First of all, welcome to the forums. Work for Cat? Awesome. I've owned a 272c in the past and I have a lot of respect for my local Cat dealer after they made good on some major problems I had.
I'm a Bobcat guy and get treated well by Bobcat of San Antonio but I like the Yellow stuff too. If I had a way to haul it, I'd have a CAT excavator in the 30k lb class, a big roller, and I've always wanted a CAT grader since I was a little boy (Santa if you are reading this, I've been good!)
I've been in business 20 years and I've always carried a general "grading of land" insurance. I work mostly rural, ranch, farm, and clearing for new construction and I do tree work. I have a $2 mil aggregate and can bump it up for certain commercial projects or if i work for a utility. Insurance isn't cheap but I've been treated well the last 4-5 years using "Robert's Ryan and Associates" out of Wisconsin. PM me and I can get the number. I'm in Texas and they write policies here. I'm not sure where you're at but they were competitive, understood what I did for a living, and when I had a claim they were very quick to respond and I get personal service. They also carry my Inland Marine for all my equipment. I'm an owner operator and have more machines than I have time for (some I mostly use on the ranch) but everything is covered for "replacement value". I believe I pay a little more but if a machine goes down, I don't have to squabble over what it's worth as much.
I would caution you, unless you have a ton of work for it (and experience) not to jump into mulching out the gate. As you know, it's rough on machinery and it's the biggest investment you can make with compact equipment. Doing it part time works (I do it) but I've been mulching for 15 years and have 1,000's of hours mulching. Even with 20 years of customers, referrals and really good advertising and web presence, I don't mulch much in the heat of summer and try and keep busy doing dirt work, grapple work and other tree work in the hottest months. I invest in a lot of attachments and while mulching pays almost 2x as much as dirt work, I can get a lot of attachments for the cost of one mulching head and I don't have to take the crappy mulching jobs because I have other options.
You picked a nice machine.. too bad it has to get dirty!!
I do not do much with GPS. I let the big companies deal with that type of precise work. I've used GPS and a good old fashioned compass and plot plan to help. If the property lines are in question, i tell the owner to get the points marked by a surveyor and save a lot of headaches later.
With a compact mulcher, you will probably be dealing with smaller tracts anyway and that means more neighbors, fence lines, and headaches with property lines.
I'm real concerned with staying on my customers' side of the fence so to speak. I'm a large land owner and don't appreciate when neighbors or contractors clear on my side of the fence. GPS is good but it's not as precise as a survey (for the most part).
Feel free to PM me on those numbers. Good luck.
I have a few questions for you pros here that are operating heavy equipment clearing land. What kind of insurance do you have to cover you? General liability? What about things like equipment fire or theft? Who are the good companies to buy insurance from?
Do you run GPS to clear land, even small parcels?
I have worked for Caterpillar for over 15 years now. For 6 1/2 years I have been operating CAT SSL, CTLs, MTLs and MHE. I am planning on buying a 299 XHP for personal use and some side work doing mulching, grading, fencing etc. I get a very good discount being an employee, but it's still a lot of money. I am finalizing my LLC and will get insurance and logistics completed before buying.