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Posted: 9/16/2019 6:01:51 AM EDT
I have a 2.5 acre spot that's pretty flat and has out of control Christmas trees in the 1" - 7" range. There are also some black locust trees in the 1" - 3" range mixed in. I'd like to get it around 80% cleared.
I've called a couple of different people to look at it but was wondering what the average rate would be. |
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I am in Suffolk VA.
Forestry cutters run 12-1500 per day. Or 175 per hour. Some charge 100-150 for just bringing it out to your property. Bobcat with rotary cutter is 85-100 per hour. |
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My parents had a guy come out on their property and clear as much as possible, it was overgrown Christmas trees, they paid about $1000/day but the guy by himself cleared about 6 or 7 acres. He used a skid steer with some wicked attachment that just chipped everything. Some trunk pieces were pretty big but would rot fairly quickly. It was all scotch pines.
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I like to see 1700 to 2k a day when mulching. Nothing cheap about these things.
What's the terrain like Soil type Any Creeks, low spots Hidden issues like rocks, piles of debris etc... Did you want it ready to seed after? Then it would take a lot of backdragging to regrind the product smaller and mix it into the soil |
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call lumber companies. My buddy needed some trees cleared in PA and he had more good than bad. Guy ended up clearing everything and PAID my buddy for the privilege!
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1 to 3" inch can be taken out with a tractor and bush hog.
So depending on how much is 4" and larger, you may be able to hire on a bush hog instead, which should be cheaper. |
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I Paid $1200 for an 8 hr day, that was south Mississippi. The time started when the machine was backed off the lowboy onto your property and ended when it went back on the trailer.
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ballpark minimum is $200 an hour for hourly.
I’d have to look at the property but softwoods like pines, that size, plus a little bit of hardwood. You’re moving pretty fast. So I’d ballpark it around $5000 to $7500 for fixed bid, 2.5 acres. The window being exactly how big the property is / desired finished product and of course who’s doing it. |
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Buy a pump up sprayer, mix equal amounts of remedy ultra with used engine oil. Spray the base of the trunk, it will kill your locust trees and about 80% of all trees up to 6" diameter. Doesn't kill cedar trees, don't know about pine.
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If it's only 2 acres or so, a few guys with saws, a brush hog and a bonfire would do it pretty quick.
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ballpark minimum is $200 an hour. I’d have to look at the property but softwoods like pines, that size, plus a little bit of hardwood. You’re moving pretty fast. So I’d ballpark it around $5000 to $7500. The window being exactly how big the property is / desired finished product and of course who’s doing it. View Quote |
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You really think it would take 25-37 hours to clear 2.5 acres? I've never used one, but I would have expected it to be a lot faster than that. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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ballpark minimum is $200 an hour. I’d have to look at the property but softwoods like pines, that size, plus a little bit of hardwood. You’re moving pretty fast. So I’d ballpark it around $5000 to $7500. The window being exactly how big the property is / desired finished product and of course who’s doing it. I’m giving fixed bid price ideas, currently sight unseen. Takes me anywhere between an hour to 10 hours to clear an acre with my forestry mulcher. All of it mostly 1 to 4in trees? I can move almost continuously. Mostly 6-8in trees? It’s going to double to triple the time, to make it look neat and clean up all the limbs. Plus rocks, hunting any dumped scrap out. Etc. So I’m thinking 6 hours an acre right now for a fine finished product. Plus sight unseen fees. Edit 2 Most people that will bid 2.5 acre jobs are using skid loader machines. Too small of an area for big dedicated machines unless they’re in the area. Big dedicated machines would do that project in about an hour. |
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OP,
Do you have any pictures of it? Would certainly help nail down an estimate for you. I can also find some mulching contractors in your area if you want. |
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I had a skid steer mounted bushhog on my back 5-10 acres last June. Cost me $200/hr ($800/day) for three days. He didn't clear cut it because of the big trees but he took a crapload of the POS Tree of Heaven plus a lot of other small stuff.
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I don't know what your plan is to manage regeneration, but you better have one.
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Hang on. Why aren't you getting paid for this?
I'd always heard that people with forested land can get companies to come in and you get paid for the timber. Search and see if there are any timber brokers in your area and see if you have other options. Edit: I misread your acreage. Was thinking 25 acres. 2.5 acres may not be worth it to a lumber company but you never know. |
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Get a hatchet and some round up then perform a hack and squirt kill. Then have brush hogged or get a dozer to push them... or since they are dead you could have a controlled burn to clear most of it out.
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Last job I was they charged $500 per acre. This was thick in mesquite acreage.
