What land clearing covers
Anything from pushing the tree line back thirty feet to opening several acres. The work is the same set of pieces in different amounts: fell the trees, chip the brush, load out the logs, deal with the stumps, and leave ground your builder, your excavator or your fence installer can work on.
- House lots and additions, cleared to the limit of work your plan shows.
- Solar. Both ground arrays and the more common case: a roof that needs the trees to the south taken down or reduced so the panels earn their keep.
- Driveways, septic systems and utility runs.
- Pasture, paddocks and orchard ground. Bolton is still farm country and we clear for it.
- Overgrown back acreage: brush, vines, leaning and dead trees, storm blowdown nobody has touched in years.
“We had several (50!) problematic large trees removed from our back yard. Adam's dropped the trees without damaging my yard. Several were close to my neighbor's fence, and he brought them down without damaging anything.”
The equipment
Clearing is a machine job. We run a grapple truck that loads and hauls full length logs, a chipper and chip trucks for the brush, a skid steer for moving material on site, the bucket truck, and the crane for anything big that stands near a building you are keeping. Having all of it in house is what keeps a clearing job to days rather than weeks, and it is why the price is usually better than hiring a tree crew and a separate hauler.
What happens to the wood
Straight hardwood logs have value as firewood, and we sell log length firewood by the truckload, so good wood leaving your lot can take something off your price. Brush is chipped. You can keep chips for trails and beds, or we take them. If you heat with wood yourself, we will leave you as many logs as you want, stacked where a truck can reach them.
Permits and wetlands
This is the part that catches people. In Massachusetts, work within 100 feet of a wetland, or within 200 feet of a river or a stream that runs all year, falls under the Wetlands Protection Act, and your town's Conservation Commission has to sign off before trees come down. Bolton, Stow, Harvard and most towns around here also have their own wetland bylaws on top of the state law. Roads marked as scenic roads need a hearing before trees or stone walls in the right of way are touched.
If you are building, your engineer's plan will show the limit of work and any wetland flags, and we clear to that line. If you are not sure whether your land is affected, call the Conservation agent at town hall before you book anybody. It is a free phone call and it is far cheaper than an enforcement order.
Questions about land clearing
How is land clearing priced?
By the job, after walking it. The size of the area matters less than what is on it: a quarter acre of 80 foot pines is more work than an acre of brush and saplings. Access, stumps and what happens to the wood all move the number. The estimate is free.
Do you remove the stumps?
For lawn and pasture we grind them. For a foundation or driveway they have to come out whole, and we coordinate with your excavator so it is done once. See stump grinding for the difference.
Can you save certain trees?
Yes, and you should. Flag the ones you want kept before we start. We will tell you if one of them is unlikely to survive having its neighbors removed, which happens with tall, thin trees that grew up sheltered in a stand.
How long does it take?
A typical house lot is a few days. We will give you a schedule with the estimate so your builder can plan around it.