PIERCE
LAND
CLEARING
Most contractors will not put a number on a page. Ours are below: the day rates we actually charge, what an acre runs once a job is big enough to spread a day across, and what four real jobs cost. There is a one day minimum on every machine we own and it is stated here rather than discovered on the invoice.
| What is growing on it | Typical cost per acre | Typical machine |
|---|---|---|
| Light brush and understory, stems under 4 in | $1,300 to $2,000 | Skid steer or dedicated mulcher |
| Mixed cedar, mesquite and small trees, 4 to 8 in | $1,600 to $2,700 | Dedicated mulcher |
| Heavy cedar thickets and larger stems, 8 in and up | $2,700 to $4,000 | Dedicated mulcher |
These are marginal per acre rates and they only hold once a job is big enough to spread a machine day across. A single acre does not cost one acre of money, it costs a day, because a day is what it takes to load, haul, work and haul back. See the job table below for what that means in practice.
| Job size and growth | Typical machine | What it usually runs |
|---|---|---|
| 1 acre or less, mixed cedar and mesquite | Skid steer mulcher | $3,000, the one day minimum, transport included |
| 3 acres, mixed growth, clear cut | High horsepower mulcher | About $4,000, one full day at the published day rate, plus transport |
| 5 acres, light to mixed brush | High horsepower mulcher | $6,500 to $9,500, roughly a day and a half to two days |
| 10 acres, mixed growth | High horsepower mulcher | Around $12,000, about three machine days, plus transport |
| 20 acres, mixed growth | High horsepower mulcher | Roughly $24,000, about six machine days, plus transport |
Read the first row before the others. It is the honest answer to the small job question, and it is the row most contractors leave off the page.
Transport is included in that number. This is the machine for tight lots, work between structures, fence lines, trail widening and anything where a big machine cannot turn around. It is slower through heavy stems, so on thick cedar the cheaper day rate is not always the cheaper job.
Plus transport. This is the dedicated purpose built machine, and it is what clears acreage. It will take a day to do what the skid steer needs two or three for, which is why on anything past a couple of acres the more expensive machine usually produces the smaller invoice.
The smallest job we can run is one day and that holds on everything we own. A quarter acre of brush still costs a day, because loading, hauling, working and hauling back consumes a day whether the brush knows it or not. If your job is genuinely tiny, stack it with the fence line or the trail while the machine is already there.
People search for an hourly rate, so here is the arithmetic. Our published day rates run roughly $375 to $500 per effective machine hour. We do not bill hourly, and the reason is that hourly billing charges you for transport, warm up and fuel stops, and quietly rewards working slowly. A day rate makes careful and quick cost the same.
Send one photo of the brush you want gone. You get back a realistic preview of your own land cleared and a straight day rate estimate, usually within minutes.
Every card opens a full write up with photographs, acreage, the machine and the day count. That is where a cost page stops being a brochure.
An acre of light understory and an acre of eight inch cedar are the same acre and nowhere near the same job. One is a couple of hours, the other is most of a day. Days are what actually gets consumed, so days are what we sell. The per acre numbers at the top of this page exist because that is how people search, not because it is how the work behaves.
Stem count and stem size drive the day count more than acreage does. A mulcher grinds a four inch cedar in seconds and an eight inch one in a minute or two, and there are a lot of minutes in a thicket. This is why two neighbours with identical acreage get quotes that differ by half.
If a lowboy cannot reach the work, the day count starts before a track turns. Gates too narrow for a trailer, a low bridge, a soft creek crossing or a mile of two track between the road and the brush all cost days. Tell us about access when you ask for a number, because it is the thing most likely to move it.
Slope slows a machine down and steep ground can rule out the big mulcher entirely. Selective work, where oaks stay and cedar goes, costs more per acre than a clear cut because the operator is steering rather than driving. Both are worth paying for. Neither is a surprise if it is quoted properly.