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Hang on. Why aren't you getting paid for this? I'd always heard that people with forested land can get companies to come in and you get paid for the timber. Search and see if there are any timber brokers in your area and see if you have other options. Edit: I misread your acreage. Was thinking 25 acres. 2.5 acres may not be worth it to a lumber company but you never know. View Quote |
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Skid-Steer Forestry Mulcher Demolishing Mesquite in Texas |
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Why not wait until November and post an ad "Cut down your own Christmas tree. $20 per tree. "
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go rent an excavator and start snagging those "trees", and anything else you want gone, out of the ground.
~$300/day to rent an excavator and rip the trees/stumps/anything else out of the ground. and you can probably get it done in a day. then rent a skid steer for ~$300/day and get it cleared and get everything in a pile diy is way cheaper than paying someone else to do what you can do, yourself. |
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This is actually pretty damn smart. Just need to figure out a way to do it that minimizes liability. Maybe sell them to a Christmas tree reseller? View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes |
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Making people sign a liability waiver form isn't that hard. View Quote If he stands to make 300 trees x $20 = $6,000 in Christmas tree sales x .70 post-tax = $4,200 - $300 attorney draft/review liability waiver - $500 advertising = $3,400 net profit One injured Christmas tree customer lawsuit, and he is in the red again. |
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call lumber companies. My buddy needed some trees cleared in PA and he had more good than bad. Guy ended up clearing everything and PAID my buddy for the privilege! View Quote Depending on how dense, Terrain, etc we charge $1000-$6000 an acre as long as a forestry or disc mulched can handle on a skid, it we got to move up to front end loader or one of our 350k plus custom unite or even removal i couldn’t begin to guess. We did a 100acre site that after offsetting timber sales cost the developer about 300k. |
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Hang on. Why aren't you getting paid for this? I'd always heard that people with forested land can get companies to come in and you get paid for the timber. View Quote They created more of a mess than it was worth. They dropped anything in their way that was undersized and left it there. They trimmed branches and left them in place. The trucks left a mess of mud. I don't know how much she made, she doesn't use the land at all so she probably doesn't care. Those of us that actually hunt on the property certainly wish she hadn't. The place went from great to shitty. |
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https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/148484/20190417_195732-916485.jpg https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/148484/20190309_150307-872146.jpg Drum mulchers are way better than disc mulchers. Just x3 more expensive. This is my piece of shit. I’m going to get a new CAT 299d3 or Deere 333G next year. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/148484/20190417_195732-916485.jpg https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/148484/20190309_150307-872146.jpg Drum mulchers are way better than disc mulchers. Just x3 more expensive. This is my piece of shit. I’m going to get a new CAT 299d3 or Deere 333G next year. |
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Perhaps OP can lease the lot to a Christmas tree seller for 30 days. Let the seller assume liability for cutting down the trees.
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We paid 6k in west KY this summer for a couple guys to clear 3 acres and do a decent grading on it for a food plot.
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I’ve been wondering this same thing for a while as I have about 8-10 acres of hilly old pine growth (40-50’ trees) with 6-8’ of poplar undergrowth which is driving me nuts.
I typically walk around and drop the little brush clusters (up to 1” usually only like 3/8-1/2”) with a chainsaw and just leave it lay but I’m overly cautious as I have a friend who cut his leg twice (yes twice) doing this. Any merit behind the sawblade style attachments for the heavier duty string trimmers? |
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How does one of those things affect operating costs on the machine? It has to beat the shit out of it a lot more than just lift and carry work. I'm factoring in about $30-$40/hr just for operating cost on a small machine when pricing jobs right now. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/148484/20190417_195732-916485.jpg https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/148484/20190309_150307-872146.jpg Drum mulchers are way better than disc mulchers. Just x3 more expensive. This is my piece of shit. I’m going to get a new CAT 299d3 or Deere 333G next year. Teeth are $100 a piece for carbides. 34 of them. I’m going to try knives next. You have to sharpen them and they don’t last as long, but they cut wood better. However easier to damage. Carbides if you hit rock, you’ll shatter. I have two bad teeth on the head right now I have to replace. |
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I've been wondering this same thing for a while as I have about 8-10 acres of hilly old pine growth (40-50' trees) with 6-8' of poplar undergrowth which is driving me nuts. I typically walk around and drop the little brush clusters (up to 1" usually only like 3/8-1/2") with a chainsaw and just leave it lay but I'm overly cautious as I have a friend who cut his leg twice (yes twice) doing this. Any merit behind the sawblade style attachments for the heavier duty string trimmers? View Quote |
