Land clearing and large-scale wood grinding
Lot and parcel clearing, with large-scale wood grinding and haul-off.
Clearing a lot is a volume problem as much as a cutting problem. The trees come down quickly; what takes the time is turning several hundred tons of stems, brush and stumps into something that can leave the site.
We run our own grinding and chipping equipment, so material is processed where it falls rather than being hauled whole. That means fewer truck movements, a lower disposal cost, and usable mulch instead of landfill.
Not every parcel wants the same thing. Some are cleared outright for building. Some are thinned, so the trees worth keeping get the room and the light. Some are harvested, with the logs going to a mill. And some are being put back — native trees replanted, habitat restored after a fire or years of neglect. The equipment is much the same; what changes is what is left standing.
Work is staged around access, and around whatever is staying — retained trees, boundaries, watercourses and anything under a protection order.
What land clearing includes
- Clearing of lots, parcels and rights of way
- Large-scale wood grinding and chipping on site
- Stump and root-plate removal where the ground is being worked
- Thinning to favor the trees worth keeping, and to manage what grows back
- Harvesting, with logs hauled to a mill
- Restoration planting back to native trees and habitat
- Haul-off of logs, chip and brush
- Protection of retained trees and boundaries during the work
Land clearing: common questions
- Can you work around trees that have to stay?
- Yes, and it is worth identifying them before anything starts. Retained trees are damaged more often by machinery traffic over their root zones than by anything done to the canopy, so protection is about where equipment goes, not just where it cuts.
- Do you process material on site?
- Where there is room, yes. Grinding and chipping on site cuts truck movements substantially and turns the material into mulch rather than disposal. Where access is too tight, material is hauled out and processed at our yard.
- Is clearing regulated?
- Often. Depending on the parcel there may be protected species, protected trees, watercourse setbacks or permit conditions in play. That gets established before work starts, and we can prepare an arborist report where the permit needs one.
Which trees need a permit in 22 Bay Area cities and counties, and where to apply.
Related services
- Fire prevention & fuels reduction
Defensible-space and fuels-reduction clearing on residential and commercial parcels.
- Hauling & disposal
Log, chip and brush hauling, with green-waste recycling.
- Stump removal
Grinding and mechanical stump removal, including downsizing and splitting on site.
- Mulch manufacturing
Mulch manufacturing, screening and coloring from processed material.
Our sister companies
Two companies behind the work: one turns what we cut into mulch, the other keeps our trucks and equipment running.
Produces our mulch
EcoMulch
Makes mulch from local tree work, ours included, and sells it with soil, compost and rock, for pickup in Martinez or delivery to your driveway.
Visit ecomulch.org (opens in a new tab)Maintains and repairs our fleet
Rex Mechanical
Heavy equipment repair, welding, hydraulics and fabrication, in its shop in Concord or on site across Northern California.
Visit rex-mechanical.com (opens in a new tab)
Talk to someone about your land clearing
Estimates are free. Tell us what you’re looking at and we’ll come and have a look.