"clean fill wanted"

[ejb]

\"clean fill wanted\"

A question, I am sure that most everyone has seen a sign posted in front of someones yard that says either "fill wanted" or "clean fill wanted". Is it the assumption that when someone puts a sign like that in front of their house that what they really want is *free* fill? I have been tempted to put up a sign to get some fill for some low areas I'd like to fill in, but not sure if I would then get a bunch of people offering to *sell* me some fill.

Also, has anyone had luck with this type of sign? I have a concern that either no one will take up the offer to dump the fill or else I may end up getting polluted or otherwise very undersireable loads of cr*p dumped on my property...opionions?

 

[MJB]

Re: \"clean fill wanted\"

I had a very similar sign on my property for about three years. Initially I got no response, but after about a year a local contractor stopped by and said he was looking for a place to drop off some stone and concrete debris. I agreed and was soon deluged by about 30-40 10-wheeler dump truck loads of hard fill. It is a good thing I had a JD440 bulldozer at the time because I could have never kept up with the fill coming in otherwise. He never asked for a dime since he would have had to haul the fill much further if I hadn't allowed him to dump there. I also got smaller amounts of fill from several other people also. Once I figured I had enough fill I took the sign down and I haven't had anyone else try to dump anything there since. I learned that the free fill game is kind of "feast or famine" and that you never know what type of fill you might get, but it worked out OK for me. Good Luck

Fugitive from the Cubicle Police

 

[Knight9]

Re: \"clean fill wanted\"

Those signs are up all over the place around here. I had a contractor in doing some rough grading and digging me a dugout. I asked him about the logic behind the "Fill Wanted" and he indicated that the person looking for fill will pay nothing but does occasionally risk getting a mix of dirt and debris. The hauler is generally trying to just get rid of the extra dirt and so that works out well. If you put one up, think I would certainly go with a "CLEAN Fill Wanted" wording /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif.

Kevin

 

[Boondox]

Re: \"clean fill wanted\"

Here in northern Vermont we get free fill from the highway dept as they dig the silt out of roadside drainage ditches. It's mostly sandy stuff, though occasionally you get a touch of litter mixed in.

Pete

www.GatewayToVermont.com

 

[NYTrainer]

Re: \"clean fill wanted\"

Try calling some local swimming pool installers. If they can't talk their customers into building berms, etc.. they have to pay to dump their fill (at the very least trucking costs) This is the perfect time of year to try that approach. Cesspool Companies are another option but you may want to be clearer on wanting fill from a newly dug cesspool and not fill from a leach field.
David

 

[ERNIEB]

Re: "clean fill wanted"

ejb, From one who does the hauling, a big part of what I do. I am always looking for "clean fill wanted" signs. It works just as someone else said. A contractor or someone, contracts with me to haul off unwanted material. The less distance I have to haul it, the less fuel, and the more profit for me.
If I have a job near such a dump site, I contact the person and try to tell him exactly what I have. I sometimes will take one load so they can see it.
The response you might recieve will depend upon a number of factors. Nearness to a project or an area where a lot of construction is going on would be a plus. Just how picky you are might be a factor.
Last winter I was hauling for a company that was installing manholes for fiber optics in downtown San Antonio. They were just digging a hole in the street and putting it in my truck. I had a heck of a time getting anyone to take it, because of the little bit of asphalt that was in it. Even though it could easily be taken out.
Finally, BEWARE. There are plenty of unscrupulous ones who will tell you one thing then dump a load of trash on you. Once it's on the ground they do a disapearing act. Around here it can cost $50.00-60.00 for a 12yd dump to dump a load of trash (plus haul costs), so a hauler can save a nice bit of money by getting rid of it for free.

Ernie

 

[Joeinindy]

Re: "clean fill wanted"

Over the past 12 years I must have had well over a hundred tri-ax loads of fill dumped and it was everything from nice clean dirt to concrete/ dirt mix. I was building up the area between my pond and the creek and needed to go apx 20' wide by 10' tall and about 60' long, so I really didn't care about the quality of the fill so long as it wasn't just trash. Most of the loads came from the county road crews and alot from a local contractor who was building a new Holiday Inn, who by the way is now doing a major addition onto my house. The deal I have worked out is they bring the fill, grade it when they are done and level it all out. My biggest problem in getting fill is my location, so unless they are in a pinch or working close the distance is too great to make it worth the hauling. Check with the state and county highway departments and the larger construction companys and if you are getting the quanity's brought in like I was they should agree to bring a dozer out after they are finished with the dumping.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Re: "clean fill wanted"

Ernie, is there a standard that tandems &tri-axles haul? Or does it just depend on the truck? The people I've talked to who have bought fill, more or less just refer to loads as tandems or tri-axle loads no definate amount of yards. The best I could find out was tandems, they think are hauling 12 or 16yards and tri-axles hauling 18 or 24yards.

 

[ERNIEB]

Re: \"clean fill wanted\"

Shorty, there is no standard that I know of, when a truck is referred to as a 12yd or 14yd or whatever it refers only to the measurements of the bed. most tandems have a box of 12, 14, or 16 yds. Tri axles are not very popular around here, most I've seen look to be about 16, maybe 18 yards.
See, tandems even when legal on gross weight can run into trouble on axle weight, and thats how the DOT weighs them. another axle, of course, takes care of that problem. Thats the main reason for having the third axle.
24 yds is in the tractor trailer range. I have seen some tri axles with 24 yd beds, but they also had a fourth drag axle, and a fifth that could be lowered at the rear of the truck. A strictly tri axle with a 24 yd bed, unless he is hauling wood shavings or cotton seed hulls, is sure to draw attention from the DOT man. I hope that answers the question.


Ernie

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Re: \"clean fill wanted\"

thanks Ernie, that cleared it up a bit.

If you don't mind... Say a tandem has a 16 yd bed, how many yards would you guess they can haul and still be legal on the axles, of say plain old dry sand?