in volume.
If a skip is the better fit.
More on sizing a skip for heavy waste.
Common questions
Frequently asked
Is a skip or a grab lorry cheaper?
For mixed waste or a small heavy load, a skip is usually cheaper. For a large volume of loose heavy waste like soil and rubble, a grab lorry is usually cheaper per tonne, because it loads straight from a pile and takes it in one visit.
When should I use a grab lorry instead of a skip?
When you have a lot of loose heavy waste to shift fast, and it is reachable from the road for the grab arm. A grab does the loading and removes it in a single visit, which a skip cannot. See grab lorry hire.
Can a grab lorry take mixed waste?
Grab lorries are built for loose heavy waste such as soil, rubble, hardcore and aggregate. For mixed renovation or household waste, a skip is the better tool because it handles a variety of materials.
Do I need access for a grab lorry?
The grab arm reaches from the road over a wall or fence to the pile, so the waste needs to be within reach and the lorry needs somewhere to park. Tell us where the material is and we will confirm whether a grab can reach it.
How far can a grab lorry reach?
Commonly around six metres from where the lorry parks, reaching over a wall or fence to the pile. The waste needs to be within that range, so material at the back of a long garden is usually a skip job unless it is moved to the front first.
Can I use a skip and a grab on the same job?
Yes. A landscaping or building job that produces both heavy and mixed waste often takes a grab for the soil and hardcore and a skip for the timber and general waste. Describe the waste and we will say how best to split it.
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