Where Your Excavation Dollar Goes: A Cost Breakdown (Oregon)

Quick Verdict

An excavation cost breakdown shows you that the bill is not one number but a stack of slices: machine and operator time, hauling and dump fees, imported fill and compaction, permits and locates, mobilization, and a contingency for surprises. For a typical Oregon residential job, machine time and hauling are usually the two biggest slices, while permits and mobilization are smaller but unavoidable. Knowing the split tells you which part is worth optimizing, like cutting haul distance, and which is fixed. This page breaks the budget into shares. For the wider hiring picture, start with the excavation cost and hiring guide pillar.

The Six Slices of an Excavation Budget

Most excavation projects divide into the same handful of cost categories. The percentages shift with the job, but the categories are consistent.

Budget slice	What it covers	Typical share of budget
Machine + operator time	The excavator, skid steer, operator labor	30 to 50 percent
Hauling + dump fees	Trucking spoil off, disposal charges	15 to 35 percent
Import fill + compaction	Buying, delivering, placing, compacting fill	10 to 30 percent
Permits + locates	County permits, 811 utility locates	2 to 10 percent
Mobilization	Getting equipment to and from the site	5 to 15 percent
Contingency	Reserve for rock, water, surprises	10 to 20 percent

These are illustrative shares, not a quote, and they move a lot from job to job. A simple grading job is mostly machine time; a deep undercut on a rural lot is dominated by haul and import.

Machine and Operator Time

This is usually the single largest slice. You are paying for the equipment and a skilled operator by the hour or day.

What moves it:

• Soil difficulty: Sticky clay and especially rock slow the machine. In Central Oregon, basalt and cobble can force a breaker or ripper, ballooning the machine-time slice.
• Machine size: A mini excavator costs less per hour than a full-size machine but takes longer on big jobs.
• Operator skill: A good operator finishes faster and cleaner, which can actually lower total cost even at a higher rate.

Industry Baseline Range: an excavator and operator run roughly $150 to $350+ per hour, and a skid steer and operator run $125 to $275+ per hour.

Hauling and Dump Fees

The second big slice is moving dirt off site and paying to dispose of it. This is the slice rural Oregon homeowners underestimate most.

• Haul-off is trucking. Every load of spoil is a dump truck trip, and the cost grows with distance to the disposal site.
• Dump / disposal fees are charged at the receiving facility per load.

Industry Baseline Range: dump truck haul-off runs $250 to $750+ per load (10 to 14 cubic yards), and dump/disposal fees run $75 to $300+ per load. On a remote site far from a quarry or transfer station, hauling can rival machine time as the largest cost. This is the slice most worth optimizing, by reusing spoil on site where possible or choosing a closer disposal option. More on this in what drives excavation cost.

Import Fill and Compaction

When you remove bad soil or need to build up grade, you buy material to replace it, and pay to place and compact it.

• Fill dirt for bulk volume
• Crushed gravel or structural fill for load-bearing
• Compaction labor and equipment to make it sound

Industry Baseline Range: fill dirt runs $20 to $75+ per cubic yard delivered, crushed gravel runs $45 to $110+ per cubic yard delivered, and compaction adds machine and labor time. On Oregon clay, this slice grows because failed clay often has to be hauled off and replaced with imported compactable fill.

Permits, Locates, and Mobilization

The smaller but unavoidable slices.

• Permits: County and city grading, driveway, or site permits. Required for many jobs and they vary by jurisdiction.
• Locates: The 811 call-before-you-dig utility locate is free but mandatory; private utility locates may cost extra.
• Mobilization: Hauling the equipment to your site and back. This is why a half-day job is never priced at half a day, the truck still has to come and go.

Industry Baseline Range: residential permits run $100 to $600+ depending on jurisdiction, and mobilization runs $250 to $800+ flat. Mobilization and minimum charges are why small jobs feel expensive per hour; we explain that in mobilization and minimum charges.

Contingency: The Slice You Hope You Don't Use

Smart excavation budgets carry a reserve, because the ground hides surprises.

What the contingency absorbs:

• Rock or hardpan that slows or stops the dig
• Groundwater that needs dewatering
• Unmarked or mis-marked utilities
• Soft soil that forces an undercut
• Extra permits or county requirements

A contingency of 10 to 20 percent is reasonable on a residential job, more on a complex or unknown site. The single biggest budget-buster is hitting unexpected rock or having to over-excavate bad soil, both of which inflate the machine-time and haul slices at once.

Which Slice Is Worth Optimizing?

For a homeowner trying to control cost:

• Hauling is the most optimizable, reuse spoil on site, choose a closer disposal site, or balance cut and fill.
• Mobilization rewards bundling work into one visit instead of multiple trips.
• Machine time is mostly set by the ground, though scheduling in the dry season helps on clay.
• Permits and contingency are largely fixed; do not skimp on the reserve.

The Bottom Line

Your excavation dollar splits across machine time, hauling, fill, permits, mobilization, and contingency, and seeing the slices tells you where you have leverage and where you do not. Hauling and surprises are where budgets blow up; machine time and mobilization are mostly fixed by the site. Cojo is CCB Licensed and Insured, based in Hood River and serving statewide Oregon, and we build itemized estimates so you can see exactly where the money goes. Explore our excavation services or request a free estimate for a clear, line-by-line look at your project.