What would be a good estimate?

[hob684]

I am recently bought a house on 1.7 acres with most of it being wooded.

After the house was built only about 1 acre is left uncleared with most of it being small oaks, yellow pine, and some sweet gum. I'm thinking I want to get it all just mulched instead of push and burn. I'm gonna use the cleared area for backyard and to put a shop on.

All trees are less than 10" in diameter.



All the folks i've found that does the mulching around here are 1-2 hr drive by interstate.

What would be a rough estimate on this if you had to drive 1hr to get to it?

thanks

 

[beenthere]

Welcome to the forum.
I've heard estimates of $150 to $300 an hour. Heavy equipment that will eat up the 10" trees cost more but get more work done in shorter time.

I'd guess over $500 for the job, and hopefully under $1000. WAG

 

[hob684]

Thats what i was hoping to hear... i've gotten a few estimates, ranging from $1100 to "a few thousand"

 

[APSmulching]

I don't think you will get anyone to haul equipment that far that will quote you such a low price. Where are you located? Between fuel for your truck and equipment, typical business overhead, and maybe a broken carbide or two, I think I would say no less than 2,000.00 for a nice job. It's always easier to work on lower margins when the job is close to home. It is a good time to get a fair price on land clearing. Good luck.

 

[EddieWalker]

What type of shop building are you plannign to build? If you want to pour concrete for footings or a floor, you don't want ground up trees under it. You want them, and the top soil removed so you have a solid base for you foundation. If you are going to buils a pole bar, then the poles wont care if there are roos systems in the dirt, but what you do for the floor might care. Concrete will sag and crack as those root systems decompose. Gravel will just settle, and you can add more gravel when you need it. Same with dirt.

For just an acre, I'd call around and get bids. If sombody is local, or hungry, you should be able to get them out there for a day for under a grand and get it all done without too much trouble. My neighbor has done this several times. He calls out this guy for the day, gives him a grand and tells him what he wants done, then if there is more time left, to go work on his trails until he's done a thousand dollars worth of work. So far, both times that he's done this, he's gotten way more work done then he thought he would.

If nobody wants to work for you, or they are too expensive, Consider renting an excavator, and doing it yourself. An acre of wood will give you a good sized burn pile, but it not so much that it's overwhelming.

Good luck,
Eddie

 

[JDGREEN4ME]

We paid around 3K to have one acre of land cleared and graded. Took them two days and it was the best money we ever spent. Some times you really do get what you pay for.

 

[20 20]

Where are you located? That will make a difference. Seems like some of it could be used for wood stove or maybe even a small mill? Do you have a tractor, a chain saw, match and papers to get the fire started ? I agree it'll cost because of transportation, is there someone else close by that needs work done? I have split the cost of transportation with a neighbor and we both got jobs done. An excavator can tear up an acre real quick.

 

[LRTX1]

I have gotten some pretty cheap services in the past. I took 4 quotes on on removing some trees around my house ranging from 2 to 3k. One morning on the way to work I noticed a Tree Surgeon working in my neighbors yard. He did the job that was quoted plus more for $1200, because he was already there and did not have to transport equipment and manpower.

My advice, keep some money in hand and be looking around the area for such mulching activities. Jump on it when the time is right. By doing it this way you can save a bunch and also see the quality of work before you buy. It might take a little longer though.