Traditional clearing means a dozer to push, an excavator to pile, a loader to load, trucks to haul, and somewhere legal to put it. Forestry mulching is one machine that turns the growth into mulch where it stands. Every machine you remove from the job is a day rate you stop paying.
Haul off is the line that grows after the quote. No trucks means no load counts, no disposal fees, no gate torn up, and no argument about how many loads there really were.
A mulch layer holds soil through a Texas downpour and slows the regrowth coming back. Bare pushed ground does the opposite, which is why burn and push sites often need work again sooner than the invoice suggested.
If the roots have to come out for a slab, a road bed or a tank, mulching alone will not do it and we will say so. That is grubbing or dirt work, priced on its own terms at $3,000 per day plus transport. Anybody who tells you mulching is always the answer is selling one machine rather than solving your problem.
We were extremely pleased with the results on the land clearing that was done to our property. I had called around to several other companies for bids and PLC was the most reasonable, responsive, and customer oriented.
A Arevalo, Google review
Super nice guy and priced right. Fantastic communication and no surprises except for how great it looked when completed.
Jeff Bordelon, Google review
I would highly recommend this company to clear your land. The estimating process was quick, easy and straightforward. Their operator was on time each day and worked all day.
Clay Pritchett, Google review
Good communication. Professional. Worked fast but did a thorough job. The big mulcher did a great job of clearing land, including several large trees, and left a nice clean look.
Dow Fogleman, Google review
Between roughly $1,300 and $4,000 per acre in Texas depending on what is growing on it, and that range only holds once a job is big enough to spread a machine day across. Light understory sits at the bottom, heavy cedar thickets with eight inch and larger stems at the top. Below about three acres the day rate rather than the acreage sets the price.
Our skid steer mulcher is $3,000 per day with transport included. Our high horsepower dedicated mulcher is $4,000 per day plus transport. Those are published rates, not opening positions, and there is a one day minimum on both.
$3,000, which is one day on the skid steer mulcher with transport included. There is a one day minimum on every machine we own. A quarter acre of brush still consumes a day once you count loading, hauling, working and hauling back, so if your job is genuinely small the way to get value out of it is to stack it: do the brush, the fence line and the trail in the same visit while the machine is already on your place.
About three acres of mixed growth on a clear cut with the high horsepower machine. Light understory can run higher and a heavy cedar thicket with eight inch stems can run to less than an acre. Stem count and stem size drive it far more than acreage does, which is why we quote in days rather than acres.
Usually yes, and the reason is machine count rather than hourly rate. Push and haul clearing needs a dozer, an excavator, a loader, trucks and a legal place to dump. Mulching is one machine and nothing leaves the property, so there are no load counts and no disposal fees. Where mulching is not cheaper is when the roots have to come out anyway, because then you are paying for both.
No, we price by the machine day. For comparison shopping our published day rates work out to roughly $375 to $500 per effective machine hour. We avoid hourly billing because it charges you for transport, warm up and fuel stops, and it quietly rewards working slowly. A day rate makes careful work and quick work cost the same.
Usually one of three things. The quote is for a lighter finish than you are picturing, so stems get topped rather than ground and the regrowth is back inside two seasons. Or the acreage is priced without a minimum, and the day rate reappears once they see the site. Or haul off is excluded and gets billed by the load afterwards. Ask what stem size is included and whether anything leaves the property.
Yes, selective work costs more per acre than a clear cut because the operator is steering around what stays rather than driving through it. It is usually worth it. Mature oaks are worth more standing than the difference in the invoice, and it is the single most common thing our customers say they are glad they paid for.
Statewide. Central Texas and the Austin metro are the bulk of it, but there are documented jobs on this site from Brownsville to Weatherford and out to Brady. Transport is a written line on the quote that reflects the distance rather than a surprise at the end, and it is already inside the skid steer day rate.
Send the acreage, what is growing on it, and a photo if you have one. You get back a day count, the machine we would bring, and a written number. Call 512-400-2693 or send a photo to LandVision above.
