Tree Clearing and Removal for Land Clearing Projects in Florida: Pine Out, Live Oaks Kept, Exotics Gone
Tree clearing in Florida is a clearing job, not a tree service call. Our crews take slash pine, scrub oak and exotics off whole parcels with forestry mulching, a 300-hp head or a dozer, and leave the live oaks you want. No one-off takedowns in a backyard; we specialize in acreage and platted lots, and the service runs on one trailer. Skid steer mulcher $2,600 a day within 75 miles of Ocala or Punta Gorda, full clear to dirt $3,000 to 5,500 an acre. I have cleared pine flatwoods since 2012, and FPL corridors for ten years before that. Call (352) 619-3597 or send the form. Brandi texts you a scheduling window within the hour.
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Clearing Trees from Land: Forestry Mulching, Felling, Pushing, Root Rake
Four ways to clear trees, picked by trunk size and what comes after. Forestry mulching: the skid steer forestry mulcher takes trees and brush to 8 inches and grinds brush into mulch on the spot, 1 to 2 acres per day. The 300-hp forestry mulchers handle pine to 14 inches at 3 to 5 acres per day. Felling: a saw crew drops anything bigger, then the head chews the top and the trunk is bucked for haul. Pushing: the bulldozer pushes trees over root ball and all, then the root rake clears the mat; that is the way to clear a pad. Stump grinding follows where stumps cannot stay, and the rest stays as mulch. On the ROW we ran all four in a single week. Tell us trunk size and the plan writes itself.
Trees Down and Land Cleared in One Job
One crew, one trailer, one quote: clearing and tree removal together. Most tree services clear a lot one trunk at a time with a bucket truck and a chipper, and the invoice shows it. We clear land by the acre, one job clearing the whole lot, so the pine stand comes down with the palmetto under it, and the stumps are priced on the same sheet. A 40-year slash pine over palmetto on a half-acre platted lot is one skid steer day, $2,600, trees included. Trunks the mulcher cannot eat get bucked and hauled at $700 to 1,300 per 10-yard load. Fully insured crews, and one service lead from the first cut to the last load. Send the lot size and a photo of the tallest pine.
Slash Pine Out, Live Oaks Kept: Florida Land Clearing by the Tree
Slash pine is what covers a platted lot after 40 years, and it is the tree that comes out. Live oak is what the county protects and what the appraiser likes, so we flag every oak over the ordinance size and mulch around it: Orange County 4 inches on undeveloped land, Hillsborough 5 inches and grand trees at 34, Volusia historic trees at 36. Oak roots run shallow and wide; the mulcher stays off the drip line when the ground is soft. Redbay with laurel wilt comes out whole and does not get chipped, or the beetle moves to the next redbay. Cabbage palms are protected in some codes and a nuisance in others; we ask. Tape your keepers before we unload.
Melaleuca, Brazilian Pepper, Australian Pine and Camphor: Why Exotic Trees Cost More to Clear
Exotics add $500 per acre because the stump has to be treated within minutes of the cut or it comes back as a thicket. Melaleuca, Brazilian pepper and Australian pine are Category I invasives on the FLEPPC list; Collier and Lee require them gone on most permitted lots. Case: 2.5 acres of Brazilian pepper thicket in Port Charlotte, 2 days, $6,700 including the surcharge. A hand crew followed the mulcher with herbicide on every stump. Camphor in the Tampa Bay old fields behaves the same. Melaleuca seeds on disturbance, so the mulch layer goes down thick and stays. Unwanted vegetation that regrows is not cleared, it is mowed. Name the exotics on the form and we price the treatment with the clearing.
Dead Citrus Groves and Storm-Killed Pine Across Central Florida
A dead citrus grove is pushed, not mulched: the trees are brittle, the roots are shallow, and greening left nothing worth saving. Case: 20 acres in Lake Wales, Polk County, trees pushed and roots raked with the big mulcher plus a dozer, 4 days, $21,000 plus haul. Storm-killed pine is the other large job in this part of the state. After Ian we spent six months on debris in Charlotte and Lee; Milton in 2024 snapped pine from Sarasota to the Lake Wales Ridge. Every storm season I meet a few pines that waited for a roof. Dead pine mulches fine standing; down and tangled, it goes by the load. Send a count of trees down and the acreage.
Stumps Out or Stumps Ground After Tree Clearing
Stumps stay in the ground under the mulch, cut to 2 to 4 inches. Then one of two things. Pulling the stumps with the root rake, $170 an hour with the dozer, when a pad, drive or septic field is going on top. Stump grinding at $4.50 per inch of diameter, $150 minimum, when the yard stays a yard; lots with 10 or more stumps go by the day. Pine stumps rot in three years in Florida heat, oak in twenty, cabbage palm boots never. Exotic stumps get herbicide the same hour or they resprout. Say what goes where the trees were and the stump line prices itself.
