Land Clearing in West Alabama
When it's bigger than a mulcher can take, the dozer goes to work. Trees pushed, roots raked out, debris windrowed and burned or hauled depending on what you want left behind.
What a clearing job looks like
We walk it first — or look at it with you on satellite if you're not local — and settle what's coming out and what's staying. Then the dozer pushes the timber, the root rake pulls the stumps and root balls up out of the dirt, and the material gets windrowed where it's out of the way.
From there it's your call: burn it on site if the county and the weather allow, or load it out. Burning is cheaper. Hauling is cleaner and doesn't wait on a burn day. We'll tell you what each one costs you before you decide.
Then it gets put back level
Clearing that stops when the trees are down leaves you with a rough, rutted, stump-holed piece of ground you still can't use. We finish the job — holes filled, ground pulled back to grade, spoil spread or stacked where you want it, and the fall running the direction it needs to so water leaves the site instead of standing on it.
If the next thing on that ground is a house, see house pads. If it's a road in, see driveways and access roads.
Clearing or mulching?
Short version: mulching is faster and cheaper and leaves the roots in. Clearing costs more, takes longer, and gives you ground you can build on, disc, or run equipment across.
If you're opening a trail, thinning a stand or reclaiming pasture, mulching is almost always the better buy. If you're putting up a house, a shop, a pond or a pasture you intend to plow, you need clearing. Plenty of jobs are both — mulch the light stuff, push the heavy stuff.
Land Clearing across West Alabama
We run land clearing out of Berry in Fayette County and cover eight counties from there. Pick yours to see the towns we work in and what the ground is like.
Land Clearing — questions we get asked
Do you burn the debris or haul it off?
Either one. Burning on site is cheaper and is what most rural jobs do, but it depends on the county, the weather and how close the pile is to anything that matters. Hauling costs more and doesn't wait on conditions. We price both so you can pick.
Can you clear around trees I want to keep?
Yes, and it's worth saying up front which ones. Mark them, or walk the property with us and point them out. Hardwoods you want shade from, a line of pines along a road, a tree that's been there longer than the house — all easy to work around if we know before the dozer starts.
How long does an acre take?
Anywhere from most of a day to several days, depending on what's on it, how big the timber is, how wet the ground is and whether the debris burns or leaves on a truck. We'd rather look at it than guess.
Do I need a permit to clear my own land?
That depends on your county and on whether the work touches a stream, a wetland or a right of way. We are not the permitting office and won't tell you that you don't need one. Call your county office before you start — and if the job looks like it needs one, we'll say so.
Related services
- Forestry MulchingOne machine, one pass. Standing brush, briars, saplings and small timber go into the head and…
- ExcavatingFootings, trenching, culvert sets, stump and root removal, and the jobs that just need a…
- Site WorkAccess cut in, culverts set, ditching and drainage run so water goes where you want it, laydown…
- House DemolitionOld houses, mobile homes, barns and outbuildings taken down and cleaned up — slab broken out,…
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