Grab Lorry vs Skip Hire: Which Is Best for Hardcore and Soil?

If you’ve ever stood over smashed up debris from a refurb, wondering how on earth to shift it, you’ve probably asked the same question as everyone else: grab lorry or skip? It’s not exactly a thrilling choice, but it matters. Pick wrong and you’ll either pay too much, block your road or end up knee-deep in leftover hardcore.

Londoners deal with this every week. Tight streets, minimal space, deadlines breathing down your neck. The truth? There’s no one-size-fits-all. The right option depends on how much waste you’ve got, what kind of rubble it is and how easy it is to get a vehicle close. Let’s break it down and see where each wins (and where they doesn’t).

Grab Lorry vs Skip Hire – What’s the Difference?

A skip is easy. It gets delivered, you fill it, and someone picks it up. You work at your own rate, a few hours, a few days, whatever’s appropriate for the job.

A grab lorry is the reverse. It’s a lorry with a hydraulic arm, a grabber, which loads up waste directly from your site. You stack the hardcore, soil or muck where it’s handy, the driver works the grab, and in no time your mess is gone.

The grab doesn’t mess around. You’re paying for muscle and speed.

Grab Lorry vs Skip Hire – Volume & Load Size

Here’s where the real difference shows. A standard builder’s skip, that’s a 6-yard skip, holds around 6 tonnes of heavy waste. Go bigger, and weight limits kick in fast. The lorry lifting the skip can only take so much before you’re breaking road limits.

A grab lorry, on the other hand, can take up to 16 tonnes in one go. That’s the equivalent of about three large skips. So if you’re shifting full loads of hardcore or soil, a grab wins hands down.

That said, smaller projects, driveways, garden clearances, kitchen refits, don’t usually justify a grab’s capacity. A skip might feel slower, but it’s sized for practicality.

One of the builders we interviewed in Islington summarised it best: “If it’s over a couple of tonnes, I don’t even hesitate. Grab all day.”

Grab Lorry vs Skip Hire – Site Access, The Make-or-Break Factor

Access is a killer of more plans than pricing. Grab lorries are large, typically 8 wheels and must park near the waste, within arm’s reach, say 5–6 metres. Overhead cables, trees or parked cars can become major issues.

Skips are more versatile. If you have a council skip permit (see our local pages and skip sizes for London areas such as Southwark and Islington), you can place it tidily at the kerb for several days. You fill it when convenient, and there’s no pressure.

If the nearest available place to your premises is down an alley or through a narrow gate, grab lorries are out. You can wheelbarrow rubbish into a skip, but you can’t request a lorry to put out its arm through your kitchen window.

So:

• Tight access or continuous work: Skip.

• Open frontage or roadside area: Grab.

What You’re Loading, Clean or Contaminated

This is where everyone tends to get caught out. Soil and hardcore are referred to as inert waste, they don’t break down over time. But as you begin adding in wood, plastic, plasterboard or even roots, it’s no longer clean.

Lorries carrying rubbish like this prefer clean loads. Soil, hardcore, concrete, bricks, all good. But add rubbish and they will charge extra or flatly refuse the collection.

Skips are able to manage mixed waste, although heavy loads of rubble or soil fill skips by tonnage.

Have a look at the types of waste page for a better indication of what’s permitted where, it’ll prevent you from any hiccups or additional charges.

Grab Lorry vs Skip Hire – Costs, Pound for Pound

You all want the magic number, but cost is dependent on your configuration.

For London work:

• A 6-yard skip (approximately 6 tonnes) could cost £250–£300 after you factor in delivery, collection and permits.

• A grab lorry (up to 16 tonnes) is typically £250–£400, depending on distance and access.

On paper, a grab seems more expensive. But when you break it down cost per tonne, the equation reverses.

• Skip: Approximately £40–£50 per tonne
• Grab: Approximately £20–£25 per tonne

So if you’ve got the volume and access, grab is the better value. For small, slow jobs, a skip works the best. 

Grab Lorry vs Skip Hire – Environmental and Routing Considerations

Skips and grabs both end up at licensed transfer stations, where material gets sorted and recycled. But the logistics are different.

Grab lorries take fewer trips. They have more per load, use less fuel per tonne and tend to leave a lower carbon impact for major jobs.

Skips tend to require several collections, particularly if they are loaded with mixed material that is more time-consuming to process.

Contact ProSkip

If you’re still not certain, speak with us at ProSkip. We’ll walk you through the regulations where you are. No matter if you’re going through the local pages (e.g., Southwark, Islington) or you need to find Greater London skip hire in any other council, we will advise which is the best option for you.