Protected Trees, Eagle Nests and Scrub-Jay Habitat Before We Clear Your Land
Three things stop a clearing job before it starts, and we check all three from the parcel ID. County ordinances: Orange 4 inches, Hillsborough 5 inches, Volusia 36-inch historic trees, the protected oak roads around Tallahassee, Palm Coast tree code with no clearing before a building permit. Bald eagle nests carry a 660-foot buffer under the FWC Eagle Management Plan; Lee, Charlotte and Osceola have the densest nests I have worked around. Florida scrub-jay zones in Palm Coast, Port Charlotte, North Port and Palm Bay need FWS review before scrub oak comes out. Gopher tortoise burrows get a 25-foot flag line and an FWC permit if they must move. Clearing itself is not an ERP trigger at the water management district; filling a wetland is. We assess your land before quoting it.
Tree Clearing Cost per Acre in Florida: Land Clearing Services Priced by Density
Trunk size and stems per acre set the number. Every line is on our sheet.
- Palmetto and pine flatwoods mulched, trees to 8 inches: $1,500 to 2,500 per acre.
- Oak scrub and sandhill: $1,200 to 1,800 per acre.
- Exotic trees, melaleuca or pepper: add $500 per acre for cut-stump treatment.
- Full clear to dirt with stumps out: $3,000 to 5,500 per acre.
- Skid steer mulcher: $2,600 a day, transport included within 75 miles of Ocala or Punta Gorda, FL. 300-hp mulcher: $4,000 a day plus transport.
- Dozer and root rake: $170 an hour with operator. Haul-off: $700 to 1,300 per 10-yard load.
- Stumps: $4.50 per inch, $150 minimum, 10 or more by the day.
A gopher tortoise survey, $400 to 900, comes first on upland parcels. June to September on muck adds a day. Free estimate within 75 miles of a yard. Call (352) 619-3597 or send the form. Brandi texts you a scheduling window within the hour.
Land Clearing Across the State of Florida: Where Our Clearing Services Go
Ocala covers Central Florida and Tampa Bay; Punta Gorda covers the southwest and the Treasure Coast. Jacksonville and the Panhandle carry transport beyond 75 miles. Pellegrino Land Works does professional land clearing as a land clearing company and land clearing contractors for Florida communities from Palm Coast to Naples, with the equipment and expertise for large jobs and large commercial pads, and land-clearing services for a single platted lot and its clearing needs. Services available in both yards, services throughout the state, services in Florida from the Ocala, FL yard and the Punta Gorda yard: forestry mulching services, forestry services on timber tracts, brush clearing, brush removal, lot clearing, right of way clearing on private easements, right-of-way clearing for co-ops, vegetation management, land management, site preparation and site prep, excavation services through our dozer, stump removal, removal services by the load. Services for residential and commercial work, residential or commercial, surrounding areas included at transport cost. No trimming, no backyard takedowns, no clearing solutions we cannot put a price on. One service, one lead, one invoice. Call (352) 619-3597 or schedule a free estimate with the form. Brandi texts you a scheduling window within the hour.
Land clearing across Florida
Six regions, two yards. Pick yours for local rates, permits and the towns we work.
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Tree Clearing Questions from Property Owners
What is a normal price for clearing one acre of trees in Florida?
Mulched pine flatwoods run $1,500 to 2,500 per acre; a full clear to dirt with stumps out runs $3,000 to 5,500. Exotics add $500. Efficient clearing on a single acre is usually one skid steer day, $2,600, which is why small parcels price by the day.
How much does it cost to clear 20 acres of trees?
Figure $1,500 to 2,500 per acre mulched, so $30,000 to 50,000 for flatwoods, less for scrub. Our 20-acre Lake Wales grove job ran $21,000 plus haul because dead citrus pushes fast. Florida land clearing projects that size go to the 300-hp head at $4,000 a day plus transport.
Do I need land clearing before construction?
Yes on any wooded parcel, and usually a permit too. The builder needs a staked pad, a drive and a septic area clear of stumps and roots. Comprehensive land clearing gets the trees, brush and tree stumps out in one job; expert land clearing also keeps the oaks the county protects.
Is it okay to clear trees in Florida right now?
November to May is the season; June to September on muck adds a day. Eagle nesting runs October to May, so the 660-foot buffer matters most then. Gopher tortoise surveys are good for 90 days. If your land is sand, the forest can come off any month.
What does land clearing include?
Trees, brush and stumps to the mulch layer, then grubbing, haul-off and fill if a pad is coming. Fence line and trail work, clearing brush under pines, and the land services around a pond edge are on the same sheet. Property owners who need land cleared to raise the value of their land get one quote. Call (352) 619-3597 and ask for it, because overgrow is what a Florida lot does while you wait.
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Send the form or call. Brandi texts you a scheduling window within the hour.