Lot Clearing Services in Southeast Michigan
Wooded, overgrown, vacant and building lots cleared in place: the trees you keep flagged, the brush and small trees ground to a chip layer, and no burn pile.
Licensed & Insured
Lot clearing opens a lot that has gone to trees, brush or overgrowth so it can be built on, surveyed, sold or kept up. We clear lots across Oakland, Macomb, Wayne, Livingston, Lapeer, St. Clair, Washtenaw and Genesee counties with a high-flow tracked skid steer out of Royal Oak: a FECON forestry mulcher grinds brush, saplings and small trees into a chip layer where they stand, and a rotary cutter takes down grass and weeds, so one machine handles the whole lot for one written price.
Lots reach us in four ways. A wooded lot is waiting for a house, and the growth between the road and the building site has had decades to thicken. An overgrown back or side lot has grown shut behind the fence line one season at a time. A vacant lot in town has gone to chest-high weeds, with mulberry and box elder coming up through them. And a subdivision or commercial lot has to be open before a survey, a sale or a build. Each one is cleared to lines you set, with the trees you want left standing.
We run a high-flow tracked skid steer with a FECON forestry mulcher. Everything inside the lines goes through the mulcher and stays on the lot as chips, so there is nothing to burn, nothing to dump and no truck traffic past the neighbors. A rotary cutter on the same machine takes down the grass and weeds on the open ground, and larger trees inside the lines are planned with you on site before work starts. The machine crosses a lawn without cutting ruts and fits through a standard gate, so the work stays inside your property. The forestry mulching page explains the method in full.
Most residential lots are a one- or two-day job, and the lot can be walked the day we finish. You get a price after a walk-through or from photos and the address. If a house is going on the lot, the land clearing for new construction page covers the building area, driveway and septic area. For a row of vacant lots, see the vacant lot cleanup page, and for larger acreage the land clearing page. Send the address and a few photos through the quote form, or call.
What we clear
- Wooded lots: the saplings, brush and small trees across the building area, driveway line and yard.
- Overgrown back lots and side lots gone to buckthorn, honeysuckle, multiflora rose and grapevine.
- Vacant lots in town covered in tall weeds, mulberry, box elder and tree of heaven.
- The edge along the road, the fence line and the lot line, cut back to a clean line.
- Understory brush under the trees you keep, so the lot reads as open woods and not a thicket.
- Subdivision, commercial and corner lots that have to be open for a survey, a sale or a build.
What you get
- Every tree you flag left standing and unscarred, with the ground around it cleaned up.
- A two- to four-inch chip layer over roots that stay in the ground, ready to stake or grade.
- No stumps standing up, no brush piles and no burn day.
- One written price for the whole lot, the drive from Royal Oak included.
Where Lot Clearing Comes Up
Four kinds of lot, and the page that covers each one in more detail.
Wooded building lots
A lot with a builder waiting gets the footprint, the driveway line and the septic area cleared and the keepers left standing. The land clearing for new construction page walks through the whole process, and the guide to clearing a lot for a new house covers what to clear and what to keep. Land clearing for new construction →
Overgrown lots with a house on them
A back lot or side lot that has grown shut is taken back to the line you point out in one visit, and the house, the fence and the shade trees stay put. Where the growth is mostly grass and weeds, the brush hogging page covers it. Brush clearing and brush removal →
Vacant lots in the city and the suburbs
A lot that has gone to tall weeds is cut down in one pass. A row of lots on one block can be cleared in one visit and quoted together, and lots can go on repeat cuts so they stay cut. Vacant lot cleanup →
Subdivision, commercial and larger lots
Outlots, corner lots and commercial lots are cleared or cut to an even height, ready for a survey or for site work. For several acres, the land clearing page covers the acreage work. Site preparation →
How the Job Goes
Send the address and photos
A few phone photos from the road and the address are enough for a price on most lots. A survey or the builder's site plan helps if you have one.
Tape the keepers and the lines
We walk the lot with you, tape the trees that stay and agree on the lines: building area, driveway, yard and edges.
