Topsoil is a hot commodity for sale and a great additional revenue source. If you are giving away your soil products to recycle yards or fill sites, you are wasting money. Starting a topsoil screening business helps you diversify your revenues and grow your business sustainably.
Topsoil is a hot commodity for sale and a great additional revenue source. If you are giving away your soil products to recycle yards or fill sites, you are wasting money. Starting a topsoil screening business helps you diversify your revenues and grow your business sustainably.
Not every type of soil is a good product for sale. You must know your material and what is best for landscaping. Each type of soil is composed of various minerals and organic materials, which affects water retention and plant growth. Some soils include sand, clay or silth.
Sandy topsoil: Sandy topsoil is commonly found in coastal areas and in deserts. Its low organic material content results in a lack of water retention capabilities, which makes it hard to cultivate plants. Fast soil erosion makes it extremely difficult for plants to grow. In landscaping sandy soils are perfect for draining excess surface water.
Silty soil forms when tiny particles are eroded by water and wind in flood plains. Despite holding lot of moisture and organic material, it lacks nutrients so that does not support plant growth.
Clay soil: clay retains water but lacks organic material. The moisture retention makes clay ideal for planting crops that require lots of water during hot summer months. The clay keeps the water from draining away too quickly. However, it is difficult for plants to take roots because of the lack of organic matter.
Loam soils are a mixture of silt, sand, and clay in roughly equal amounts and combine the best of all worlds. It is created through sediments carried by rivers that settle out and form loam topsoil. It retains water and is very fertile because of the organic material that retains nutrients. This makes loam good for gardening. The nutrient-rich soil in combination with well-draining properties of excess water make it perfect for cultivating plants. In this sense it is the best kind of soil because it has a neutral pH balance that will not affect plant growth negatively.
Chalk: ,Limestone erosion creates chalk topsoil, which are often very alkaline. Therefore, it might not be ideal for some plants that require acidic conditions. It should be avoided as much as possible in gardening and landscaping because the porous properties of limestone allow chalk to absorb moisture quickly but also dry out quickly during dry periods. Chalk absorbs water during winter months and after rainfall.
It is found primarily in low-lying areas such as riverbanks or coastal regions where sedimentary rocks have been eroded and washed out over time. If mixed with sand, peat moss, and compost it makes the perfect growing soil that retains moisture while draining excess water, rich in nutrients and vital components for plant growth.
Peat topsoil forms in areas that are under water for an extended period such as bogs and swamps. The peat accumulates from dead plant matter, compressed by the pressure of layers of sediment building up over time which is rich in organic matters. Excavated peat is often dried out to mix with other soils to build loam mixtures and also mulch or compost.
Your inbound soil material from construction projects or dumped off by other contractors vary in quality. A good quality soil is darker tone, which indicates more organic material that is needed for plant growth. Light topsoil or dirt (light in color) is lacking organic material and impedes plant growth. If the soil is blue-green or gray tone it could mean that it was continously wet and is saturated with water, which also doesn't make a good commodity. The texture and moisture should feel good and the soil should crumble in your finger. Material that is too dry and too hard doesn't make a good soil product.
Typical buyers of topsoil are homeowners, farmers, landscapers, and contractors and most are looking for a nice product to lay down. Roots, stones, stumps, branches, leaves, and other contaminants make it hard to sell topsoil. Screened topsoil is an easier sale at a higher price. It can be made to various grades. Typically, the finer and cleaner the product, the more expensive the product. Therefore, it is important to understand what grade of topsoil your market demands.
Topsoil is sold by the cubic yard if you are not selling in bulk. Pricing is FOB your yard location. Having a good location allows gives you a competitive advantage when it comes to shipping costs.
