Land Clearing in Zellwood, Florida
Forestry mulching, underbrushing, grubbing and lot clearing across Zellwood and the north west corner of Orange County. One machine cuts, grinds and spreads in a single pass, and where the roots have to come out we bring the excavator instead.
- Priced from photographs, usually same day
- Two one acre jobs here, two different machines
- From $3,000 a machine day
What we clear in Zellwood
Eight things we are actually asked for on this corner of Orange County. 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.
Where the roots have to come out rather than the top growth being ground off. Our 30 inch excavator mulcher.
Old growing ground and small parcels that have gone back to scrub, brought back to a surface you can work.
Briar, elderberry and privet taken out from under the oaks and pines you are keeping.
You mark what stays and we cut round it. On the ridge ground the old oaks are usually why the parcel looks the way it does.
Building envelope, drive and pad taken down to workable ground before your builder arrives.
A line you can run wire along or walk, cut without disturbing what is either side of it.
A lane in from the road, or a cut line so a truck can reach the back of the place.
Who calls us in this corner of Orange County
Ground going back into production or under a building needs more than the top growth ground off. That is the excavator, and it is a different machine and rate.
Parcels that were farmed for a long time and have gone back to scrub. What you intend to do with the ground next is what decides the machine.
Clearing the envelope, the drive and the pad before the builder mobilises, so the site is ready rather than a delay.
Sandhill and oak on the higher ground north of the muck, which behaves nothing like the flat ground below it.
An overgrown parcel generates letters. A machine day is usually 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 acreage, and a note on what the ground has to do afterwards. That last part decides the machine.
Usually the same day. It is a day count against a published rate, and it names the machine, because the machine is most of the difference.
For mulching work the head cuts, grinds and spreads as it goes. Where the roots have to come out the excavator works differently and slower, and the rate says so.
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. Zellwood is the cleanest illustration on this whole site: two jobs, both one acre, both one day, both in May 2026, and two different machines at two different rates.
Stems to 8 inches. Transport included. The machine recorded on one of our two 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 Zellwood
Two finished jobs, an acre each, a machine day each, both in May 2026, on two different machines.
| May 2026 | One acre, 1 machine day, with the excavator mulcher |
| May 2026 | One acre, 1 machine day, with the skid steer mulcher |
| Elsewhere in the county | Eight more jobs, 9.5 machine days, from a tenth of an acre up to two and a half |
Same town, same month, same acreage, same day count, and two different bills. One parcel needed the roots out, which is the excavator mulcher at $3,500 plus transport. The other needed the top growth ground off, which is the skid steer at $3,000 with transport included. Nothing about the acreage would have told you which was which. The photographs did. Across Orange County we have finished ten jobs in 11.5 machine days.
The ground on this corner of Orange County
| What grows here | Live oak, laurel oak and longleaf on the sand ridge to the north, willow, elderberry and primrose willow on the flat old growing ground below it, and briar and privet through everything left standing |
| What that means for a machine | Ridge ground is quick and firm. The old growing ground is soft, holds moisture and grows back fast, and it is the ground most likely to need the roots out rather than the tops off |
| Water | The low flat ground here was drained and farmed for decades and it still behaves like it. It stays soft well after the rain stops, and a wet fortnight is worth a phone call |
| Access | Highway frontage on part of it and farm tracks on the rest. Whether the approach carries a low loader is worth a photograph, particularly on the low ground |
Plus transport, for the acre here that needed the roots out. The acre next to it, the same month, ran at $3,000 with transport included. Same size, different job, different machine.
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 an Orange County parcel
Orange County rules apply in the unincorporated county, which is where Zellwood sits, 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, agricultural land or land being developed. Specimen trees attract attention here, and old growing ground brings the agricultural questions into it as well.
Tell us what you want gone and what you want kept when you send photographs. If the parcel is in agricultural use, or if you are grubbing ahead of a build, say so early, because that changes which office you should be asking.
We are a clearing contractor, not the permit office, and we do not file applications. Confirm your own parcel and your own trees with Orange County before you commit.
Zellwood questions
How much does it cost to clear land in Zellwood?
From $3,000 a machine day on the skid steer with transport included, or from $3,500 plus transport on the excavator mulcher. Both of our jobs here were an acre and a day, and they went out on different machines. Which one you need comes out of the photographs.
What is the difference between mulching and grubbing?
Mulching grinds the standing growth off and leaves the roots in the ground. Grubbing takes the roots out. If the ground has to carry a building or go back into production, or you are dealing with something that regrows from the root, you want grubbing and that is the excavator.
Why did two identical acres cost different amounts?
Because one needed the roots out and the other did not. That is the whole answer, and it is why we ask what the ground has to do after we leave rather than just how big it is.
Can you clear old growing ground?
Yes, and it is common work here. Whether it needs the mulcher or the excavator depends on what has come up since it was last worked and what you intend to do with it next.
What happens to everything you cut?
Mulched material stays on the ground as chip, spread as the machine goes. Grubbed material is a different conversation and we will tell you what we propose to do with it before you agree to anything.
Do I need a permit?
It depends on the species and size of what is standing and whether the land counts as agricultural. Zellwood 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 Zellwood lot
Send a few photographs, the acreage and a note on what the ground has to do afterwards. Whether it takes a building, a crop or nothing at all is what decides between the mulcher and the excavator, and that is most of the price.
Call or text 813-733-6607