Cost Of Earthworks - Isaan

[imokg2g]

Greetings all,

I have a query with regard to the cost of earthworks in rural Isaan. Particularly the price of importing fill by truck to raise the earth level on a peice of land I own.

I understand many of you who have built houses in Isaan, or anywhere else in Thailand, would have had to carry out similar tasks. A cost per truck, or in terms of m2 / rai / wah would be much appreciated.

Could anyone advise on any other considerations when paying for earthworks here in LOS.

I understand prices vary from location to location. Any feedback is much appreciated.

Thank you.

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[krisb]

Hi, about 3 years ago, I had a guy that lives next village over bring about 170ish trucks of dirt and same guy had a tractor to spread it. We got lucky cause he was so local and needed work so the price was by memory was 190baht a truck load. 6 wheel dump truck. No extra cost for spreading it. Hope that helps!

BTW, that's near Chumphae, if your near there, I can pass his number to you.

Edited May 7, 2013 by krisb

[krisb]

Perhaps the issan forum would be better audience to assist here.

[imokg2g]

Thank you for the reply krisb.

I'm somewhat new to the forums here at Thaivisa and haven't the slightest clue on how to move threads.

As a rule-of-thumb I've been advised to work with a truckload being approximately 9 m3 of loose fill.

Time to bring out the calculator.

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[cooked]

It really depends.. on a lot of things.We saw a fishpond being excavated near our village, contacted the guy and got 6 truck loads delivered quickly. We just agreed a spot price. The rainy season is on its way, so you had better get moving. You really need local contacts for this kind of stuff.

[krisb]

Thank you for the reply krisb.

I'm somewhat new to the forums here at Thaivisa and haven't the slightest clue on how to move threads.

As a rule-of-thumb I've been advised to work with a truckload being approximately 9 m3 of loose fill.

Time to bring out the calculator.

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perhaps mods can move to issan or the building section of the forum. Another great site is coolthaihouse.com....loads of great info, check it out. Edited May 7, 2013 by krisb

[IsaanAussie]

Around me there are several Makros or excavators. Most run with a fleet of 6 wheel tippers they dig ponds or lower rice paddies and sell the dirt as payment. The price paid per truck is usually 220 baht per truck and includes a "tip" for the local that runs around selling the dirt to neighbours. Those trucks usually carry 6 cubic metres per load. One or two will work by the hour and dig out and spread the soil, currently 2,500 baht per hour.

If you are going to use one to dig a pond make sure the boom length is sufficient to reach. The maximum length I have seen locally is about 7 or 8 metres so they cannot reach out far if you want a deep hole. The geometry of the pond is therefore restricted by the machine to be efficient. Else a smaller machine is going to have to move the same dirt several times.

[somo]

My BIL is building a house out back of ours and it cost about 10k baht to raise and area of 20metres x20m by approx 1 metre.

If my math isright that is 250Baht/cubic metre. It was just dumped and he had to pay extra for a tractor t level it off.

It is all luck of the draw really as word spread there was dirt to be bought and it became first come first served. We later paid a bit less for a similar amount on another plot we have so the price is pretty representative.

[teletiger]

Your maths is a wee bit off there. 400 cu mt (20x20) @250 Baht is 100K Baht.

We paid 350 Baht per truck (which included tractor leveling) for rocky soil. Black "earth" is 600 Baht per truck. (Comes from further away? ) 20 trucks minimum.

Chiang Mai. (Chiang Dao)

Regards.

[imokg2g]

My BIL is building a house out back of ours and it cost about 10k baht to raise and area of 20metres x20m by approx 1 metre.

If my math isright that is 250Baht/cubic metre. It was just dumped and he had to pay extra for a tractor t level it off.

It is all luck of the draw really as word spread there was dirt to be bought and it became first come first served. We later paid a bit less for a similar amount on another plot we have so the price is pretty representative.

Thank you for your input somo

I had a crack at the numbers myself.

Volume = length x width x height

= 20 x 20 x 1

= 400 m3

Price per m3 = cost / volume

= 10000 / 400

= 25 baht per m3

Assuming one truckload carries anywhere from 6 to 9 m3, it could be said that per truck you paid anywhere between 150 to 225 baht.

It seems as though everyone is paying around the same price.

I'm interest to know what this 'black fill material' is, and how it differs from the usual stuff.

Cheers.

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[IsaanAussie]

At a guess anything from black loam (unlikely) to pond sediment.

I would think more useful to use as top soil than fill though.

Edited May 8, 2013 by IsaanAussie

[krisb]

Don't worry with maths to much. Its not that expensive. When your talking perhaps 7dollars a truck load, the maths equals it's cheap. How many trucks? Equals whatever it takes.

[zyphodb]

I paid 250 Bht / truckload + free leveling tractor but beware, if your house is on stilts the tractor driver has a bad habit of going at it like a bull in a china shop, several of my Thai neighbours let them level by tractor & now have cracked concrete posts holding their houses up to show for it....

[fezzy]

I live in province of Sukhothai and we have just spent 200, 000 Bt on bringing the front of our block up to road level . The dimensions of this area is 70 mtrs wide by 70 mtrs back and around 2 mtrs to 3 mtrs deep . We had 220 x 10 wheel tip trucks @ 430 Bt and 400x 6 wheel tip trucks @ 220 Bt and tractor was included in this price . This worked in well as a neighbour needed a huge dam dug Gordon their rubber trees . The trucks took about 4 days to transport and level out the dirt.

[binnsy]

Buriram (HuaiRat) area 300 for a big truck load.

If you dig a pond they will do this for nothing but they will take the soil to sell

[cardholder]

Buriram (HuaiRat) area 300 for a big truck load.

If you dig a pond they will do this for nothing but they will take the soil to sell

The secret is finding someone close by who is having a pond dug out. Local knowledge will always save you money.

We bought 250 trucks from a neighbour @ 170 Baht (we then took an additional 50 @ 160 Baht). Uncle used his tractor to levelthe soil and we paid him 1000 Baht for the day.

i have also paid 250 Baht for ligher soil for mixing top soil.

I have never paid more than 250 Baht per truck. Not sure the Thais understand exactly what goes on the trucks but we were told 7 m3. I think it was nearer to 5 m3.

[farmerjo]

Earlier this year paid 160 baht a truck,approx 2500 truckloads to level 17 rai.

Fill came from same piece of land,single axle trucks were used.

[RedBullHorn]

nothing is free... price break down if a load cost 200 Baht, Tractor get 20 Baht, Backhoe get 80 Baht, the rest goes to dumpster truck. If further away cost more but tractor and backhoe price stay the same...the rest goes to the transporting dumpster.

[teletiger]

Just had 30 trucks of old rice paddy brought in. (they're digging a fish pond). Very nice black earth @400 Baht including the tractor. I ordered some a month ago but cancelled it after the first two trucks. It was just rock sand and river stones.

Regards.