If you've got a pile of rubble, soil or garden waste sitting on a driveway, you have two realistic options: hire a skip and load it yourself over a few days, or book a grab lorry and have the pile gone in 15 minutes. They're not interchangeable - each wins on different jobs. Here's how to pick.
The quick version
- Skip: best when waste accumulates over time, when access is tight, when you want flexibility over loading hours, or when the waste is mixed.
- Grab lorry: best when you already have a pile, when access is good (the lorry needs space to extend its arm), when the waste is loose and uniform (soil, rubble, muck), and when you want the job finished today.
What a grab lorry actually is
A grab lorry is a tipper with a hydraulic arm mounted behind the cab, ending in a claw-type grab. Typical load capacity is 14-18 tonnes of loose material - roughly equivalent to three 8-yard maxi skips. The driver backs up to your pile, reaches the arm out (usually 5-8 metres), and scoops the material directly into the back of the lorry. Twenty minutes later, the pile is gone.
Where skips win
1. Mixed waste
Skips take almost anything (with a short list of exceptions we cover in what can't go in a skip). Grab lorries handle loose uniform materials only - soil, rubble, muck, hardcore. They won't touch a mixed pile of timber, plasterboard, old furniture and waste. If your rubbish is varied, a skip is almost always the answer.
2. Jobs that run over days or weeks
A skip sits on your driveway for 14 days standard. You load it as and when. A grab lorry is a single 15-minute pickup - you have to have everything ready. Refurb jobs, garden projects and house clearances benefit hugely from the skip's "keep loading" format.
3. Access you couldn't get a lorry into
A grab lorry needs road-side space to extend its arm safely. If you're in a narrow back lane or a gated estate, the grab lorry may simply not be able to reach. A 6-yard skip fits on most standard driveways.
4. Smaller volumes
Below about 6-8 tonnes of loose material, a skip is usually cheaper per tonne than a grab lorry. Grab lorries are priced per load, so a half-empty trip costs the same as a full one.
Where grab lorries win
1. You already have a pile
Classic scenario: dug out a garden pond, got 8 tonnes of soil on the driveway, neighbours complaining. A grab lorry can be there within a day or two, scoop the lot in 20 minutes, and take it off your hands. Trying to do the same job with skips would mean three maxis plus the labour of loading them.
2. Loose, uniform material
Soil, hardcore, concrete rubble from a driveway dig-up, muck from a garden landscaping job. All ideal grab-lorry material because it loads easily with the claw and fills the bed efficiently.
3. One-hit jobs with tight timelines
Builders moving a site on, landscapers finishing a commission, homeowners trying to reopen a driveway before the weekend. Grab lorries finish the clearance in a single visit.
4. Very large volumes
Above about 8 tonnes - which is a roughly full 8-yard maxi - a grab lorry starts becoming cheaper per tonne. For a 15-tonne pile, one grab lorry is much cheaper than two or three skips.
Cost comparison (2026 averages)
| Option | Typical cost | Capacity | Cost per tonne |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2-yard mini skip | £165 | ~2 tonnes | ~£83 |
| 4-yard midi skip | £225 | ~3.5 tonnes | ~£65 |
| 8-yard maxi skip | £325 | ~6 tonnes | ~£54 |
| 8-wheel grab lorry | £280-380 | ~14-18 tonnes | ~£22 |
Grab lorry costs vary by region and by material. Inert muck-away (clean subsoil, brick rubble) is cheapest; contaminated loads are more. Pricing varies by depot - see our postcode lookup for live rates.
Hybrid approach: both on the same job
On bigger projects we often see customers use both. The usual pattern:
- Skip on the driveway for general mixed waste throughout the project (timber, packaging, insulation offcuts, old carpet).
- Pile the clean rubble and soil separately beside the skip.
- Book a grab lorry to take the clean pile in one go at the end of the dig-out phase.
This splits the waste into its natural streams and ends up cheaper than forcing either option to do both jobs.
What a grab lorry won't take
- Mixed waste (anything not uniform and loose)
- Hazardous material: asbestos, paint, chemicals
- Contaminated soil above certain thresholds
- Rooted stumps and green waste (some operators will, some won't)
How to decide
- Is your waste already piled up, or does it still need to come out of a building? If it's piled - grab lorry is probably cheaper.
- Is it uniform loose material or mixed? Mixed - skip.
- Is access road-side and unobstructed? If no - skip.
- How much is there? Below 6 tonnes, skip is usually cheaper.
- How long will loading take? If it'll take days or weeks to accumulate, skip.
For domestic skip hire in our network, enter your postcode for live prices. Grab lorry bookings can often be arranged alongside skip hire - call the local depot directly for quotes. Full depot list on the coverage map.
Other comparisons worth reading: skip hire vs man and van, and two small skips vs one big one. For bigger refurbishments see Leeds skip hire, Manchester skip hire or Preston skip hire.
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