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Your local cat store rents forestry mulchers for about $3500 a week + teeth wear. You could DIY it for $4500 give or take and make it look much nicer. https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/148484/20180812_141204-638422.jpg Single pass through 8-12ft tall autumn olive, multi flora rose and dead ash trees. You can brush hog it this year. No need to come back with the mulcher. Rotary drum is the way to go. I have both. This is my other piece of shit. It hasn’t moved since I got the drum. https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/148484/09A66B4D-C7EA-4268-BC9C-EF7FB20DFD21-1092206.jpg View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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go rent an excavator and start snagging those "trees", and anything else you want gone, out of the ground. ~$300/day to rent an excavator and rip the trees/stumps/anything else out of the ground. and you can probably get it done in a day. then rent a skid steer for ~$300/day and get it cleared and get everything in a pile diy is way cheaper than paying someone else to do what you can do, yourself. You could DIY it for $4500 give or take and make it look much nicer. https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/148484/20180812_141204-638422.jpg Single pass through 8-12ft tall autumn olive, multi flora rose and dead ash trees. You can brush hog it this year. No need to come back with the mulcher. Rotary drum is the way to go. I have both. This is my other piece of shit. It hasn’t moved since I got the drum. https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/148484/09A66B4D-C7EA-4268-BC9C-EF7FB20DFD21-1092206.jpg Safety Pro tip Disk will rocket shit out the front at a high rate of speed and give you a bad day. If you don’t pay attention having said that DO NOT ever go behind a drum mulched it can occasionally rifle some really big and wicked shit straight out the back. |
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In rocky terrain and some other areas a drum mulched is NOT the way to go. Now there are circumstances where we use both as we find a good rotary on trash trees can knock everything down really quick and we can save some wear and tear and clean up with a drum style. Safety Pro tip Disk will rocket shit out the front at a high rate of speed and give you a bad day. If you don’t pay attention having said that DO NOT ever go behind a drum mulched it can occasionally rifle some really big and wicked shit straight out the back. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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go rent an excavator and start snagging those "trees", and anything else you want gone, out of the ground. ~$300/day to rent an excavator and rip the trees/stumps/anything else out of the ground. and you can probably get it done in a day. then rent a skid steer for ~$300/day and get it cleared and get everything in a pile diy is way cheaper than paying someone else to do what you can do, yourself. You could DIY it for $4500 give or take and make it look much nicer. https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/148484/20180812_141204-638422.jpg Single pass through 8-12ft tall autumn olive, multi flora rose and dead ash trees. You can brush hog it this year. No need to come back with the mulcher. Rotary drum is the way to go. I have both. This is my other piece of shit. It hasn’t moved since I got the drum. https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/148484/09A66B4D-C7EA-4268-BC9C-EF7FB20DFD21-1092206.jpg Safety Pro tip Disk will rocket shit out the front at a high rate of speed and give you a bad day. If you don’t pay attention having said that DO NOT ever go behind a drum mulched it can occasionally rifle some really big and wicked shit straight out the back. I have a mulcher because my family bought 120 acres of overgrown pasture that wasn’t maintained since the 60s. |
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Thank you for all of the replies.
The prices seem to be all over the place. I'm hoping to get it done for around $1600.00, but that might be a pipe dream. I would really like this done by the end of this month so some of the suggestions won't work. I would like to just throw grass seed on it afterwards. It's a fairly flat peice of property with hardly any rocks. It's a 2.5 acre section, but there are several clear spots. I'd say there is only around 1.75 acres of actual trees. I don't want any of the large trees taken down so that ought to help. |
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Thank you for all of the replies. The prices seem to be all over the place. I'm hoping to get it done for around $1600.00, but that might be a pipe dream. I would really like this done by the end of this month so some of the suggestions won't work. I would like to just throw grass seed on it afterwards. It's a fairly flat peice of property with hardly any rocks. It's a 2.5 acre section, but there are several clear spots. I'd say there is only around 1.75 acres of actual trees. I don't want any of the large trees taken down so that ought to help. View Quote |
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It only ever costs me in diesel fuel. My uncle owns a heavy equipment company and likes to "demo" his equipment on my property whenever I need something done.
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My relatives did this... They created more of a mess than it was worth. They dropped anything in their way that was undersized and left it there. They trimmed branches and left them in place. The trucks left a mess of mud. I don't know how much she made, she doesn't use the land at all so she probably doesn't care. Those of us that actually hunt on the property certainly wish she hadn't. The place went from great to shitty. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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Hang on. Why aren't you getting paid for this? I'd always heard that people with forested land can get companies to come in and you get paid for the timber. They created more of a mess than it was worth. They dropped anything in their way that was undersized and left it there. They trimmed branches and left them in place. The trucks left a mess of mud. I don't know how much she made, she doesn't use the land at all so she probably doesn't care. Those of us that actually hunt on the property certainly wish she hadn't. The place went from great to shitty. Don’t even get me started on what he did to the nice pond that used to be on the property. |
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