Project

Topsoil Matched: Screened at the Source, Delivered in Mesquite

One site had topsoil it needed to get rid of. Another site in Mesquite needed topsoil. That is the kind of match we like to make. We brought the screening equipment to the source, ran the stockpile through it on site, and coordinated the trucks so the screened topsoil went straight to the job that wanted it. The source site got its piles cleared and the receiving site got usable topsoil delivered. This is what that arrangement is, why the screen goes to the dirt rather than the other way round, and when it works.

Key takeaways

The job: a topsoil stockpile on one site, screened where it sat and trucked to a job in Mesquite that needed topsoil.
The screen came to the source. Native strip is not a finish material until the roots, rock and clods are out.
The source site paid nothing to clear the pile, and the receiving site got screened topsoil from a few miles away.
A match like this depends on volume, room to work and timing, which is why the site is checked before anything is promised.
Run your own numbers first with the topsoil calculator, then see whether your site qualifies for free removal.

What the match was

Every development site strips its topsoil before the pad goes in, and most of them use only a fraction of it at close-out. The rest sits in a pile that the site has to protect under its stormwater permit and eventually pay to move. On this job the pile was native topsoil in good condition, and a few miles away a site in Mesquite was about to order screened topsoil for its finish grade.

Those two facts are the whole story. One site was going to pay to get rid of the material; the other was going to pay to buy it. Putting them together turned a disposal line on one budget into a delivery on the other, with the screening in between. Our guide on topsoil covers why the same layer is a nuisance on one site and a specified material on the next.

Why the screen goes to the dirt

Stripped topsoil comes off a site with roots, grass, rock and clods in it. Nobody specifies that for a finish grade, and landscape crews do not buy it. Screening pulls the oversize out and leaves a clean, consistent material that spreads flat and takes sod, which is the difference between a pile a site pays to remove and a material somebody pays for.

Hauling unscreened strip to a yard, screening it there and hauling it out again moves every yard twice. Setting the screening plant and a loader next to the stockpile moves it once: the excavator feeds the screen, the screened side loads straight onto trucks, and the oversize goes back to the site’s fill pile or leaves with the trucks. On the video the dust tells you it had been dry for a while, which is the weather a topsoil screen wants. Saturated black clay balls up on the mesh and will not pass, so a wet pile waits to cure before it runs.

What each site got

The source site got its stockpile cleared without a disposal invoice and without lending a machine or a crew to the job. The screening ran on our equipment with our operator, and the ground was left graded as agreed when the pile was gone. That also took the pile off the site’s stormwater plan, which is one less thing the superintendent has to manage at close-out.

The site in Mesquite got screened topsoil delivered by the truckload from a source close enough that the haul was short. Screened topsoil in commercial volumes is not easy to find in DFW, and finding it a few miles away rather than across the metroplex is what makes the delivered price work. Our topsoil page covers the material and the volumes we deliver.

A match like this is not a rate card. It worked on this job because the source pile was clean native topsoil, there was room beside it for a screen and a loader, the trucks had access, and a receiving site wanted the material in the same window. When any of those is missing, the pile moves as an ordinary export and is quoted as one.

When a topsoil match works

Three things decide it. The first is volume: there has to be enough clean topsoil to justify mobilizing a screen and running trucks, and depth times area is the number that answers it. The second is the site itself: room next to the pile for the equipment, and access a loaded truck can use. The third is timing: a window of a few weeks while the screen runs and the trucks cycle, ideally lining up with a receiving site that wants topsoil then rather than next quarter.

What the pile is made of matters as much as how big it is. A stockpile that is mostly fill or debris is not a topsoil job, and we say so. Our free topsoil removal page sets out who usually qualifies and what we need from you to check a site.

Check your own site before you call

The volume is the part you can get from a map. Outline the area being stripped on the topsoil calculator, set the depth from a test hole, and it returns the cubic yards in place, the loose yards once dug, the tonnage and the truckloads. One acre at six inches is about 807 cubic yards in the ground. Send us those numbers with the site address and the window, and we will tell you straight away whether it looks like a match or an export.

If you are on the other side of it, needing screened topsoil for a finish grade, landscape beds or erosion control, the same calculator sizes the order from a depth and an area, and the numbers carry straight into a quote. We deliver across DFW, Austin, San Antonio and Houston, timed to the close-out.

Topsoil match FAQ

Why was the topsoil screened on the source site instead of at a yard?

Screening where the pile sits moves every yard once instead of twice. The screening plant and a loader set up beside the stockpile, the screened side loads straight onto trucks, and the oversize goes back to the site’s fill or leaves with the trucks. Hauling unscreened strip to a yard first would add a full haul and a second handling to every load.

Did the source site pay to have its topsoil removed?

No. When a site has enough clean native topsoil, room to work and truck access, the screened material is worth enough to landscape and finish buyers to pay for the screening and the trucks, so the pile leaves at no cost to the project. Sites that do not qualify are quoted as a normal export.

How do I know whether my site has enough topsoil?

Depth times area. Dig a few test holes, measure the dark layer, and outline the area on the topsoil calculator. One acre at six inches is about 807 cubic yards in place. Send the numbers with the site address and we will tell you whether it looks like a match.

Can I buy screened topsoil from a match like this?

Yes. We deliver screened topsoil by the truckload for finish grade, landscape beds, detention pond slopes and erosion control across DFW, Austin, San Antonio and Houston. Size the order on the calculator, switch it to delivery, and send the numbers for a quote.

Have topsoil to get rid of, or need some delivered?

Tell us the site, the acres being stripped and the depth, or the volume you need and where. We will look for the match before we price the haul.

See If Your Site Qualifies Topsoil Calculator