Cost to cut roads/trails and food plots on raw land?

We had some dozer work done last year that involved pushing over a couple dozen cedars and grading about two miles of roads. Without dirt hauled in to fill low spots, it was about $3K, but he was in the area for other work so we saved on his hauling costs. An estimate a couple grand higher than that wouldn’t have shocked me and we payed it gladly considering the cost of diesel. If you need to haul in dirt the price will go up in a hurry.

If you don’t really care where exactly the trails go and/or don’t absolutely need a dozer you might consider someone who runs a mulcher. It’s a popular redneck startup these days so usually a couple looking for work who are willing to burn up their skid steer knocking down trees and brush.

Forestry mulching is about $2200/day … they can get a whole lot of road/food plot done in a day

If it's thick, woody brush that needs the trails and roads cut through it, unless you're running an 80hp+ tractor down said roads, get a mulcher.

I do this stuff every day, worst case scenario (promise low, deliver high), count on ¼/acre hour. Not only will it help to map out proposed road routes, it will expedite things for YOU, which brings down costs, PLUS you can get an idea of the acreage needing clearing. It's not an exact science when it comes to clearing woodsroads like it is with mulching defined areas, but length x width ÷ 43,560 ÷ 0.25 will give you a roundabout acreage/hour estimate in the wooliest of terrain. Any competent operator will be able to receive and send those routes to his phone/ device in the machine.

Any high-flow machine will be able to push over larger'ish trees with little effort if the operator knows what he's doing.

I've found that our mulcher creates far more sustainable trails with little maintenance, and it does it faster in understory conditions than the dozer/hoe, because the canopy helps to minimize horizontal growth while also allowing leaf/pine litter to rejuvenate problematic/spongy areas. Obviously the smaller machine being able to maneuver in the underatory expedites things.

As far as the wet conditions go, that'll be up to the operator to determine its feasibility. Of course, if you need crowned up, elevated road beds for ingress and egress of large machinery, then all of the above is null and void. At that point you're looking at $100k+ per 1 to 1 ½ miles to put in a graveled, crowned, maintainable road with culverts and all the fixins'. Map it out and estimate accordingly. But if it's just woods roads with maneuverable vehicles and small amounts of pushing, I'd opt for a competent forestry mulching operator with a bucket and grapple. Either way, map it out, get an approximate acreage estimate, then give those numbers and GPS plots to contractors for an estimate: If it sounds too good to be true, it is, and he'll be knocking on your door asking for more money within a week. If he can't utilize your maps and/or estimated acreage, move on. Heavy equipment contracting is too expensive and technology is too accessible and has been around for far too long for an operator to not be able to use it, let alone apply it towards a quote. You don't want a guy sitting in the woods guesstimating where he should go when that idling machine is costing $170+ / hour and still doesn't put it where you want it.

If I were to get you a satellite map/imagine with distances and dimensions could you give me a decent ballpark number?

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I have heard mixed to bad results with the mulching and woody/privet type growth coming back quickly.

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It'll start as soon as the mulching head quits turning. You gotta stay on top of it. No matter how you clear raw land if you don't it starts back as soon as you stop. My dad did 7 acres of pines and sweetgums 7 years ago with a bulldozer. Down to the clay...nothing left standing, no over burden left. This was in November. By March there were foot tall sweetgums almost as thick as a lawn of bermuda grass. By the next march it looked like a 4 foot high forest...that you could not walk through easily. 7 years later those pines and sweetgums are about 15-20 feet tall and 3-4 times thicker than there were before he removed them. He kept about and acre of it clean and has a gorgeous lawn surrounded by a damn jungle of sweetgums and pines. It doesn't take long at all in the south for nature to correct whatever man did to it if left to its on designs...

Ballpark at best ….the trees that need to be moved play a big part in it. A privet thicket clears quicker than pines/oaks.

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I have heard mixed to bad results with the mulching and woody/privet type growth coming back quickly.

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Eh, I mean it's no different than if I brought in heavy hitters and moved earth around: If vegetation management is not performed, nature WILL take back over. Its why I always ask a prospective customer how/if they plan on managing the vegetation on their newly cleared off land. Occasionally I've talked a customer out of the job because they had/have no plans to maintain it, especially elderly folk.

The most crucial time is after full green-up in the growing season directly after the clearing is done. Whether it be herbicide (recommended), fire, mechanical, etc., vegetation has to be managed, especially with something as pervasive as privet, and if it's not wiped out within, usually, a couple of growing seasons, then you wind up with a problem that can be hell to spray, bushhog, burn, etc.

We would maintain the roads/trails, spraying/bushhogging. Would love to burn it all but that probably won't be doable in a lot of the low areas.


Appreciate all the input and info. Sounds like that cost may not be as pad as I was thinking except for the main road.

Thanks

I am in SW MS. Wilkinson County. If this is your area, I would like to get contact info for some clearing I need done.

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teambooyah

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I can help you . I’m about 6 miles from
Lake Okhissa