Forestry Mulching and Land Clearing in Freeport, FL: Lot, Brush and Palmetto Clearing
Freeport is slash pine plantation country north of Choctawhatchee Bay. Row pine, cutover with titi in the low spots, and sand that drains until it hits the slough. The planted rows are the only straight lines in Walton County. Parcels run from a half acre off SR 20 to forty acres of cutover toward Bruce. Our crews travel from Ocala and transport is quoted as one line. Call (352) 619-3597 or send the form. Brandi texts you a scheduling window within an hour.
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Forestry Mulching and Brush Clearing for Pine Cutover Near Freeport
Cutover is the 300-hp mulcher's job: $4,000 a day plus transport, 4 to 6 acres a day through stumps and slash. Forestry mulching is a land clearing method that uses specialized equipment to grind trees, slash and vegetation into mulch on the spot. On cutover the head runs low and chews the pine stumps to grade, which is the part a bush hog cannot touch. Areas with dense titi get mulched and then checked in the fall, because titi comes back from the crown. Overgrown land under good planted pine gets selective clearing: thin the rows, grind the understory, leave the straight stems for timber or shade. Professional clearing on plantation ground is mostly about the stump count per acre. Send me the parcel and the year it was cut.
Land Clearing Services in Freeport, FL
Pellegrino Land Works provides land clearing as a professional land clearing service for residential and commercial properties. The services in Freeport run the full list. Lot clearing and site prep, mulched in place or taken to dirt. Residential land clearing on acreage, pad to dirt and the rest mulched. Commercial land clearing services for commercial properties in Freeport along SR 20 and US 331: full site clearing and property clearing to dirt. Stump grinding at $4.50 an inch, $150 minimum per stump, or by the day on cutover. Tree removal of dead and leaning pine with cleanup. Brush removal and bush hogging, $65 to 95 an acre with a $450 minimum. Grubbing with a root rake and dozer at $170 an hour. Landscape clearing around a house that is already standing. We do not pour concrete, drill wells, set septic or take down houses. I know people who do. Every project gets one written price.
Lot Clearing for New Homes in Freeport and Santa Rosa Beach
Walton County issued 1,427 single-family permits in 2025 per the Census Building Permits Survey, and that county count is the proxy here because the Freeport side reports no permits of its own. The land clearing Freeport builders order most is a half-acre pad on pine: one skid steer day, $2,600, plus transport. A quarter-acre infill lot runs $1,800 flat plus transport. On low lots the pad has to come up, so the order is clearing, fill, grading, with the roadside swale left open to carry the June water. Fill is what brings in the water management district; clearing never does. Last fall on a lot in the 30A area the sand sat 30 inches over hardpan and drained in a morning. Fill gets its own line at the site visit. Send the lot size and your builder's start date.
How Much Does Land Clearing Cost in Freeport?
Land clearing costs on planted pine and palmetto flatwoods run $1,500 to 2,500 an acre for mulching, by density. The rest:
- Skid steer mulcher, stems to 8 inches: $2,600 a day, transport from Ocala quoted separately.
- 300-hp mulcher for cutover and large acreage clearing: $4,000 a day plus transport.
- Sandhill and oak scrub on the dry ridges: $1,200 to 1,800 an acre.
- Full clearing to dirt with stumps: $3,000 to 5,500 an acre.
- Haul-off at $700 to 1,300 per 10-yard load, or a burn pile on acreage under a Florida Forest Service authorization.
The total depends on the size of the stems and how much titi is in the low ground. Before any number: a gopher tortoise survey on sandy ground, $400 to 900, and one extra day in the quote from June to September when the sloughs fill. On 10 acres of cutover pine in Crawfordville we ran the big mulcher two days for a homesite and pasture, $9,500 plus transport; Freeport cutover prices the same way. The cheapest way to clear cutover is still mulching. Call (352) 619-3597 with the acreage and I will quote it depending on site conditions after I walk the property.
Permits, Gopher Tortoises and Drainage Before You Clear Land in Freeport
Walton County runs clearing through its development order and land disturbance permit, with timber harvest exempt under the silviculture BMPs in FS 403.927. That is the first step of the land clearing process. Second is the FWC gopher tortoise rule on every sandy upland: survey within 90 days, flag the burrows, nothing within 25 feet without a relocation permit. Third is water. NWFWMD ignores the clearing, but filling a titi slough or changing drainage triggers the ERP, and those sloughs are wetland by the Ch. 62-340 delineation. Eagle nests along the Choctawhatchee River carry a 660-foot buffer. Burn piles need the Florida Forest Service call, usually granted on acreage and refused in a platted subdivision. Send the parcel ID and I will tell you which apply.
Land Clearing Services Across the Panhandle From Freeport
We are a land clearing company serving Freeport, FL and the surrounding area, with transport from Ocala stated on the estimate. That covers Santa Rosa Beach and the beach side of the bay, DeFuniak Springs up I-10, Niceville across the Okaloosa line, and Bruce. Our services throughout North Florida run west to the Pensacola metro the same way. Pipeline and power-line easements are part of it; that was my work for ten years. Send the form with your town in it.
Land clearing near Freeport
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Get a Free On-Site Estimate for Your Freeport Parcel
Send the form or call (352) 619-3597 with the acreage, the parcel number and what you want the ground for. Brandi texts you a scheduling window within the hour. I walk the lines, flag the slough edge and the burrows, count stumps, and write one price with transport on it. Our insured crews show up on the day we set and make your property ready for the builder.
Land Clearing FAQs From Freeport Property Owners
Can you clear cutover with the stumps still in it?
Yes, that is what the 300-hp mulcher is for. It grinds pine stumps to grade along with the slash and titi, 4 to 6 acres a day. Stumps out of the ground for a pad is grubbing with the root rake, quoted as its own line.
Do you clear commercial sites along SR 20?
Yes. Commercial clearing there is full site work to dirt at $3,000 to 5,500 an acre, with excavation and the pad by your site contractor. Commercial development sites get the same written price as a homesite. We remove brush, grind stumps, haul the loads and leave the site staked and ready.
Is July a bad month to clear a lot near Freeport?
It is the slow month. The mulcher floats on its tracks and the mulch mat, but a flooded slough stops the work, so June to September carries one extra day in the quote. Most land clearing projects across the panhandle start after the first cold front. The pad gets cut dry and grading waits for a dry week.
Will a bush-hogged lot overgrow again?
Yes, in about one summer, because a bush hog leaves the root crowns alive. The mulcher takes the crowns with the stems, so regrowth stays thin for two or three seasons. Titi still resprouts from the crown and gets a fall pass, quoted on day one.
How soon can the land clearing service in Freeport reach my parcel?
About two weeks in the dry season for the Freeport area, since the machines travel from Ocala. Brandi texts you a window within an hour of your form. Call (352) 619-3597 if a builder is waiting. The other frequently asked questions about site preparation and land improvement are answered above.
Get Your Free Estimate
Send the form or call. Brandi texts you a scheduling window within the hour.