The average market price for screened topsoil is $28.50 per yard and 25% higher than unscreened topsoil. Premium topsoil blends yield 50% more revenue over unscreened topsoil.
| OH | CO | PA | NJ | MA | VA | OR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unscreened topsoil | $26.00 | $20.00 | $25.00 | $20.00 | |||
| Screened topsoil | $27.50 | $35.00 | $32.00 | $35.00 | $25.00 | $23.00 | $22.00 |
| Premium screened topsoi | $37.50 | $40.oo | $35.00 | $45.00 | $32.00 | $25.00 | $28.00 |
To run a topsoil screening business you need a wheel loader and a screening plant. For example, you run a Mid-Size Loader with a 4 cu. yd. bucket and a RUBBLE MASTER RM HS3500M screening plant with a 6.5 cu yd feeder.
| Bucket size | 4 cu. yd. |
Estimated buckets per hour | 20 |
| Productive hours per day | 6 hours |
| Workdays per month | 20 days |
| Percentage of saleable product (vs. tailings and contaminants) | 80% |
| Retail price per cubic yard | $28.50 per cubic yard |
| Sellable material | 7,680 cubic yards / month |
| Estimated revenue | $218,880 / month |
| Revenue per ton (1 cu. yd. = 1.2 ton) | $23.75 per ton |
Please note: the calculation is a guideline only and doesn't consider weather conditions and off-seasons.
| Operating hours per month | 120 hours |
| Loader cost per hour | 130 $ / hour |
| Screen fuel consumption per hour --> Fuel consumption: $3 gal/h --> Diesel price: $4.9 / gal | 14.7 $ / hour |
| Operating costs per hour | 144.7 $/hour |
| Operating costs | $17,364 / month |
Scalping Screens are versatile screening plants and are available as compact units and high-production machines. Without the ability to use your screening plant for more than one job you limit your revenue streams and struggle growing your business. Scalping screens can be used in variety of applications and give you the flexibility and precision you need to produce a high-quality screened topsoil product. The heavy-duty design and the obstruction free flow of feed mateiral allow you to screen out contaminants (e.g. roots, branches, stones) from your feed material.
Incline screens - similar to scalping screens - are deck screens and can be equipped with a variety of meshes. The steeper screen-box makes them better suited for smaller feed material where you want to screen even a finer finished product. This comes in handy for application where a finer grade of topsoil is required.
Traditionally, trommel screens were being used with processing organic materials. Trommel screens have a circular drum that spins continously and pushed material down through the drum onto a tail conveyor. The material turns over. An often overlooked disadvantage of trommel screens are the fact that sticky material tends to ball up instead of being screened. Also trommel screens are limited in their application range and struggle dealing with oversize material (e.g. excavated material with heavy contaminants) as the oversize would violently travel through the trommel with its fine mesh.
Not every soil you get is dark and full of nutrients. Your inbound soil material from construction projects or dumped off by other contractors vary in quality. A good quality soil is darker tone, which indicates more organic material that is needed for plant growth. Light topsoil or dirt (light in color) is lacking organic material and impedes plant growth. If the soil is blue-green or gray tone it could mean that it was continously wet and is saturated with water, which also doesn't make a good commodity. The texture and moisture should feel good and the soil should crumble in your finger. Material that is too dry and too hard doesn't make a good soil product.Mixing your darker and better product with inferior product with your wheel loader prior to screening helps improving the quality of your finished product. You can also add peat moss to improve the quality of your product.
If you find too many contaminants in your screened topsoil product. switch from 12 mm to 8 mm harp screens. Less pepples will get through.
Screened topsoil shouldn't be left to the elements and proper material management is a must. To maintain product quality screened topsoil should be sheltered from rain (e.g. with a tarp) This will protect the topsoil from inclement weather conditions and avoids washing out the nutrients. Dry topsoil will provide for a better finished grade and the application of seed, sod, vegetation or plants. Also, it is recommended to avoid driving heavy machines across screened topsoil to avoid material compaction. A stacking conveyor such as the RM MTS1508US can be used to stockpile screened topsoil efficiently without any material compaction..
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