Land Clearing in St James City, Florida
Forestry mulching, underbrushing and lot clearing across St James City and the south end of Pine Island. One machine cuts, grinds and spreads in a single pass, so nothing is piled, burned or barged off the island.
- Priced from photographs, usually same day
- Two lots cleared here in the same month
- From $3,000 a machine day
What we clear in St James City
Eight things we are actually asked for on Pine Island 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 back to ground you can walk, done in place because getting material off the island is the expensive part of any other method.
The invasive that takes any island lot nobody is watching. It regrows from what is left in the ground, so how much comes out matters as much as how much comes off.
You mark the cabbage palms and the mangrove edge and we cut round them. On this island what stays matters as much as what goes.
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 on a lot that has closed in enough that you cannot get onto your own ground.
A line you can walk or run wire along, cut without disturbing what is either side of it.
Who calls us in Pine Island
Lots held for years while the plan waited. They close in fast here and there is nowhere to put what comes off.
Clearing the envelope, the drive and the pad before the builder mobilises. Getting a machine onto the island is the part worth planning around.
Brazilian pepper is the most common reason anyone here calls us, and it does not stop at your line.
Everything crosses one bridge to get here. Once the machine is on the island the transport is already paid, and that matters more here than anywhere else we work.
An overgrown lot generates letters. A machine day is normally the whole answer.
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 one shot of the road in. Access to the lot and access to the island are two separate questions and we need both.
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. On an island that is decisive: nothing has to be hauled back across the bridge.
Not bare sand and not a field of cut stems. On low island ground that layer keeps the surface workable rather than soft.
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 this island the thing worth planning is transport, because a machine that is already here costs nothing extra to move to the lot next door.
Stems to 8 inches. Transport included. The machine we bring across for an island lot
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 St James City
Two finished jobs in the same month, a machine day each, Mar 2026, both on the skid steer mulcher.
| Mar 2026 | A quarter acre, 1 machine day, with the skid steer mulcher |
| Mar 2026 | Half an acre, 1 machine day, with the skid steer mulcher |
| Across the county | Nine jobs, 9 machine days. Every single one has been one day |
Nine jobs across this county and every one of them finished inside a single machine day. That is unusual and it says something real about the ground here: parcels are small, growth is dense but shallow rooted, and a machine gets through it. Both of these lots were done on the same trip across the bridge, which is the way to buy a day on an island.
The ground on a Pine Island lot
| What grows here | Cabbage palm and slash pine on the higher ground, buttonwood and mangrove along the water, and Brazilian pepper filling everything in between that has been left alone |
| What that means for a machine | Pepper is the whole job on most lots here. It forks low and grows dense, so a machine works in short bites, but it is shallow rooted and it comes off cleanly in a pass |
| Water | Low, flat and close to sea level, with tidal ground at the edges. What the tide does matters at the margins of a lot and a photograph of the low corner is worth having |
| Access | One bridge onto the island and narrow roads once you are here. Turning room for a low loader is the constraint worth checking before anything is booked |
Every job we have finished in this county has taken a single machine day. Small parcels and shallow rooted growth. The variable here is transport, not time.
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 Pine Island lot
Lee County rules apply, and ground anywhere near the water brings mangrove and coastal protections into it that are separate from and stricter than the tree rules.
What is protected depends on the species and the size of the trunk, and whether the lot is a single family homesite or land being developed. Mangrove is protected under its own rules and is not something we touch. Removing Brazilian pepper is usually treated very differently from removing a native tree, but confirm that for your own lot rather than assuming it.
Tell us what you want gone and what you want kept when you send photographs. If any part of the lot runs down to the water, mention it first, because that is the question that decides whether the job is straightforward or not.
We are a clearing contractor, not the permit office, and we do not file applications. Confirm your own parcel and your own trees with Lee County or the relevant coastal authority before you commit.
St James City questions
How much does it cost to clear a lot in St James City?
From $3,000 a machine day. Both of our lots here were single days. Send photographs, including the road in, and we will confirm a day count.
Does it cost more because it is an island?
Transport is the part that changes, not the machine day. The way round it is to book with a neighbour or clear two adjoining lots on the same trip, because once the machine is across the bridge it is already here.
Can you clear near the mangroves?
Up to the line and no further. Mangrove has its own protections and we do not touch it. Where exactly that line falls on your lot is worth settling in writing before anyone books a machine.
Can you get rid of Brazilian pepper?
We can take it off the ground in a single pass, which is what most people here want. If you want it gone rather than knocked back, the roots have to come out, and that is excavator work at a different machine and rate.
What happens to everything you cut?
It stays on the ground as mulch, spread as the machine goes. Nothing piled, nothing burned, and nothing hauled back across the bridge, which on an island is most of the argument.
Do I need a permit?
Quite possibly, and more likely here than inland because of the coastal rules. It depends on the species and size of what is standing 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.
Around St James City
Get a price on your St James City lot
Send a few photographs, the lot size and a shot of the road in. If a neighbour wants their lot done too, tell us, because sharing the trip across the bridge is the cheapest thing you can do here.
Call or text 813-733-6607