Hauling gravel, topsoil and bark with a dump trailer

Landscape jobs that fit a dump trailer

Haul it yourself and the 7x14 dump trailer tips the load where you want it, so there is no shoveling it back out of a pickup bed. It fits jobs like these:

• Driveway gravel: Top up a worn gravel driveway or parking spot, and tip the load where you need it.
• Garden topsoil: Fill raised beds or build up a lawn area, one load at a time.
• Bark and mulch: Cover planting beds without bags. Light material like this needs a cover on the road.
• Drain rock: Rock for a French drain or downspout trench, picked up when the trench is ready.
• Paver and patio base: Base rock for a patio, walkway or shed pad, dropped close to the work.

Plan your trips

Count your cubic yards

• Measure the area in feet. Multiply length by width by depth (in feet), then divide by 27. That gives cubic yards.
• Example only, not a recommended depth: a 10 ft by 20 ft bed filled 0.5 ft deep is 100 cubic feet, or about 3.7 cubic yards.
• Give the supplier your cubic yards and ask how much to load per trip. Heavy rock may take more trips than light bark.

Check your tow vehicle and hitch

• Your vehicle’s tow rating, gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR), gross combination weight rating (GCWR) and maximum tongue weight are in the owner’s manual. The hitch has to match those ratings too (Towing a Trailer: Being Equipped for Safety, PDF).
• That guide says what counts is how much the trailer weighs fully loaded, and the best way to know is to weigh it at a public scale.
• Check the listing and your booking details, and load only to the legal limits for the trailer and your tow vehicle. Tow requirements are confirmed at booking.
• Washington requires safety chains when a vehicle tows a trailer (RCW 46.37.495). WSP rules call for two chains, crossed, and not attached to the hitch ball (WAC 204-70-070).
• Vehicles in combination, such as a pickup towing a trailer, are limited to 60 mph, and posted limits may be lower (RCW 46.61.410).

One load or several?

• If the supplier says your order is more than one load, plan several trips. A week rental gives you room to spread them out.
• Pick up the next load when the last one is spread, so the pile isn’t sitting on the lawn.
• Tip each load close to where it goes. Drain rock is easiest picked up once the trench is dug.

Cover and secure every load

• RCW 46.61.655 says no load may drop, sift, leak or otherwise escape, and any cover must be securely fastened. Dirt, sand or gravel on a paved public highway must be covered unless there are six inches of freeboard.
• The state’s commercial vehicle guide (PDF) adds that freeboard counts after the load has had a chance to settle, and that material that can blow out, like bark, should be covered.
• The same law says to clean mud and rock off the trailer and wheels before driving on a paved public highway. A broom and shovel make that quick.
• Ecology’s Secure Your Load page says to secure every trip, even short or slow ones. Keep a tarp and straps in the truck, and if you hear whipping or rattling, stop in a safe place and check.
• Breaking the load law is a traffic infraction, and it can be a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor if something falls out and causes damage or injury.

Spreading, grading and permits

• For a big topsoil or gravel job, the Kubota U27-4 has a backfill blade for spreading and leveling. See the grading guide for the how-to.
• In unincorporated Pierce County, the Fill and Grade page says a permit is required for grading more than one cubic yard in critical areas, or more than 50 cubic yards in all other areas.
• Its site development FAQ lists creating impervious surfaces among typical permit triggers, and names gravel driveways among the most common. Adding a new gravel driveway? Check with Pierce County first.
• Digging before you spread, like for drain rock or a paver base? WA 811 says to contact 811 at least two, but no more than ten, business days before you dig.
• Hauling old soil out? Pierce County’s Dirt page lists places that take clean fill dirt (no sod or debris). Staffed landfills and transfer stations charge a fee for unsecured loads (RCW 70A.200.120).

Other cities have their own rules. Check with your city or Pierce County first. Area pages: Puyallup · Bonney Lake · Sumner · Auburn · Enumclaw.

Day, weekend or week?

7x14 dump trailer: At the day rate, 3 days is $465 and 4 days is $620, vs $575 for a week. The weekend rate is $200 (Friday 9 AM pickup to Monday 3 PM return).

Mini excavator: At the day rate, 3 days is $1,005 and 4 days is $1,340, vs $1,050 for a week. The weekend rate is $490 (Friday 9 AM pickup to Monday 3 PM return).

Prices are before WA sales tax and the 1.25% heavy equipment rental tax where it applies. Your exact total shows at checkout.