Land Clearing in Palatka, Florida
Forestry mulching, underbrushing and lot clearing across Palatka and the St Johns River side of Putnam 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
- Our most recent Putnam job was May 2026
- From $3,000 a machine day
What we clear in Palatka
Eight things we are actually asked for on Putnam 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 lot that has closed in, whether it is on a street in town or running down towards the water, back to ground you can walk.
Palmetto, briar and privet taken out from under the oaks and hickory you are keeping.
You mark what stays and we cut round it. On river bluff ground the old hardwoods are the whole reason the parcel is worth what it is.
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 in from the road, a ride through a block, or a cut line between your buildings and the timber.
A line you can run wire along or walk, cut without disturbing what is either side.
Who calls us in Putnam County
Palatka has plenty of lots that have sat since the mills were busy. One machine day usually opens them right up.
Ground running down towards the St Johns where the understory has closed the view and the hardwoods are worth keeping.
Clearing the envelope, the drive and the pad before the builder mobilises, so the site is ready rather than a delay.
Overgrowth on a vacant lot generates letters. A machine day is normally the whole answer.
Ground between rotations, or a block where the understory has closed in since the last thin.
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 lot size, and a note on what you want left standing. If the ground slopes towards water, show us that.
Usually the same day. It is a day count against a published rate, not a guess dressed up as a quote. Putnam has run at about a day a job for us.
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 sloping river ground that layer is what stops the surface moving in the wet months.
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. Palatka has stayed close to a day a job, and the one time we sent the dearest machine it was for a quarter acre, because of what was standing on it rather than how much of it there was.
Stems to 8 inches. Transport included. The machine for a town lot 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 Palatka
Three finished jobs and three and a half machine days, from May 2024 to May 2026. Small record, and the spread inside it is the interesting part.
| May 2024 | A quarter acre, 1 machine day, with the dedicated mulcher |
| Oct 2024 | One acre, 1 machine day, with the skid steer mulcher |
| May 2026 | An acre and a half, 1.5 machine days, with the skid steer mulcher |
| Elsewhere in the county | Six more jobs, mostly at Interlachen, 5.5 machine days |
The May 2024 job is the one worth pointing at. A quarter acre needed the dedicated mulcher, our dearest machine, while an acre four times the size ran on the skid steer for less. What is standing decides the machine and the machine decides the rate. Across Putnam County we have finished nine jobs in nine machine days.
The ground on a Putnam County parcel
| What grows here | Live oak, laurel oak and hickory on the hammock and the river bluff, longleaf and turkey oak on the sandhill west of town, and privet, briar and camphor filling anything left standing near a street |
| What that means for a machine | Sandhill is quick. Old hammock that has closed in over decades is genuinely slow, and it is why a small parcel here occasionally needs the biggest machine we run |
| Water | The St Johns and its creeks cut through the county and the low ground holds water into the spring. Tracked machines cope but slow, and sloping ground near water is worth flagging when you send photographs |
| Access | Town streets with kerbs on one side of the county and sand tracks on the other. A photograph looking in from the road settles which one you have |
Needed our dearest machine in Palatka, while an acre four times the size ran on the cheapest. Size does not set the price here. What is standing does.
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 Putnam County parcel
Putnam County and the City of Palatka each have a say depending on where your parcel sits, and ground near the river may involve the water management district as well.
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. Mature live oaks tend to attract more attention than understory growth. Silvicultural work under an approved forestry practice is handled differently again.
Tell us what you want gone and what you want kept when you send photographs. If the parcel runs down to the river or a creek, mention it, because that is the case most worth confirming 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 Putnam County, the City of Palatka or the water management district before you commit.
Palatka questions
How much does it cost to clear a lot in Palatka?
From $3,000 a machine day. Two of our three Palatka jobs were a single day and the third was a day and a half. Send photographs and we will give you a day count and tell you which machine we would bring.
Why would a quarter acre cost more than an acre?
Because of the machine it needs. Our quarter acre job here took the dedicated mulcher at the top of our rate card, while a full acre nearby ran on the skid steer with transport included. Heavy standing timber, not acreage, is what moves you up the list.
How long does it take?
A day, or a day and a half on the larger parcel. Nothing in Palatka has run to two days yet. Thick old hammock and wet ground near the river are what would push it.
Can you clear down towards the river?
Up to a point, and it is worth settling first. Ground near the water grows differently, works slower, and depending how close you are the water management district may have a say as well as the county.
What happens to everything you cut?
It stays on the ground as mulch, spread as the machine goes. Nothing piled, nothing burned. On sloping river ground that layer holds the surface where it is.
Do I need a permit?
It depends on the species and size of what is standing, whether you are inside the City of Palatka, and how close the work is to water. Confirm with the right office 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 Palatka lot
Send a few photographs, the lot size and a note on what you want left standing. Show us the thickest part, because on this ground that is what decides which machine comes and what it costs.
Call or text 813-733-6607