Topsoil screening can be a great source of income, especially if you are transporting material away from a site to dump, or have access to free soil to screen. You are essentially making money from dirt!

If topsoil is screened to remove larger rocks and things like sticks or roots, it can be very useful for gardening and other applications where plant growth is promoted. It is also generally worth a lot more after it has been screened, which is what we’re interested in! Generally speaking the finer the product the more expensive it is.

Types of topsoil screeners

Now there are a bunch of different types of screens out there, but for topsoil we're only interested in screens that can output a product in and around the 1/2 inch or 10mm size. Once we break it down into categories of screeners that can produce this size of material, you have six basic options;

Fines screeners

Scalping screens

Trommel screens

Screening decks

Screening boxes

Screening buckets

What machine you choose from here will depend on a few things Like how much screening you want to do, whether you need a unit that is easy to transport or store, and how much you want to spend! You should try to estimate how much time you plan to spend screening soil, there's no point buying a machine that is too big or too small for your needs. You'll also need to consider the supply and demand of topsoil in your area.

Chances are you won't have an unlimited amount of topsoil around you to process, and even if you do, you need to make sure there are enough people around you that want to buy screened topsoil. Once you've figured out how much time you have to screen, and how much material you plan to process, you can take a look at different screen types and models.