Excavator
Rooting mesquite entirely below the crown, heavy stump removal, and selective clearing where you want specific trees left standing.
- Roots out below the crown
- Precise around keeper trees
- Handles the biggest stumps
Land clearing · Jack, Palo Pinto, Young & Wise counties
Clear it once. Clear it right.
Mesquite rooted out below the crown, cedar cut below the green, brush and stumps hauled or piled — and the ground left in a condition you can actually use.
Call 940-567-8111 Get a free estimate
Free on-site estimates · We walk the ground before we quote it
How much does land clearing cost per acre in North Texas?
In our experience around Jacksboro, most land clearing runs $200 to $2,500 per acre, and the majority of jobs land between $800 and $2,000. The single biggest driver is how thick the growth is; the second is what happens to the debris. Light scattered mesquite on open pasture is at the bottom of that range. Heavy multi-stem mesquite or wooded ground with large hardwoods, cleared to a buildable finish with debris hauled off, is at the top. Texas does not require a state permit to clear your own private land, though county and floodplain rules can apply. Estimates are free and on-site.
The mesquite problem, honestly
If you own ground in Jack County you already know what mesquite does. What is worth understanding before you hire anybody is why so much cleared land does not stay clear.
Mesquite regenerates from a bud zone on the root crown, several inches below the soil surface. Shear it, mow it, mulch it, or push it over with a blade and leave the crown in the ground, and the plant responds by sending up multiple new stems from that crown. Two or three years later you have more stems than you started with, closer together and harder to work around. That is the cycle a lot of North Texas landowners have paid for twice.
The way out of it is to get below the crown. We use an excavator to lift the root ball out whole. It is slower per tree, and on heavy stands the up-front bill is higher than a dozer pass. It is also the version that ends the problem instead of scheduling it for later.
We will not pretend rooting is right for everything. On thin, scattered mesquite over a lot of acres, a dozer is the sensible economic answer and we will say so. The rule of thumb we use: root what you intend to keep clean — homesites, working pastures, hay meadows — and push what you just need opened up.
Cedar is a different animal
Ashe juniper — cedar — does not resprout. Cut it below the lowest green limb and it is done, permanently, with no root work required. That makes cedar dramatically cheaper per acre than mesquite. It is also worth clearing on its own merits: a mature cedar transpires a meaningful amount of water every day, and on rangeland that water is coming out of your grass.
What it costs, by how thick it is
Real ranges for this area. Your number depends on the ground, and we will only give it to you after we have walked it.
| Density | What that looks like | Typical cost per acre | Usual method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light | Scattered mesquite or brush on open pasture, mostly mowable ground | $200 – $600 | Dozer or track loader |
| Moderate | Continuous mesquite or cedar, 4–8 ft, some stems you have to work around | $600 – $1,200 | Dozer pass, or excavator where it must stay clear |
| Heavy | Thick multi-stem mesquite, mature cedar, heavy undergrowth | $1,200 – $2,000 | Excavator rooting, dozer support |
| Wooded | Large hardwoods, oak mottes, dense timber, or a buildable finished grade | $1,800 – $2,500+ | Excavator, dozer, haul-off |
Add for: hauling debris off-site rather than piling or burning; steep or rocky ground; working around fence, wells, buried lines or keeper trees; and finish grading after clearing. Subtract for: larger acreage, easy access, and burn piles left in place where the county allows it.
The right machine for the job
We are not trying to make one machine do everything. That is where bad results come from.
Dozer
Bulk clearing over acreage, pushing multiple trees at once, and the rough grading pass after clearing is finished.
- Fast over open acreage
- Piles debris as it goes
- Levels and smooths behind itself
Compact track loader
Our Takeuchi TL12 and TL10 for fence lines, tight access, cleanup behind the big iron, and anything close to structures.
- Gets where the dozer cannot
- Low ground pressure
- Fine finish work
How a clearing job runs
Walk the ground
We look at density, soil, slope, drainage, access, and what you want left. Free, and it is the only way to quote this work honestly.
Agree the method
Root or push, haul or pile, how clean a finish. You will know exactly what you are paying for before anything starts.
Clear
Mesquite rooted, cedar cut low, brush and stumps handled the way we agreed. We work around anything you marked to keep.
Leave it usable
Debris dealt with and a rough grade behind us, so the ground is ready for grass, cattle, or the next contractor.
Questions people ask us
Do I need a permit to clear land in Texas?
For clearing your own private property, generally no — Texas does not require a state land clearing permit. Where it gets complicated is around water and floodplain: work in or near a creek, wetland or mapped floodplain can trigger county floodplain rules or federal Clean Water Act permitting. Burn piles are governed by county burn bans and TCEQ outdoor burning rules. We will flag anything on your property that looks like it needs a call to the county before we start.
Will the mesquite come back?
If it is rooted out below the crown, no. If it is sheared, mowed, mulched or pushed with the crown left in the ground, yes — usually within two to three years, and usually thicker than before. This is the single most important decision in a mesquite job and it is why we quote the two methods separately instead of hiding the difference.
How long does an acre take?
Light brush with a dozer, you can cover several acres in a day. Heavy multi-stem mesquite rooted individually with an excavator can be most of a day for a single acre. That spread is exactly why per-acre pricing varies as much as it does.
What happens to the trees and brush?
Three options, and the choice moves your price. We can windrow or pile it on your property for you to burn when the county allows; we can burn it ourselves if conditions and the burn ban permit; or we can haul it off entirely, which is the most expensive and the cleanest.
Can you clear around trees I want to keep?
Yes, and it is one of the better arguments for an excavator over a dozer. Mark what you want kept — oaks, a motte, anything shading a pen — and we will work around it. Tell us before we start rather than after.
Do you do the grading after clearing?
Yes. Most clearing jobs here roll straight into dirt work — leveling, shaping drainage, building a pad or a drive. Doing both with the same crew saves you a mobilization and gets the water moving the right way the first time.
What areas do you clear?
Jack, Palo Pinto, Young and Wise counties — Jacksboro, Bryson, Perrin, Graham, Olney, Mineral Wells, Bridgeport, Chico, Bowie, Runaway Bay and the country between them.
Where we work
We are based in Jacksboro and work out from there across Jack County, Palo Pinto County, Young County and Wise County. If you are close to the edge of that circle, call and ask — we will tell you straight whether it is worth the drive for both of us.
- Jacksboro
- Bryson
- Perrin
- Cundiff
- Jermyn
- Post Oak
- Graham
- Olney
- Mineral Wells
- Graford
- Bridgeport
- Runaway Bay
- Chico
- Bowie
- Whitt
- Salesville
Get a number on your acreage.
Tell us roughly how many acres and how thick it is. We will come walk it, free, and put a real number in your hand.