How Much Does Dirt Work Cost?
Dirt work in Oklahoma prices three ways: machine time at roughly $75 to $150 an hour for a single machine with an operator, materials like fill dirt at $30 to $55 a yard delivered in full loads, and trucking, which is where bills grow. Minimums of $500 to $800 are normal because moving equipment costs money before the first pass.
Those are market figures, not our quote. Our dirt work prices off a free on-site look. Here is how the pieces stack, so a bid reads clearly.
What do the machines cost per hour?
| Machine, with operator | Typical rate |
|---|---|
| Skid steer | $75 – $100 |
| Dozer | $80 – $150 |
| Mini excavator | $75 – $175 |
| Large excavator | $135 – $300 |
| Dump truck | $85 – $110 |
| Full excavation crew, OKC metro | $190 – $330 |
Two different “hourly rates” float around and get conflated. A one-machine owner-operator rate is one number; a full crew with several machines is another. A published rate sheet from Wynnewood, about 45 minutes from Ada, runs $75 to $100 an hour per machine, while OKC metro crew quotes run $190 to $330. Ask which one a bid means.
Minimums matter as much as rates on small jobs. Half-day minimums and mobilization fees of $400 to $800 are standard close to home, climbing past $1,200 for long hauls. That is why the cheap way to buy dirt work is grouping it: the drive, the pad and the washout repair on one trip instead of three.
What does fill dirt cost, really?
The dirt is cheap. The truck is not. One Oklahoma supplier’s published delivered prices make the point better than any rule of thumb: 10 yards of fill dirt for $300, but 2 yards for $250. Same dirt, $30 a yard versus $125, because the trip costs the same either way.
Typical Oklahoma delivered figures: fill dirt $30 to $55 a yard in full loads, topsoil $40 to $55, screened material at the top of the range. A standard dump truck carries 8 to 12 yards. Whenever the site allows it, the cheapest fill is your own ground, cut from a high spot and carried to the low one.
Why hauling dirt off costs more than bringing it in
Haul-off means loading, trucking, and paying a dump. Oklahoma City quotes start around $400 to $600 per truckload, and full-service figures run $140 to $230 per cubic yard. Wet or rocky spoil costs more still.
Clay adds a quiet multiplier called swell. Damp clay grows about 67 percent in volume once it leaves the ground, so a 100-yard cut becomes roughly 167 loose yards on trucks. This is why an experienced contractor tries to balance cut and fill on the property, and why “just haul it off” is the most expensive sentence in dirt work.
What jobs cost, in real brackets
- Yard leveling, average backyard: $1,000 to $5,000, small lawns from $500.
- Driveway grading: $700 to $2,500 nationally; OKC-area quotes run $1,200 to $3,500.
- New gravel driveway: $4 to $10 per square foot installed.
- Regrade for foundation drainage: $500 to $3,000, covered fully in our grading guide.
- Flattening a hump or hill: $1,000 to $5,000.
- Building up a house or shop pad: priced by fill volume and height, quoted per site.
Why the weather runs the schedule here
Oklahoma clay compacts only near the right moisture. Too wet and it smears under tracks, ruts, and refuses to pack; soil scientists put fine clay at the top of the compaction-damage risk list once it passes field capacity. A simple field test: a ribbon of soil that breaks off at an inch or two is workable, one that stretches four or five inches is still too wet.
Most of the state’s rain lands in spring and early summer, so the driest workable stretches run through late summer and fall. When a dirt contractor pushes a start date after a storm, that is the ground protecting your money. Packed wet, clay settles later, and the low spot comes back with interest.
Call (580) 344-7473 with what the ground needs. We run a Cat D6 dozer, a 30,000-pound excavator and a tracked skid steer out of Ada, the estimate is free, and the number comes from looking at your dirt, not a chart.