Land Clearing in Lake Placid, Florida
Forestry mulching, underbrushing and lot clearing across Lake Placid and Highlands County. One machine cuts, grinds and spreads in a single pass, so nothing is piled, burned or trucked off your street.
- Priced from photographs, usually same day
- Five jobs here, five machine days, no exceptions
- From $3,000 a machine day
What we clear in Lake Placid
Eight things we are actually asked for on Highlands County 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.
A ridge lot that has filled in with scrub oak and palmetto, back to usable ground in a day and left as mulch.
Palmetto and scrub taken out from under sand pine and turkey oak you are keeping.
You mark what stays and we cut round it. On ridge ground the older oaks are usually worth keeping for the shade alone.
Citrus blocks out of production and reverting to scrub. Steady work through this county.
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.
Access rides through a wooded parcel, and a cut line between your buildings and the scrub.
Who calls us in Highlands County
A lot bought years ago on sand ridge ground that has gone to scrub oak and palmetto. The most common call we take here.
Ground that grew back over a summer you were not here for, put straight in a single visit.
Citrus blocks that have come out of production and need turning back into something that can be replanted or sold.
Clearing the envelope, the drive and the pad before the builder mobilises, so the site is ready rather than a delay.
A parcel nobody can see across is a parcel nobody buys. A day with a mulcher shows the buyer what they are actually looking at.
Ground running down towards the water where the understory has closed the view and the good trees are worth keeping.
How the work runs
Four steps, and the first two happen before anything leaves our yard.
Pictures with something in frame for scale, the lot size, and a note on what you want left standing. Ridge ground photographs well and prices easily.
Usually the same day. It is a day count against a published rate, not a guess dressed up as a quote. On this county the honest answer has been one day, five times out of five.
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 sand and not a field of cut stems. On deep dry sand that chip layer is the only thing holding moisture at the surface.
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. Highlands has been the most predictable county on our books: five jobs, five machine days, and the largest of them was two acres.
Stems to 8 inches. Transport included. The machine recorded on three of our Lake Placid jobs
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 Lake Placid
Five finished jobs and five machine days, from April 2024 to March 2026. One job, one day, every time.
| Apr 2024 | A quarter acre, 1 machine day |
| Oct 2024 | Half an acre, 1 machine day |
| Feb 2025 | Two acres, 1 machine day. The largest here and still a single day |
| Jul 2025 and Mar 2026 | A quarter acre each, 1 machine day each |
Every Lake Placid job we have finished took exactly one machine day, including the two acre parcel. That is the most consistent record we have anywhere in Florida, and it is down to the ground rather than to us. Three of the five recorded a machine and all three ran with the skid steer mulcher. Across Highlands County we have finished six jobs in six machine days.
The ground on a Lake Placid lot
| What grows here | Sand pine, turkey oak and rosemary scrub on the ridge, longleaf and wiregrass on the sandhill, saw palmetto through most of it, and old citrus reverting where a block has been let go. Dry, open, and nothing like the flatwoods further south |
| What that means for a machine | This is fast ground. Scrub is woody but sparse, sand carries a tracked machine easily, and there is very little standing water to work round. It is why every job here has been a single day |
| Water | The Lake Wales Ridge drains hard and dry. Wet season matters less here than almost anywhere we work, so booking is about our diary rather than the weather |
| Access | Platted lots on the ridge with street frontage and firm sand approaches. Deep soft sand at an entrance is the one thing that occasionally slows a machine getting on |
Lake Placid jobs finished inside a single machine day, the two acre parcel included. Dry ridge sand is the fastest ground we work anywhere in the state.
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 Highlands County lot
Highlands County and the Town of Lake Placid both have a say depending on where your lot sits. Worth a look before you decide what comes down.
What is protected depends on the species and the size of the trunk, and whether the parcel is a single family homesite or land being developed. The Lake Wales Ridge also carries some of the rarest scrub habitat in Florida, and parcels next to conservation land can have conditions attached that a neighbouring lot does not.
Tell us what you want gone and what you want kept when you send photographs. If your lot backs onto preserve or conservation ground, say so, because that is the case most worth checking before anyone books a machine.
We are a clearing contractor, not the permit office, and we do not file applications. Confirm your own parcel and your own trees with Highlands County or the Town of Lake Placid before you commit.
Lake Placid questions
How much does it cost to clear a lot in Lake Placid?
From $3,000 a machine day, and here that has meant $3,000 a job every time. All five Lake Placid jobs were a single machine day, so one day is a realistic assumption rather than an optimistic one. Send photographs and we will confirm.
How long does it take?
One machine day, five times out of five, including a two acre parcel. Highlands ridge ground is dry, open and fast. If we ever think yours needs two we will say so before you book, not at the end of day one.
Does the wet season slow you down here?
Less than almost anywhere else in Florida. The Lake Wales Ridge is deep sand and drains hard, so there is very little standing water to work round. Booking here is about our diary rather than the forecast.
Can you clear an old citrus block?
Yes, and it is regular work in this county. The rows give the machine a line to work along, and the chip layer left behind holds the surface while you decide what to do with the ground.
What happens to everything you cut?
It stays on the ground as mulch, spread as the machine goes. Nothing piled, nothing burned. On dry ridge sand that layer is doing real work holding moisture in at the surface.
My lot backs onto conservation land. Is that a problem?
Not automatically, but it is the one case here genuinely worth checking first. The ridge carries rare scrub habitat and parcels next to preserve ground sometimes have conditions a neighbouring lot does not. Tell us when you send photographs.
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 Lake Placid lot
Send a few photographs, the lot size and a note on what you want left standing. On ridge ground we can usually tell you it is a one day job the same afternoon.
Call or text 813-733-6607