These defaults are national averages. Your iron, your fuel, your market and your dump fees are not the national average — every number below is editable, and you should edit them. Use this to catch the mistakes, not to replace your own numbers.

Cut, swell and haul-off

The one people get wrong: you dig bank yards and you haul loose yards. Clay swells 40% the second it's in the bucket. Bid the bank number for trucking and you eat the difference.

The hole

Length ft

Width ft

Average depth ft

Material

Soil type sets the swell factor

Condition wet dirt weighs more, hauls less

Trucking

Truck box capacity

Legal payload tons

Round trip minutes

Truck rate $/hr

Dump fee $/load

Trucks running

Digging

Production bank CY per hour

Machine + operator $/hr

Land clearing

Priced by the acre, adjusted for what's actually standing on it. Big trees and stumps are separate line items — they're where clearing bids go wrong.

The parcel

Acres

Density

Terrain

Debris disposal

Trees and stumps — beyond the general clearing

Large trees, 60–80 ft count

Extreme trees, 80 ft+ count

Stumps to grind count

Mobilization $ — lowboy in and out

Septic & drainage

Component-by-component, because "a septic system" is a dozen line items and the ones people forget are permits, the perc test, and putting the yard back.

System

System type

Tank

Line items — set any to 0 to drop it

Drain field

Excavation & site prep

Piping

Permits & inspection

Perc test & soil eval

Distribution box

Risers & lids

Effluent filter

Grading & restoration

Cost → price

Add up what the job costs you, recover your overhead, then apply markup or margin. Those two are not the same number, and confusing them is the most expensive mistake in contracting.

Equipment

Machine hours

Rate $/hr, owning + operating

Labor

Crew hours

Burdened rate $/hr — wage + taxes + comp

Everything else

Materials $

Trucking / haul-off $

Subs $

Mobilization $

Permits / fees $

Contingency % of direct cost

Overhead and profit

Overhead recovery % — your yearly overhead ÷ yearly revenue. Most small outfits land at 15–25%.

Target margin %

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Where these numbers come from.

Swell factors: Project Engineer · Truck capacity and soil weight: The Upfit Insider · Land clearing and tree/stump pricing: LawnStarter 2026 · Septic components: The Septic Guide 2026 · Equipment hourly cost: LatestCost 2026. Estimates only — verify against your own costs and local rates before you sign anything.