Home Lot & land clearing
Lot and land clearing in Rutherford County, TN
Homesite prep, view clearing, clearing around a barn or shop pad, and overgrown acreage brought back. Priced by the acre, in writing, with a free walk-through.
Estimate from your phone with a few photos. Final price after a free walk-through.
From overgrown lot to ground you can build on, walk or mow
You bought land and can't tell where the good building spot is. The builder needs the lot opened up. The back of the property went to cedar and briar while you were busy. That's what land clearing is for.
We clear with one tracked loader and the attachment that fits the finish you want: a drum mulcher for homesites and anything you'll look at every day, a disc mulcher for view clearing or ground the builder is going to scrape anyway.
Because mulching leaves the root mat in place, there's no burn pile, no dumpster and usually no grading permit. When the job needs dirt work too, the same machine runs a grading blade, bucket and rake, and we bring a dump trailer.
Common clearing jobs
- Homesite prep before the builder shows up
- Clearing around a barn, shop pad or pool site
- View clearing
- Fence lines, trails and shooting lanes
- Driveway and utility easements, ditch lines and pond banks
- Privet, honeysuckle and autumn olive taken to the ground
Rutherford County lots we've cleared
Dirt work on the same trip
Gravel driveways
Fresh gravel on a rutted drive, widening a farm entrance, or a new gravel lane across ground we just cleared.
Rough grading
Level a pad for a barn, shop, or pool; knock down stump humps and ruts; shape a site so water runs away from the building.
Haul-off and topsoil
Old brush piles, fence wire, and junk hauled away; topsoil brought in and spread with the rake for a seed-ready finish.
Small enough to add to a clearing job, priced on site during the walk-through.
What land clearing costs per acre in Rutherford County
| What's growing | Knock downbrush hog | Fast cleardisc mulcher | Clean finishdrum mulcher |
|---|---|---|---|
| LightGrass gone to weeds, briars, saplings under 2 inches | $450 | $1,000 | $1,200 |
| MediumBrush, privet, cedar and stems up to 4 inches. Most Rutherford County jobs. | — | $1,500 | $1,800 |
| HeavyDense thicket, stems to 8 inches, storm debris, cedar glades untouched for 15+ years | — | $2,100 | $2,500 |
| Mature timberTrees over 8 inches | — | Free walk-through. Usually a mix of mulching and tree work; priced on site. | |
Per acre. Minimum job $1,500 for mulching, $600 for brush hog only. Tight access, steep or rocky ground, and jobs under an acre add 10–25%. Every estimate shows the math. Full pricing table.
Before you call
Do I need a permit to clear my land?
Rutherford County requires a land disturbance permit for clearing, grading or excavation over one acre, and the state requires coverage above the same threshold. Forestry mulching leaves the root mat and soil in place, which is not grading, and agricultural work is exempt. We'll confirm what applies to your parcel before we start and tell you if you need to call Planning and Engineering.
What happens to the stumps?
The mulcher grinds them flush with or slightly below the ground and leaves the roots. That's what keeps the soil from washing. If you need stumps pulled for a foundation or a septic field, that's excavation work, and we'll say so up front.
Can you leave the big trees?
Yes. That's the point of mulching over bulldozing. Flag the ones you want kept, or walk it with us, and we clear around them.
Can you work steep or rough ground?
Tracked machine, so rolling ground, rocky glades, and moderate slopes are normal work. Genuinely steep banks and soft creek bottoms are a judgment call we make on the walk-through, and they add to the price because they slow us down.
Do you haul anything away?
Not on a mulching job; that's the point. Everything is ground where it stood and left as a mulch layer that breaks down over a season or two. If there's an old fence, a trash pile, or a fallen barn in the way, we bring the dump trailer and price the haul-off separately.
How accurate is the online estimate?
It's a range from your photos and the area you mark, and on most jobs the final price lands inside it. The walk-through is free and is where we give you the firm number.
Get a number today
Run the estimate from your phone, or call and text photos to (615) 439-5260. Monday to Saturday, 7am to 6pm; estimates by text any time.