Attic Access - Roof Truss Systems

When our house was built about 17 years ago, the contractor only excavated half our basement. The other half is a crawl space, under the largest room in our house...the family room. There is a load bearing wall where you enter the crawl space, but that is where I plan to put a door. But the main problem is... What is the best way to dig out the gravel and dirt without hiring an excavation crew? I thought of just renting a dump truck and parking it in the driveway, and puting the dirt in there. But I don't want to just fill up garbage cans and carry dirt to it, what other ways are there to get the dirt from the basement to a truck?

[it was suggested, from the fireplace forum, that I submit this question to a forum that Jack the Contractor managed] I need to tear down a wood burning cinder-block fireplace that is attached to a wood framed home for an upcoming remodel. The fireplace is roughly 16 feet tall and is already has cracks throughout the base. Any opinons on what the best approach is? I'm planning on using the sledge hammer approach but if there is a better approach - I'm open to suggestions.