Clearing Land, Good Estimate? (Ocala: renting, new house, neighborhood)

[AFNCO33]

So I love my new house in the Ocala Waterway. It sits on a 0.41 lot, but the builder only cleared about 0.15 for the house and I've got about 1/4 acre backyard that is heavily wooded with lots of pines and brush/bushes. Originally I wasn't going to do anything with that but when we moved in, my neighbors had cleared out their portions which makes my wooded area look out of place and I started getting ideas for fencing and the back yard.

I've tried calling for estimates but only got one company to come out and look at the lot. They'd remove the brush, prepare the land to make it mowable, and stump grind the trees that would have to come down (the nonhealthy ones, about 3 of them) for just under 4K. Is this a reasonable estimate? It seems pretty high for just 1/4 acre. Anybody else have any experience with clearing land?

[dontaskwhy]

No personal experience clearing land but I have lived in the area since 1980. It isn't cheap and requires a lot of heavy equipment that isn't cheap, even if rented. Hopefully you might get some ideas from others who live in the area as well.

[kmarc]

First of all, AFNCO33, congrats on your new digs, I know you were looking forward to living there. Secondly, I don't have any any input to give, since I've never had it done.

However, are they still building in your area? If so, see if you can check with one of the crews doing the work. Sometimes you can find someone willing to do a little side work on the cheap.

[A Little Hoarse]

Bulldozer or chainsaws? I wouldn't pay someone to cut trees and grind stumps if I could find someone to rip them out by the roots with a bulldozer.


A skid steer with the right attachment takes about 30 seconds to tear out a stump.



I got an estimate for $1000 to cut one tree. That's not going to happen!

[kmarc]

Originally Posted by A Little Hoarse

Bulldozer or chainsaws? I wouldn't pay someone to cut trees and grind stumps if I could find someone to rip them out by the roots with a bulldozer.


A skid steer with the right attachment takes about 30 seconds to tear out a stump.



I got an estimate for $1000 to cut one tree. That's not going to happen!

Good Lord, that's a LOT of money!

[rainroosty]

Why can't you leave it alone, as habitat...instead of raping the land?

[kmarc]

Originally Posted by rainroosty

Why can't you leave it alone, as habitat...instead of raping the land?

Have you lived here, roosty? Don't get me wrong, I am very fond of trees, in fact my property is one of the few in our subdivision that is very "treesy". Consequently we have a lot of wildlife that wouldn't normally be seen on others' property in the neighborhood. I like it. But what I don't like is that we do get wild weather on occasion and the house is at risk of having the roof bashed in by a big old oak tree. Not a whole lot I can do about it since we're renting at the moment, except hope for the best. But I wouldn't consider removing that tree, and another one on the property that got hit by lightning and seems to be dead, raping the land. Pieces of the limbs occasionally fall off and I don't fancy getting klonked on the head while I'm out picking up the yard waste.

The OP should call the builder and have them finish the job.

[A Little Hoarse]

Does Mr. Roosty live in a forest? I'll bet he lives on raped land like the rest of us.

[AFNCO33]

Thanks all for the ideas.

Is it possible to post a picture or link to a picture of what the back-yard forest looks like? There's quite a bit of healthy pine trees which they would leave up, but no oaks or elms. All the trees are the ones with the super-trim trunks but are really tall and weathered Irma well better than the rest.

There are 3 trees though due to beetles that have to come down. One is dead and leaning precariously at the house. I was a little miffed the builder wouldn't remove it, but the contract said they would only clear 30 feet beyond the back of the house and the rest of the lot was up to me.

$4K just seems like a lot for a 1/4 acre. How in the world do people clear acres of land.

[ylisa7]

Originally Posted by AFNCO33

Thanks all for the ideas.

Is it possible to post a picture or link to a picture of what the back-yard forest looks like? There's quite a bit of healthy pine trees which they would leave up, but no oaks or elms. All the trees are the ones with the super-trim trunks but are really tall and weathered Irma well better than the rest.

There are 3 trees though due to beetles that have to come down. One is dead and leaning precariously at the house. I was a little miffed the builder wouldn't remove it, but the contract said they would only clear 30 feet beyond the back of the house and the rest of the lot was up to me.

$4K just seems like a lot for a 1/4 acre. How in the world do people clear acres of land.

I hear you. We bought 10 acres and wanted to keep most of our trees but still had a lot to clear. We started out by bush hogging the whole property. The rest we used a chainsaw and burned the debris. There was a lot of debris.


That does seem like a lot. How many trees do you have? The pines aren't that bad but they are full.


Have you tried asking on the Ocala Facebook pages?

Make sure your tree people are insured and bonded just in case there is a mishap.