The difference in one table
| Skip hire | Grab hire | |
|---|---|---|
| How it works | A container is delivered, you fill it, it is collected | A lorry arrives, loads the heap with its arm and leaves |
| Best for | Mixed waste that builds up over days | Loose soil, rubble and hardcore already in a heap |
| Bags and mixed rubbish | Yes | No. The arm loads loose material by the bucketful |
| Time on your ground | As long as the job takes | One visit, usually about twenty minutes |
| Who loads it | You do | The lorry does |
| Space it needs | A drive or road space for the skip | None. The lorry stands on the road |
| Council permit | A skip permit, if the skip stands on a public road | No skip permit |
| Sizes | 4 to 16 yards | By the lorry, from 4 wheels to 8 |
| Price | From £366 to £672, including VAT, by size | Per load, by the size of the lorry |
When a grab lorry is the better choice
- The waste is loose and heavy: soil, subsoil, hardcore, rubble or broken concrete.
- It is already in a heap, or will be before the lorry comes.
- There is nowhere to put a skip, or no permit is possible on the road outside.
- There is a lot of it. Heavy waste in a skip stops at 8 yards; an 8-wheel grab carries about 16–18 tonnes in one visit.
When a skip is the better choice
- The waste is not out yet: a strip-out, a renovation or a clear-out that produces rubbish day by day.
- It is mixed, bagged or bulky: furniture, timber, packaging, general household junk.
- It includes items that have to be declared when you book, such as a mattress or a fridge. A grab takes none of those.
- The heap is out of the arm's reach, behind a building or round a corner.
Can the arm reach it?
Nothing is delivered with a grab. The lorry parks on the road and the arm does the reaching, so check four things:
| Check | What a grab needs |
|---|---|
| Road space | About 10 m at the kerb, 3.5 m wide. Its legs spread about 4 m while the arm works. |
| Reach | The heap within about 6 m of the lorry, or about 5.5 m on a 4-wheeler. The arm reaches over a wall, fence or hedge, not round corners. |
| Overhead | At least 6 m clear. No working under or near power lines. |
| The heap | Loose material, brought out and ready. The arm cannot pick up bags. |
A skip lorry needs a different kind of room: about 12 m in a straight line, 3 m wide, with 4.5 m clear overhead, because the skip comes off the back in line with the lorry. All of these are typical figures for UK vehicles, not a specification.
How much a grab lorry holds
| Lorry | Typical load | Body |
|---|---|---|
| 4-wheel grab | 7–9 tonnes | about 12 cubic yards |
| 6-wheel grab | 12.5–14 tonnes | about 16 cubic yards |
| 8-wheel grab | 16–18 tonnes | about 20 cubic yards |
With soil and rubble the weight is the limit, not the space, so a lorry is full before its body looks it. These are typical figures for each class of lorry.
Permits
A skip on your own drive needs no permit. On a public road it needs one from the council, which sets its own fee and its own notice period. It is arranged for you and priced as its own line before you pay.
A grab lorry needs no skip permit. Nothing is left on the highway: the lorry is a parked vehicle while it loads, though a council can charge for a vehicle to stand while it is loaded. Where a permit would take too long, or the council will not give one, that alone can decide it.
What each can take
A skip takes most household, garden and building waste. Heavy waste goes in the smaller skips only: soil / subsoil and hardcore / rubble go in skips of 8 yards or less. What can go in a skip.
A grab lorry takes loose, gradeable material: soil and subsoil, hardcore and rubble, broken concrete and green waste. It does not take bagged or mixed household rubbish.
Neither takes asbestos, fuels, liquids or the other items on the never list.
What each costs
Skip hire is priced by the size of the skip. Our guide prices today run from £366 for a 4-yard skip to £672 for a 16-yard skip, including VAT, for a private-property (driveway) delivery with general mixed waste at a London postcode. One price covers delivery, the hire, with no fixed period, collection and disposal. Get the price for your postcode.
Grab hire is priced per load, by the size of the lorry. There is no hire period: the lorry loads and leaves, and there is nothing to collect later. We price it when you tell us the postcode and what the heap is: enquire about grab hire.
For a small or mixed load a skip usually fits better. For a large heap of heavy waste, compare one grab load with the number of skips it would take.
A third option: a cage van
For bags, boxes and bulky items that are light, a cage van waits while you load it and leaves with the waste. Nothing stands on the road, so there is no skip permit. Half Load Cage Van from £360; Full Load Cage Van from £504, including VAT. It does not take soil, rubble or plasterboard. See cage vans.
Where these figures come from
The skip sizes, hire length and prices are read from our live catalogue when the page loads. A grab lorry's reach, road space and load are typical figures for each class of UK vehicle, not a specification: lorries vary, so send us a photo of the heap and the road if it looks close.