Land Clearing in Hastings, Florida
Forestry mulching, underbrushing and field clearing across Hastings and western St. Johns County. One machine cuts, grinds and spreads in a single pass, so nothing is piled, burned or hauled off your place.
- Priced from photographs, usually same day
- An acre here took a single machine day
- From $3,000 a machine day
What we clear in Hastings
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.
Old row crop ground that has gone back to scrub, brought back to a surface a mower or a tractor can follow.
Wax myrtle, briar and willow taken out from along the ditch lines and field edges.
A clean line along a boundary or a ditch bank, cut without disturbing what is either side of it.
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.
You mark the live oaks that stay and we cut round them. On old farm ground the yard trees are usually older than the house.
A lane in from the road, or a line cut so a truck can reach the back of the place.
Who calls us in western St. Johns County
Row crop land that has been out of production long enough for scrub and willow to take it. It is most of what this ground is.
The drainage here is made rather than natural, and the ditch banks close in fast once nobody is cutting them.
Clearing the envelope, the drive and the pad before the builder mobilises, so the site is ready rather than a delay.
Old field gone to scrub. A mulcher leaves a chip layer and a surface rather than a field of cut stems.
Ground out here works faster than the same acreage nearer the water, and the day count reflects that. It is worth knowing which side of the county you are on.
A parcel nobody can walk is a parcel nobody buys. A day with a mulcher changes what a buyer is looking at.
How the work runs
Four steps, and the first two happen before anything leaves our yard.
Pictures with something in frame for scale, the acreage, and a note on what you want left standing. Photograph the ditch lines, because that is where the heavy growth usually is.
Usually the same day. It is a day count against a published rate, not a guess dressed up as a quote.
The mulching head cuts, grinds and spreads as it goes. No separate clear, pile and haul stage, which is where most of the cost and all of the mess normally sits.
Not bare ground and not a field of cut stems. On ground going back into use that layer is a head start rather than something to clean up.
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. An acre out here took a single machine day. The same acreage on the coastal side of this county took two, which is the most useful thing we can tell you about pricing in St. Johns.
Stems to 8 inches. Transport included. The machine for a field or a small parcel
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 Hastings
One finished job, an acre, a single machine day, Feb 2024.
| Feb 2024 | One acre, 1 machine day, machine not recorded on the scope |
| Nov 2023, on the coast side | One acre, 2 machine days, on hammock ground |
| The county total | Two jobs, 3 machine days, both an acre |
Two acres between them and one took twice as long as the other, in the same county and within four months. Flat open farm ground lets a machine run; dense coastal hammock does not. If you are getting quotes for a St. Johns parcel, the first thing worth establishing is which of those two your ground actually is. The scope on our Hastings job does not record the machine, so we are not going to tell you which went.
The ground on a western St. Johns County field
| What grows here | Wax myrtle, willow and briar along the ditch lines and field edges, live oak round the old home places, and slash pine on the slightly higher ground between the fields |
| What that means for a machine | Open field is fast going and a machine covers a great deal of it in a day. The ditch banks are the slow part and they are usually a small share of the acreage |
| Water | Flat, low lying and drained by a made system of ditches and canals rather than by nature. After a wet week the low ground between them is what slows a machine down |
| Access | County roads and farm tracks with room to turn on most places. A firm approach matters more here after rain than gate width does |
The day count for the same acre on the coast side of this county. Flat farm ground lets a machine run. Which side of St. Johns you are on is worth more than the acreage.
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 St. Johns County parcel
St. Johns County rules apply on this ground, which sits in the unincorporated county, and land in genuine agricultural use is treated differently from a homesite.
What is protected depends on the species and the size of the trunk, and whether the parcel is a single family homesite, farm ground or land being developed. On working farm ground the agricultural questions come up more often than the tree by tree ones do.
Tell us what you want gone and what you want kept when you send photographs. If the parcel is in agricultural use, or if any of it runs towards a canal, say so early.
We are a clearing contractor, not the permit office, and we do not file applications. Confirm your own parcel and your own trees with St. Johns County or the water management district before you commit.
Hastings questions
How much does it cost to clear land in Hastings?
From $3,000 a machine day. Our job here was an acre and a single day. Send photographs and the acreage and we will give you a day count rather than a range.
Why is this cheaper than the same acre nearer the coast?
Because it is faster. Open farm ground lets a machine run in long passes. Coastal hammock is dense and low and worked in short bites, and our records for this county show the same acre taking twice as long there.
Can you clear old field back to workable ground?
Yes, and it is most of what we do out here. The head grinds the scrub off and spreads it as chip, so you get a surface and a mulch layer rather than a field of stobs.
Will you cut the ditch banks?
Yes, and they are usually the slowest part of the job. Photograph them when you send pictures, because they tell us more about the day count than the open field does.
What happens to everything you cut?
It stays on the ground as mulch, spread as the machine goes. Nothing piled, nothing burned.
Do I need a permit?
It depends on the species and size of what is standing and whether the land counts as agricultural. This ground sits in the unincorporated county, so the county is who to ask. Confirm with them rather than taking a contractor word for it, ours included.
Are you licensed and insured?
Insured, and we send the certificate before the machine moves. Florida does not issue a contractor licence for forestry mulching, so nobody holds one. Insurance is the document worth asking every contractor to produce.
Get a price on your Hastings lot
Send a few photographs, the acreage and a note on what you want left standing. Get the ditch lines in shot, because that is where the day count actually gets decided out here.
Call or text 813-733-6607