Grind inside the lines
The mulcher takes the brush, saplings and small trees inside the lines to a chip layer, and the rotary cutter takes down the grass and weeds.
Walk the finished lot
We go over the result together. The lot is walkable and drivable the same day, and nothing has to be hauled away.
When to do it
Any season. Frozen ground suits wet lots, leaf-off shows lot lines and keeper trees clearly, and clearing a lot one to two weeks ahead of a survey, a showing or a dig keeps the schedule tight. Tell us the date that matters and we plan the visit around it.
How it is priced
You get the price in writing before work starts, set from photos or a walk-through of the lot. How dense the growth is, the terrain and access shape the number, the drive from Royal Oak is already in it, and the pricing guide explains what moves it.
The Ground This Work Happens On
Lots before, during and after the mulcher.
Where We Clear Lots
Eight Southeast Michigan counties from our base in Royal Oak. Each county page covers the local ground and the jobs that come up there.
Lot clearing near you: Waterford & Commerce · Oxford · Clarkston · Troy · Washington Township · Canton · Hartland · Dexter
Lot Clearing Questions We Hear
What is the difference between lot clearing and land clearing for new construction?
Lot clearing covers any lot that has gone to trees, brush or overgrowth, for any reason. Land clearing for new construction is the job for a lot with a house or other building about to go on it: the footprint, the driveway line and the septic area, planned around the builder's schedule. If a house is going on the lot, that job has its own page.
How long does it take to clear a lot?
Most residential lots take one or two days, and the lot can be walked the day we finish. Larger or denser lots take longer, and we tell you how long once we have seen photos or walked it.
Can you clear part of a lot and leave the rest wooded?
Yes, and that is a common request. We tape the lines with you and clear inside them. The trees you flag and the woods outside the lines stay as they are.
What is left on the ground after the lot is cleared?
A chip layer two to four inches deep over roots that stay in the ground. Saplings and small trees are ground down level with the soil, so nothing stands up, nothing is piled and nothing has to be hauled. The chips can be graded or left to green up.
Can you clear a lot that already has a house on it?
Yes. Back lots, side lots and the edge of a yard are cleared around the house, the fence and the shade trees, and the work stays on your property.
How do I get a price for my lot?
Send the address and a few photos from the road through the quote form, or call. If you have a survey or the builder's site plan, send that too, and you get one written price for the whole lot.
Related services
Other jobs we do
Related Guides
Best Time to Clear Land in Michigan: A 12-Month Calendar
Frozen ground, leaf-off, the spring thaw, the months each invasive is easiest to find and cut, when oaks are best left alone, when food plots go in. A 12-month table for Southeast Michigan land, by job type and by species.
Read the guide →
Stumps After Forestry Mulching: What Is Left, What to Do
A forestry mulcher grinds stems and stumps to the ground and leaves the roots. What that means for a lawn, a pad, a pasture or a food plot, how long roots take to rot, and which trees try to come back.
Read the guide →
What Is Grubbing? Clearing vs Grubbing vs Mulching
Clearing takes what is above the ground, grubbing digs out what is below it, and forestry mulching grinds the whole thing in place. Which one your project needs, what each leaves behind, and how estimators measure the work.
Read the guide →Forestry Mulching vs Excavator Clearing: How to Choose the Right Way to Clear Land
Excavator or bulldozer clearing pulls trees and roots; forestry mulching grinds them in place. How each works, what it leaves, and which fits your ground.
Read the guide →
What Happens to the Mulch After Forestry Mulching, and What You Can Do With It
The chip layer left after forestry mulching: how deep it is, what it does for the soil, how long it lasts, and how to seed or build on the ground.
Read the guide →
Brush Piles After Land Clearing: Mulch, Pile, Chip or Haul
The brush has to go somewhere. How forestry mulching leaves no pile at all, when a wildlife pile is the better answer, what chipping and hauling cost you in time and mess, and how long a pile takes to rot.
Read the guide →Ready to Clear Your Lot?
Send the address and a few photos through the quote form, or call, and you get one written price for the whole lot.