Land Clearing in Fort White, Florida
Forestry mulching, underbrushing and acreage clearing around Fort White and the south end of Columbia County. One machine cuts, grinds and spreads in a single pass, so nothing is piled, burned or trucked off your ground.
- Priced from photographs, usually same day
- Ten acres is our largest job in this county
- From $3,000 a machine day
What we clear in Fort White
Eight things we are actually asked for on this ground. If your job is not on this list, say so and we will tell you straight whether it is ours.
One machine cuts standing growth and grinds it back into the ground as chip in the same pass. No pile, no burn, no trucks.
Multi day work on parcels measured in acres rather than lots, priced as a day count and quoted before the machine moves.
Taking the low growth out from under pine you want to keep, so the stand is open ground rather than a thicket.
You mark the live oaks and the hickory that stay and we cut round them.
Where the roots have to come out rather than the top growth being ground off. Our 30 inch excavator mulcher.
Building envelope, drive and pad taken down to workable ground before your builder arrives.
A drive line or a run through a big parcel, cut to a width you give us.
A line you can run wire along or walk, cut without disturbing what is either side of it.
Who calls us in south Columbia County
This is the end of the county where parcels are measured in tens of acres rather than fractions. Our job here was ten and it took four days.
Envelope, drive and pad on a parcel where the house will sit a long way back from the road.
Ground being opened under a stand, or a run cut through it, rather than the whole parcel taken down.
This is karst country and the ground has sinks and swallow holes in it. If you know where yours are, tell us, because a machine does not find them gently.
A big parcel with frontage and no drive is common here. Cutting the line in is often the first day of the job rather than a preliminary.
Nobody buys ten acres they cannot walk. Opening it up changes what a buyer is looking at and what they will pay for it.
How the work runs
Four steps, and on a parcel this size the first two matter more than usual.
On acreage we want several: one from the road, one from the middle if you can get there, and the parcel boundary if you have it. Say where any sink or low ground sits.
Usually the same day. It is a day count against a published rate, and on a multi day job we will tell you the count before anything moves, not after.
The mulching head cuts, grinds and spreads as it goes. On ten acres that is the difference between a job and a haulage operation.
Not bare sand and not a field of cut stems. Across acreage that layer is what stops the surface running when it rains.
Photographs from our jobs
Photographs from jobs we have run. Nothing here is stock photography and nothing here is generated.
What it costs
We sell machine days, not acres, and we publish the rates. On a parcel of real size the day count is the whole quote, so we would rather work it out carefully from photographs than guess at it and be wrong in front of you.
Stems to 8 inches. Transport included. The machine that does most of our day work
Stems to 30 inches, and grubbing. Plus transport
Stems to 24 inches. Plus transport. The dearest machine we run
What moves the day count
The rate follows the machine rather than the size of the stem, which catches people out: the dedicated mulcher costs more than the excavator even though the excavator takes bigger timber and pulls roots. Transport is the cost of getting the bigger two machines to you and is separate from hauling material away, which is quoted per job.
What we have actually done in Fort White
One finished job, ten acres, four machine days, Apr 2024. It is the largest parcel we have cleared in this county by a long way.
| Apr 2024 | Ten acres, 4 machine days |
| Elsewhere in the county | One more job, a third of an acre, a single day, in Dec 2023 |
| The county total | Two jobs, five machine days. The two are not remotely the same size of work |
Two and a half acres a day is what that job worked out at, and it is the most useful number on this page if you are sitting on acreage and trying to guess at a budget. Treat it as a guide rather than a rate. What is standing decides it, and ten acres of open pine is not ten acres of closed scrub. The scope on this job does not record which machine went, so we are not going to guess at that either.
The ground on a south Columbia County parcel
| What grows here | Planted pine and mixed hardwood with live oak and hickory through it, saw palmetto and greenbriar underneath, and the usual regrowth on anything cut over and left |
| What that means for a machine | Palmetto and regrowth go quickly and open pine goes quickly too. Closed hardwood does not, and on a big parcel the mix across it is what sets the day count |
| Water | Springs country over limestone, so it drains fast and it has sinks and swallow holes in it. Wet is rarely the risk here. Ground that suddenly is not there is the risk |
| Access | County roads with long frontages, and plenty of parcels where there is no drive at all. Cutting the way in is often the first thing that happens |
In four machine days, which is the largest single job on our Columbia County books and about two and a half acres a day on that ground.
What customers say
FloridaLandClearing.com was beyond helpful in getting our property cleared. They were spot on with their quote, their crews arrived on time, and the machines they used were impressive to watch.
Jenny AndersonWe had a difficult project a few other companies attempted and left. Florida Land Clearing was able to get the job done and a day earlier than quoted.
Joseph KellyThese guys are pros. Watching these machines just devour acres of underbrush in a day was one of the coolest things I have seen. I cannot believe how this transformed my property.
Adam WilsonBefore you book: trees on a Columbia County parcel
Fort White is a small incorporated town, so ground inside the town limits answers to the town and the surrounding acreage answers to Columbia County. On a large parcel it is usually the county.
What is protected depends on the species and the size of the trunk, and whether the land is in genuine silvicultural use or is being developed. On acreage in this county the silvicultural question comes up more often than the tree by tree one does.
Tell us what you want gone and what you want kept when you send photographs. If the parcel is in a timber programme of any kind, or sits close to the river, say so early, because that changes which office you should be asking.
We are a clearing contractor, not the permit office, and we do not file applications. Confirm your own parcel and your own trees with the Town of Fort White or Columbia County before you commit.
Fort White questions
How much does it cost to clear land in Fort White?
From $3,000 a machine day. Our job here was ten acres and four days. Send photographs and the acreage and we will give you a day count rather than a range.
How long does ten acres take?
Ours took four days. That is around two and a half acres a day and it is a guide rather than a rate, because what is standing decides it. Open pine runs much faster than closed scrub on the same acreage.
Which machine did you use here?
We are not going to guess. The scope on this job does not record it. The acreage and the day count are above and they are what we can show you.
There are sinks on my land. Does that stop you?
It does not stop us, but we need to know where they are. This is limestone country and a machine finds a soft hole the hard way. Mark them on a photograph or walk them with us before we book.
Can you cut a trail through without clearing the lot?
Yes, and on a parcel this size it is a common ask. Tell us the width you want and we will cut to it. We will not tell you how wide it ought to be.
What happens to everything you cut?
It stays on the ground as mulch, spread as the machine goes. Nothing piled, nothing burned. Across ten acres that is the difference between a clearing job and a haulage bill.
Do I need a permit?
It depends on the species and size of what is standing and on whether the land counts as silvicultural or as being developed. Confirm it with the town or the county, whichever your parcel sits in, rather than taking a contractor word for it, ours included.
Around Fort White
Get a price on your Fort White lot
Send several photographs, the acreage and a note on what you want left standing. Mark any sinks or low ground, because on this limestone that is the first thing we plan around.
Call or text 813-733-6607