Selective clearing pricing
Underbrush and trail clearing runs $450 to $750 per acre, cheaper than full mulching because we're only taking out the low story, not felling and grinding canopy trees. A tract with light yaupon and grass understory prices toward the bottom. A tract choked with privet, greenbrier, and dense sapling regrowth under a mature canopy runs toward the top, since the operator has to work slower and more carefully around trunks. Minimum job is $500.
One fact, not an adjective: the mulching head grinds yaupon and privet out at ground level while the operator steers around any trunk over 8 inches, so mature oaks and pecans keep their root zone undisturbed instead of getting run over by a dozer blade.
How a selective clearing job runs
- Walk and flag keepers. We walk the area with you, or you flag trees ahead of time, to mark what stays: shade trees, a specific tree line, deer stand locations, or a feeder path.
- Identify what goes. Yaupon, Chinese privet, greenbrier, and volunteer saplings under the canopy are the usual targets. Winter, when hardwoods drop their leaves, is often the easiest time to tell keeper trees from junk understory.
- Quote the acreage. Selective work is priced per acre like full mulching, just at a lower rate since less material comes down.
- Ground-level pass. The mulching head works low, grinding brush and small growth at ground level and stump height, working around flagged trunks.
- Trail and sightline shaping. For trails or feeder lanes, we cut a defined path width rather than clearing the whole understory evenly.
- Walkthrough. We confirm with you that the right things came down and the right things stayed before calling the job done.
What makes selective clearing harder than a clear-cut
Telling keeper trees from junk in full leaf. In summer, yaupon and young hardwoods can look similar from a distance. We prefer to walk and flag keepers in person rather than guess off a photo, and winter leaf-off conditions make the call easier and faster.
Working close to trunks without root damage. Grinding brush within a few feet of a trunk you're keeping takes a slower, more careful pass than an open clear-cut. That's part of why selective work costs more per acre of actual clearing time even though the total price per acre is lower.
Deer stands and feeders in the work area. If you hunt the property, tell us where stands, feeders, and shooting lanes are before we start so we clear around them instead of through them.
Vine tangles wrapped around keeper trees. Greenbrier and vines climbing a tree you want to keep sometimes need hand-cutting at the base rather than running the mulching head right up against the trunk.
How long it takes
Selective clearing runs slower per acre than full mulching, expect 1 to 3 acres a day depending on how dense the understory is and how many trees need working around. A narrow trail or feeder lane a quarter mile long is usually a half-day job.
One limit worth knowing: we don't do fine landscaping or stump removal on trees we drop, this is brush and understory work. If you want a manicured, landscaped look afterward, plan on a separate cleanup pass.
Where we do this most
Selective clearing calls come mostly from acreage owners in Shepherd and Tarkington who bought timber tracts for hunting or weekend use and want trails, feeder lanes, and sightlines opened without losing the mature pine and oak canopy that makes the property worth having. It's also common on Plum Grove and Splendora properties where a homeowner wants the underbrush gone for fire safety and mosquito control right around the house without clear-cutting the whole lot.