PIERCE
LAND
CLEARING
We have a documented land clearing job in Cleburne and we bring the same crew to the dirt work. Johnson County splits between prairie clay that holds and broken limestone that does not, and which one you own decides the number.
East and north of Cleburne the prairie soils run heavy and hold water on their own. West and south toward Lake Pat Cleburne and the state park the country breaks into cedar and limestone, and out there rock and sealing become real questions. The line is not on any map you own, but we know roughly where it runs.
Toward Alvarado, Grandview and the Ellis County line the soils are heavy prairie clay. A basin cut into that holds without help, dams compact well, and quotes on this side usually run the published list exactly as printed.
That is the cheap version of a pond and we will tell you when you have it. Nobody on this ground needs to buy a sealing package.
West and south the ground thins over layered limestone and the cedar takes it. Two things change: how much of the basin comes out as rock rather than dirt, and whether there is enough clay to hold a pool at all.
We are straight about what we know and when. We have worked this county and we know how it behaves, so you get a real range on the phone. What nobody can do is see through the ground from a call, and some sites only answer once the basin is open.
Where it needs help the answers are a hauled and keyed clay blanket, bentonite worked into the basin, or a liner. Each is priced the moment we can honestly price it, never as a surprise at the end.
A Johnson County pond runs in a set order, and knowing which side of the county you are on shortcuts most of it.
It starts with photos of the site and a rough idea of size. We answer with a same-day ballpark off the published price list, and if the number works for you, we schedule the site walk. No sales funnel, just a conversation.
Your first number comes over the phone. Tell us roughly where the place sits and we can usually put you on the prairie side or the broken side, which decides most of the price. Photos and a pin get you a real range the same day. Once you approve the estimate we come walk it, reading the draw, the catchment, what cedar has to go and whether a loaded truck can reach the spot. Anything that moves the number gets said then.
The quote reads like a plan, not a mystery: dig, dam, spillway, and any contingency for rock, each priced in machine days. If clearing is needed first, it is on the same sheet at our published day rates. What is written is what you pay.
Within a few weeks of signing, the lowboy delivers the iron. All we need from you is gate access wide enough for the machines and somewhere to drop the trailer. Everything else is on us.
Most ponds take two to five working days. The sequence never changes: strip and save the topsoil, cut the core trench, raise the dam in thin compacted lifts, shape the basin. Watch as much of it as you like from outside the swing radius.
The build ends with a walkthrough, not an invoice. Dam, spillway, slopes, and dressed banks, checked against the quote with you standing there. Anything off gets fixed before the lowboy is loaded.
Thirty five inches a year and a real catchment means a well sited Johnson County pond fills over a wet stretch. We will not name a date. What we control is the watershed feeding your basin, and we size it so the pond collects runoff rather than waiting on rain landing in the bowl.
Published, not hidden behind a form. Prices and build times are based on 6 feet of depth at center with a 4:1 bank.
| Pond Size | Starting Price at 6 ft depth, 4:1 bank | Build Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1/4 acre | from $12,300 | 2 to 3 days |
| 1/2 acre | from $19,200 | 3 to 4 days |
| 3/4 acre | from $23,300 | 4 to 5 days |
| 1 acre | from $27,000 | 5 to 6 days |
| 1 1/4 acre | from $30,400 | 6 to 7 days |
| 1 1/2 acre | from $33,800 | 7 to 8 days |
| 1 3/4 acre | from $36,800 | 8 to 9 days |
| 2 acre | from $39,500 | 9 to 10 days |
Prices are based on 6 feet of depth at center with a 4:1 bank. Prairie-side Johnson County sites usually run the list clean. West and south toward the lake and the state park, rock and sealing are the variables and each is priced the moment we can honestly price it.
Size it, tell us what to do with the dirt, then draw the pond right on a photo of your land. Your estimate comes back by email, along with a preview of the finished water.
Every quote we write splits the same honest way. Here is what is inside the number and what gets flagged separately.
Every quote covers the complete pond: watershed-matched siting, staking, saved topsoil, a true core trench, a dam raised in compacted lifts, a shaped spillway, mowable slope finishes, and banks dressed with the topsoil we saved. Transport of the machines is included, as is the final walkthrough.
On the prairie side, usually nothing: those sites run the published list. West and south, two things move the number. Rock: how much of the basin is excavation in limestone rather than soil. Sealing: whether the ground holds on its own clay. Each becomes a line item the moment we can price it honestly. Cedar clearing rides on the same quote at published day rates.
Real ponds, real day counts, photographed on site.
Dam work, Gatesville
Stock tank holding water, Marion
Pond site work, LeanderFull process, statewide services, and the build standard: our Texas pond construction page.
