Land Clearing in South Jersey
Lot clearing for new builds, additions, pole barns, and pasture.
Pricing: $2,500–$15,000+ per acre depending on density and disposal
Land clearing runs from a half-acre brush mow for a pole barn to four acres of mature woods coming down to bare ground for a custom build. The job changes depending on what’s going back. The equipment changes depending on what’s coming out.
What’s coming out matters here. Sandy Pinelands lots in Williamstown are pitch pine, scrub oak, sweet gum, and a lot of greenbrier. Mullica Hill hedgerows are black walnut, hackberry, ash, mulberry, and old Eastern redcedar. Sicklerville secondary growth is a mess of red maple, black gum, sassafras, and pin oak. Each calls for a different approach.
What’s in scope
- Pre-clearing walk and flagging. Every tree out (or staying), every wetland buffer, every utility, every property pin. The homeowner walks it with the foreman before machines start.
- Felling and processing. Feller-buncher or chainsaw crew working zone by zone. Larger trees come down sectioned, same as a residential removal.
- Brush handling. Chip, grind, or haul. Homeowner’s call based on budget and how they want the site to look at handoff.
- Stumping when included. Grind below grade for re-sod, or dig and haul for a building pad. Build pads get full root removal to spec.
- Erosion control. Silt fence, straw wattles, rip-rap where the slope wants it. NJ Soil Conservation District rules apply on any disturbance over half an acre.
- Cleanup. Bare soil at handoff. No buried debris. Ready for the excavator.
How it goes
- Site visit. You tell us what you want at the end — pasture, building pad, view clearing, brush mow. We tell you what equipment gets there and what it costs.
- Permits. More clearing projects die here than in the field. Local, county, NJDEP, Pinelands Commission when applicable. We don’t run machines without them.
- Mobilize. Erosion control first. Re-walk with the operator.
- Clear. Zone by zone, from staging outward. Daily photos to the homeowner.
- Demob. Hauling, finish passes with the forestry mulcher or a rake-up where needed. Final walk before we pull out.
What it costs
- Light brush mowing, level ground: $2,500–$4,500 per acre
- Selective clearing of moderate woods, keeping specimen trees: $4,500–$8,500 per acre
- Full clearing of heavy mature woods with stumping: $10,000–$15,000+ per acre
- Building pad prep with root removal and grading: $3,500–$10,000, separate line item
What pushes price up: stumps, wet ground, slope, distant haul-out, marketable timber that needs segregating, and Pinelands or wetland restrictions.
When to call
- New build or major addition. The builder needs the lot clear and the pad ready.
- Pole barn, detached garage, or shed. Small footprint, clean ground, sometimes utility-trench access.
- Pasture or paddock. Hobby farms in Mullica Hill, Williamstown, and Sicklerville reclaiming overgrown fields.
- Pool install when a yard tree is in the footprint.
- View or privacy. Selective work to open a sightline or close one.
- Hazard cleanup on a dead-tree-heavy back lot.
What we won’t do
No clearing in regulated wetlands or the Pinelands Preservation Area without permits. No removal of specimen trees a homeowner wants to keep just because clearing around them costs more time. No work without erosion control on slopes that need it.
If a job needs an engineer or a soil scientist first, we tell you. Then we wait for them.
What goes with it
After clearing, stump grinding is usually included. Selective removals near houses are often easier scoped as standalone tree removals. On lots with kept specimen trees, ask about health treatment — clearing changes the wind, sun, and water for whatever stays. Stress hits 18 months later.
We clear lots in Williamstown, Sicklerville, Mullica Hill, and across South Jersey.