Clearing a wooded acre

[Will S]

Need one acre of a 2 acre lot cleared for a homesite and driveway in Delaware. Fronts a state road so no issue getting to it. Like all of DE, it's flat.

There is tremendous population growth here, and we are told they can't get to it until October.

A few questions:

How long will it take a professional company to clear it? I would have guessed a few days, but online says 2-3 hours??

What's a reasonable per hour cost for the work? I'm guessing a few hundred assuming professionals with big equipment.

Not interested in trying it myself.

Sounds like you might be talking about Sussex County, and probably east of Millsboro?

If so, I could give you a few names of people in the biz. They have good crews and all the right equipment to do that, but in this market, I don't think they'd be any quicker than what you were told.

 

[Bill Guenthner]

A few hundred might get the equipment there to your site but not even close to clearing the land. Based on what I know which is not much I am thinking 300 to 500 just to bring equipment to the lot and then 3 to 5 thousand to clear it depending on taking the piles/burning/etc. Diesel is 5 dollars a gallon. A good sized excavator working for an 8 hour day is probably 400 dollars in fuel cost alone. Again, not an expert but definitely more than a couple hundred.

He said a few hundred per hour

 

[ArlyA]

Trail clearing is my thing but I'd like to hear how this works out for you..

 

[panamaguy]

Not a expert on this but with that big of trees is there any wood value? If there is talk to a small lumber mill and see if you can work something out even if you have to give them the logs at least it will be less work $$$ to just remove the stumps and not have such huge piles to burn

 

[51allis]

8" to 12" diameter trees...Id look for a small forest products place first, there might be up to 8 cord + of firewood that has value. Where I live its quite a bit more due to tree size etc. but still I would see about harvesting the timber first and then using equipment to get rid of the stumps etc.

 

[newbury]

Need one acre of a 2 acre lot cleared for a homesite and driveway in Delaware. Fronts a state road so no issue getting to it. Like all of DE, it's flat.

There is tremendous population growth here, and we are told they can't get to it until October.

A few questions:

How long will it take a professional company to clear it? I would have guessed a few days, but online says 2-3 hours??

What's a reasonable per hour cost for the work? I'm guessing a few hundred assuming professionals with big equipment.

Not interested in trying it myself.

Too bad, if you've got the M7060 you've a good start on "big equipment".

I don't know about "online says 2-3 hours??" - 2 to 3 hours would not cover the set up and take down time unless they just drop off a cat and driver.

Like others have written several hundred an hour MIGHT be a start but in these times I doubt it.

Do you need 1 acre cleared for "homesite and driveway" AND LAWN?

Good luck, keep us posted.

 

[51allis]

This takes me back to when I built my first home. Got 2 acres of land and went out to local big box for a cheapie chainsaw...a McCullouch, spent a good 3 weeks cutting trees down where the house/garage would go, and then thinning the rest of the wood, keeping the bigger trees for shade etc. I ended up with dang near 15 cord of wood and had a friend who burned wood, he bought the wood from me. I then hired a local excavation contractor and he quoted me 300 bucks to bulldoze all the stumps where the house/garage were going plus an extra 200 for haul away the stumps, that was 24 years ago, and at the time it still was not that bad. Might just have to "give er snuff" as we say here in the UP...roll up them sleeves and put a pasty in the lunch bucket, have at it....TIMBER!!!!!!

 

[dirttoys]

I would suggest a large x and get the trees rootball and all. Make a couple of piles and burn in wet conditions in about a year. Stumps are far more aggravating for me than full trees. Once it is all out, a dresser dozer or smaller x and loader with the right attachments can grade it. Good operator on flat ground with trees no bigger than 12" will get done in very good time.

If you cut it all down to grade with a forestry mulcher, it will be quick (day or two) and look pretty good, but, building and grading a road will suck.

Best,

ed

 

[rasorbackq]

2 years ago we had 3 acres cleared was all small alders with a base under 6 " and a mess of them. Mulcher head mullched down to ground and left butt and roots there. 10 days of work and $3500 Canadian $125 per hr . Then I had to dig up all the stumps.
Not sure how many I dug up but was thousands. . Depending what you want in the end I dont suggest a mulcher head . Hire an excavator to remove stumps as he goes.

 

[Buxus]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Unfortunately I don't have the time to do it. I feel like a I could cut the trees and perhaps prepare for firewood, but then I would still need someone to run a big excavator to dig out the stumps, and a bulldozer to grade it. It's up in Kent County southwest of Dover. The building is not as fast and furious as in Sussex, but busy enough that finding someone to do the work soon is out of the question. I'll revisit this thread in the fall when (hopefully) it gets done. I'm betting it will take a week, but we'll see, and I'll let you all know.