Per-acre rates by density
Forestry mulching rates, Liberty County
| Density | What that looks like | Price per acre |
|---|
| Light | Grass, weeds, saplings under 3 inches | $650-$950 |
| Medium | Mixed brush and hardwoods, 3 to 8 inches | $1,150-$1,650 |
| Heavy | Dense pine and hardwood mix, 8 to 16 inches, vine-choked | $1,900-$2,750 |
| Selective | Underbrush only, canopy trees left standing | $450-$750 |
Lot clearing and fence line work get priced differently since they're sold as a flat lot price or a per-linear-foot rate instead of straight acreage. Lot clearing for a half-acre to one-acre homesite runs $1,800 to $4,200 per lot. Fence line clearing runs $2.50 to $11 per linear foot for a 12 to 16 foot swath. Both use the same four density tiers above to land on a number.
Minimum job and mobilization
Every job carries a $650 minimum, which covers mobilization plus up to a half acre of light clearing. Fence line jobs carry a separate $750 minimum since setting a machine up for 200 feet costs close to what setting up for 1,000 feet costs. Mobilization inside the Cleveland, Plum Grove, Splendora, Shepherd, and Tarkington service ring is included in the quote. Jobs farther out, toward Livingston or deeper into San Jacinto County, carry a $150 to $350 trip charge depending on distance and how many days the job runs.
What actually moves your number
- Vegetation density. Grass and saplings clear faster than a vine-choked stand of 12-inch pine and hardwood. This is the single biggest factor and the reason we won't quote a firm number off a listing photo alone.
- Trunk diameter. Most mulching heads handle timber up to about 10 to 12 inches in a single pass. Larger trees get felled first and run through separately, which adds time and cost per tree.
- Access. A lot with a clear driveway or road frontage costs less to work than a tract where we have to cut an access path just to get equipment in.
- Ground conditions. Wet, soft ground near the Trinity River bottoms sometimes means a return trip once it dries rather than rutting your property, which can shift a job by a few days but doesn't change the rate itself.
- Debris handling. Standard pricing leaves ground mulch in place. If you want debris hauled off instead, that's an added cost we quote separately.
One fact, not an adjective: we quote a written price per acre or per lot before equipment moves, and that number doesn't change once we're on site unless you add scope, like asking us to clear an extra section we didn't walk.
Got merchantable timber? Call a timber buyer first.
We're not a logging outfit and this is a limit worth knowing before you book us. If your tract has a real stand of mature, merchantable pine, get a timber buyer or forester out to look at it before you call us. Once a mulching head grinds standing pine into ground cover, whatever timber value that stand had is gone. We'll tell you straight if a tract looks like it's carrying sellable timber instead of just brush and pulpwood-grade trees.
How we get to a final number
- You send acreage or lot size, plus photos or a plat. A GPS pin, a screenshot from the county appraisal district map, or a walked boundary all work.
- We place it in a density tier. Based on what you describe and what we can see in photos or on a site walk.
- We apply the minimum and mobilization. Small jobs get bumped to the minimum; jobs outside the core service ring get a trip charge added.
- You get a number in writing. Texted or emailed before we schedule anything, no verbal-only quotes.
- We confirm on site walk if needed. For anything over 3 to 4 acres or oddly shaped, we walk it first and adjust the tier if it doesn't match photos.
One limit worth knowing: we price off real acreage and real density, not a flat per-lot rate that ignores what's actually growing there. A quarter-acre lot buried in mature hardwood can cost more than a full acre of grass and saplings, and we'll tell you which one your property is before you commit.