Land Clearing in Ruskin, Florida
Forestry mulching, underbrushing and lot clearing in Ruskin and south Hillsborough County. Four acres here went down in a single machine day, which is the most ground our smallest machine has covered in one day anywhere on the record.
- Four acres cleared in a single machine day
- The fastest day our skid steer mulcher has had
- From $3,000 a machine day
What we clear in Ruskin
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.
Palmetto and briar taken from under pine or oak you are keeping. On open Ruskin ground this is most of what the head is cutting.
Anything from a platted lot up to the four acre block we did here, cleared where it stands.
You mark what stays and the machine works round it. On four acres that list is worth writing down before the day rather than shouting on it.
Where the roots have to come out of the ground instead of being ground off at the surface. The 30 inch excavator, at its own rate.
Pad, drive and envelope taken down first so the builder is not waiting on us.
Ground that was farmed, went out of use and grew back in. It is the quickest work we get and Ruskin is full of it.
A boundary you can run wire along, cut to the width you ask for and no wider.
Who calls us in Ruskin and south Hillsborough
Old field that stood a few seasons rather than a few decades. This is the ground that produced the four acre day and it is the commonest thing we are asked for here.
The flat ground south of the river was farmed and much of it still is. The parcel behind the working part is usually the one that has closed in.
Envelope, drive and pad taken down to workable ground before the builder mobilises.
Ground nobody can walk is ground nobody prices properly. A day opens up enough of it to measure and to photograph.
An acreage rate assumes every acre is the same. Four acres of old field and four acres of closed hardwood are not the same job and should not carry the same number.
Sometimes that is possible and here it was. Whether it is possible on yours is a question about what is standing, and photographs answer it faster than a site visit.
How the work runs
Four steps. On open ground the day count question is settled almost entirely by step one.
On four acres the frontage tells us very little. What we want is the part you would have to walk to, because that is the part that decides the day.
Usually the same day you send them. On ground like this we will tell you if we think it is one day rather than two, and we would rather say it up front than discover it on site.
The head cuts, grinds and spreads as it goes. On four acres that is the difference between a day and a fortnight, because nothing has to be stacked, burnt or trucked off.
Chip spread where the growth stood. On old field ground it knits the surface together through the first wet season instead of leaving you bare sand.
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. Ruskin was one of them. What we work out from your photographs is how many yours needs.
Stems to 8 inches. Transport included. The machine recorded on the four acres here
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 Ruskin
One job, and it is the fastest four acres on our record.
| Apr 2024 | 4 acres, 1 machine day, skid steer mulcher |
| Rate that works out to | Four acres in a day, against a median across the record of about one |
| Jobs that beat it | One, five acres in a day on the biggest machine we own |
| Across Hillsborough County | This is the only finished job on our county record |
We are based in this county and have one finished job in it, which reads oddly and is true. Most of our work travels. We would rather print the single row than imply a local record we cannot show you.
What south Hillsborough ground does to a day count
| Old field and row ground | The fastest going we get anywhere. Open, level and free of anything with a trunk on it, which is how four acres fitted into a day. |
| Coastal flats | Low, level and soft at the edges. Fine in the dry months and worth a photograph in the wet ones. |
| Brazilian pepper | Dense, woody and it comes back from anything left in the ground. It slows a machine more than its size suggests. |
| Cabbage palm | Fibrous rather than woody. It does not cut like timber and it is worth telling us it is there. |
| Mangrove and shoreline edges | Protected, and not ours to touch. Where a parcel runs down to water we stop short and say so. |
| Ground that has stood ten years | The single biggest multiplier on a day count, and the difference between the four acre day here and a fortnight somewhere else. |
Acres cleared at Ruskin in a single machine day, April 2024. It is the most ground the smallest machine we own has covered in one day anywhere on the record, and it happened because the ground was open field rather than because we hurried.
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 WilsonPermits in Hillsborough County are yours
Every county and city in Florida writes its own tree rules and they are not the same. What is protected depends on the species, the size of the trunk and how your parcel is classified.
Land in genuine agricultural use is usually treated very differently from a residential parcel, and a great deal of the ground around Ruskin is one or the other. Which category yours sits in changes both the answer and which office gives it to you.
Where a parcel runs down to the bay or to a creek there are shoreline and wetland rules on top of the tree rules, and those are not the same office either. If your ground has water on it, establish that before anything is booked.
We are a clearing contractor, not the permit office, and we do not file applications. Confirm your own parcel and your own trees with Hillsborough County or your city before you commit.
Ruskin questions
How much does it cost to clear four acres near Ruskin?
Ours was one machine day, so from $3,000. That is not a promise about yours. Four acres of old field and four acres of closed growth are different jobs, and photographs are how we tell which one you have.
Can you really do four acres in a day?
We did here, once, on open ground that had not stood long. Across the whole record the median is nearer an acre a day, so treat four as the ceiling rather than the expectation.
What made it that fast?
Nothing with a trunk on it. The head was cutting understorey and old field growth the whole way rather than working round timber, and the parcel was level and open at the gate.
Do the roots come out?
Only if you ask for grubbing, which is the excavator rather than the mulcher and a different rate. Mulching leaves the plate in the ground and grinds off everything above it.
Do you work anywhere else in Hillsborough County?
We will, and we are straight about the fact that this is the only finished job we have in the county to show you. Everything else on the site is somewhere our machines have travelled to.
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.
Around Ruskin
Get a price on your Ruskin lot
Send photographs from the gate and from the far corner, plus the acreage. You will get a day count against a published rate, usually the same day.
Call or text 813-733-6607