Our documented three acre selective clearing project is in Cleburne: shade trees flagged and kept, everything else mulched, build ready in a single day. Same company, same crew, and the dirt work runs on the same published logic.
On the west side of the county the draw where your pond belongs is usually solid cedar. Clearing is often the larger half of the job here, and we do both halves so it is one mobilization, one schedule and one bill.
Pricing starts at six feet at center. On the prairie side going deeper is cheap because the digging is easy, and on the broken side it is worth arguing for because shallow water on thin soil turns warm and green fast.
The Nolan River and Buffalo Creek both drain through here. Every dam is keyed into competent material, compacted in lifts rather than pushed up, and given an emergency spillway sized for the watershed above it.
East and north of town this is cattle ground, and a tank that holds is what lets a pasture run stock instead of hauling water to it.
Lake Pat Cleburne is a municipal reservoir on somebody else’s schedule. A pond on your own place is water you control, and it is a mile closer to where your stock actually are.
The cedar country west and south holds deer, and surface water is the strongest thing you can add to a hunting place there. Sited well it supports a wildlife management valuation.
Johnson County is filling in from Fort Worth and buyers here look at water early. A pond that holds is a permanent improvement in a market where a nice view is common.
A pond is dirt work first, but it does not have to end there. One call covers everything from grass on the dam to fish in the water.
Bare banks wash the first time it storms, so we seed and stabilize what we disturb with a mix matched to whichever soil you actually have.
Aeration keeps water cooler and cleaner through August and cuts the algae that turns a clear pond green by July. Conduit roughed in while the basin is open is far cheaper than trenching later.
Docks and hardened access get planned before the basin closes so footings sit on competent material rather than fill.
Stocking waits until the pond is holding and settled. We will tell you what does well here and how long to leave a new basin alone.
We had a great experience with Pierce Land Clearing. Customer service was great and the heavy equipment operator was awesome. He was easy to work with and accommodated our requests. Pierce Land Clearing had the best prices and worked with your schedule. They are the best in the area. Highly recommend!
Liz Sanchez, Google review
Preston, Dustin, and Steven just wrapped up an amazing job on an 800-acre commercial property. They were professional, dependable, hardworking, and transparent. I would highly recommend their services to anyone.
Nick Rodriguez, Google review
Pierce Land Clearing is a great family-owned and run business. They are very professional and provide timely, reasonable quotes. We have about 5.5 acres. In 2 days, they cleared most cedar, standing dead trees and mulched all at once with their large forestry machine. They also brought their rock crusher which actually pulverizes rocks. Amazing job!
Maggie Oehlke, Google review
The site walk comes with vocabulary. Here is what the crew means when they say it.
The dam built up in thin layers, each packed tight by the machine before the next goes on. The opposite of a pushed up pile.
The armored low route storm water takes around the dam instead of over it. The difference between a rain event and a rebuild.
Four feet of run for every foot of drop. Gentler banks are safer and easier to mow; steeper banks get more depth from less dirt.
The dry dam height above full pool, the safety margin that keeps a big storm inside the pond.
Every acre of ground that sheds rain toward your pond. It, not the hole, decides how fast you get water.
The water level at the bottom of the spillway, the highest the pond is designed to hold day to day.
A quarter acre pond starts at $12,300, a half acre at $19,200, and a full acre at $27,000, based on six feet of depth at center with a 4:1 bank. Minimum job is $8,000. Prairie-side sites usually run that list clean; west and south, rock and sealing are the variables.
Yes, and it is published. Our documented three acre selective homesite clearing project is here, finished in a single day with the shade trees kept. The dirt work comes from the same crew.
Look at your trees and your rock. Heavy prairie soil with open pasture means you are on the easy side. Cedar and pale layered stone toward the lake or the state park means rock and sealing come into it. Tell us roughly where you are and we can usually settle it on the call.
On the prairie side, usually on its own. On the broken side it depends whether the basin finds clay, and some sites do not answer that until the ground is open. If yours needs sealing you hear the number as soon as we have it.
Yes, and on the west side that is normally the first real work and often the bigger half. Same quote, same crew, published day rates.
Pricing starts at six feet at center and we recommend eight or more where the budget allows. On the prairie side the extra depth is cheap; on the rocky side it is what keeps the water usable in August.
Two to three days for a quarter acre and nine to ten for two acres. Rock on the west side adds days and we name that up front rather than after.
Yes. Photos, an aerial or a pin get most Johnson County quotes a real range the same day, because we have already worked this ground.
Send photos or a pin and roughly where the place sits in the county. Which side of the prairie line you are on decides most of the number and we can usually tell you that on the call.