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Land Clearing & Forestry Mulching in Imlay City, Michigan
Forestry mulching, brush hogging and lot clearing in Imlay City, Imlay Township and Attica, about an hour from our base in Royal Oak.
Imlay City is where I-69 crosses M-53 in the flat eastern half of Lapeer County, the start of the Thumb. The city itself is about two and a half square miles; the ground around it is the broad farm country of Imlay Township to the north and east and Attica Township to the west, with Goodland Township beyond. William Imlay started buying the forest here in 1836, the railroad came through in 1870 and the Interstate in the 1980s, and between those dates the woods became fields. The North Branch of the Belle River wraps the north side of the city, fed by the Hunt, Pennell and Clark Corner drains.
Farm country keeps its brush in narrow places, which is what makes the work here different from the hills around Hadley and Dryden. The fence rows between quarter sections have grown into thirty-foot bands of box elder and honeysuckle, the drains and ditch banks carry willow, the windbreak behind every old farmstead has fallen in, and the frontage along Van Dyke and the I-69 interchange has a strip of saplings in front of every parcel that has sat a few years. We run one high-flow tracked skid steer with a FECON forestry mulcher and a brush hog attachment, and we grind all of it where it stands into a chip strip the planter or the site contractor can run right over.
We are owner-operated out of Royal Oak, about an hour south down Van Dyke, and every job in Imlay City, Imlay Township and Attica is one flat project price after a walk or photos, with the travel in it. Here is what we do around Imlay City, how a job runs, the calendar for this ground, and the questions owners here ask. Call (810) 776-8524 between 8 AM and 8 PM any day, or send the address through the quote form.
Where we work in and around Imlay City: the city itself, Imlay Township, Attica and Attica Township, and the Van Dyke (M-53), Cedar Street, Blacks Corners, Newark, Fairgrounds, Almont Avenue, Capac, Graham, Petz, Weyer, Imlay City, Attica, Hunters Creek, Bowers, Lake George and Belle River road corridors out to Lake Pleasant and the Goodland Township line.
What We Do Around Imlay City
Each service, and why it comes up on this ground.
Fence rows and field edges
The steady work in Imlay and Attica townships. A fence row between two fields that has grown into a wide band of box elder, honeysuckle and wild grape is ground back to the survey line, roots left to rot, and finished as a chip strip the planter runs to the edge of. We cut after harvest or after the hay is off, so the field is never waiting on us. Fence line clearing covers old wire, posts and keeper trees.
Brush hogging big fields
Hay and pasture that has gone a few seasons without a cut is brush hogged with the attachment on the same tracked machine: goldenrod, briars, light brush and first-year saplings go in one pass, and the forestry mulcher follows for the rows and the thick corners. Brush hogging in Lapeer County explains the difference and the timing that keeps a field open.
Ditch banks, drains and low corners
Willow and dogwood take the drains and the wet corners around the North Branch of the Belle River. We pick frozen ground or the driest weeks of late summer, grind the brush to a chip layer that stays on the bank, and leave the roots holding the soil so the ditch keeps its shape. See brush removal and the fall and winter clearing guide.
Farmsteads and windbreaks
An old farmstead going up for sale, or being brought back into use, usually has a collapsed windbreak, a ring of volunteer trees around the outbuildings and a lane closing in from both sides. We grind the windbreak and the brush, open the lane to full width, and leave the yard walkable and the buildings visible from the road. Forestry mulching in Lapeer County shows the finish.
Site preparation on the I-69 and Van Dyke corridor
Imlay City carries the county's main highway interchange, and the commercial and industrial parcels along Van Dyke, Cedar Street and the Interstate come with a band of saplings and brush along the frontage. We clear to the stakes and leave a chip surface the site contractor grades, so the parcel shows its frontage to a buyer or a tenant. Site preparation and commercial land clearing cover scheduling and the paperwork a general contractor needs.
Hunting ground in Attica and Goodland
The hunting here is in the woodlots, the drain corridors and the bigger wooded pieces toward Lake Pleasant and the Goodland line. We reopen two-tracks, cut stand approaches from the downwind side, open shooting lanes down to deer height and clear plot ground in the field corners, in late summer so it settles before the season. Hunting land clearing and the food plot guide cover the layout.
Home sites, pasture and drives
New houses on splits off the farm roads, horse pasture gone to autumn olive and rose, and long drives closing in with box elder are the smaller jobs that fill out a trip to Imlay City. We clear the house footprint and drive line, take the pasture back and open the fence lines, and leave every one of them as a chip layer with nothing to haul. See land clearing for new construction, pasture reclamation and driveway clearing.
How a Job Goes Around Imlay City
From the first call to the finished chip strip.
1. A walk or a set of photos
Fence rows, ditch banks and farmsteads can usually be priced from the address and a few phone photos; on a commercial parcel or a home site we meet you at the stakes. Either way you talk to the owner who runs the machine.
2. One flat project price
A single price for the whole job before any machine moves, with the hour from Royal Oak, the trailer move and the ground already in it. Calls are answered 8 AM to 8 PM every day; form and text replies come back within one business day.
3. Timing around the crop
Fence rows and field edges are cut after harvest or after the hay is off, drains and low corners wait for a hard freeze or the dry end of August, and hunting work goes in late summer. We stay on the row and the chip strip and keep the tracks off the crop ground.
4. The finish
Rows, windbreaks and brush are ground into a chip strip where they stood, roots left to rot. The field can be planted to the line in spring, the ditch keeps its bank, and nothing is burned or hauled.
The Imlay City Calendar
What suits each season on this farm ground.
Winter
Frozen ground is the time for drains, ditch banks and the low ends of fence rows along the Belle River. The machine rides on top of ground that would rut in April, and the leaves are down so the old posts and the line are easy to see.
Spring
Home sites, drives and commercial frontage go first, before the builders and the site contractors need them. Field edges wait until the ground firms up and the planter has run.
Summer
Hay comes off and the fence rows and pasture open up. Late July and August are the window for hedgerows, windbreaks and brush hogging the old fields, and the dry end of the season reaches the wet corners without a freeze.
Fall
Hunting work finishes early in the season. After harvest the whole field edge is open again, and a row cut now is a clean chip strip by planting time.
Where We Work Around Imlay City
The city sits on Van Dyke, which becomes Cedar Street through downtown, just north of the I-69 interchange; Imlay Township wraps it to the north and east and Attica Township lies to the west with the hamlet of Attica at its north end and Lake Pleasant inside it. The roads run on the mile grid: Blacks Corners, Newark, Fairgrounds, Almont Avenue, Graham, Petz and Weyer roads around the city, Imlay City Road and Attica Road west through Attica, Hunters Creek, Bowers, Lake George and Belle River roads toward Lake Pleasant, and the Eastern Michigan Fairgrounds on the north side of town.
We come up Van Dyke from Royal Oak in about an hour. Almont is on the way, Dryden is a few minutes west, Capac and Allenton are a few minutes east over the St. Clair County line, and Goodland and Arcadia townships are the same trip north, so a job that crosses a township line is still one project price.
Questions We Hear in Imlay City
Can you clear ditch banks and wet low spots?
Yes. Willow along a drain is ground to a chip layer that stays on the bank, and we pick a frozen week or the driest part of late summer so the machine rides on top of the ground and the ditch keeps its shape.
Do you brush hog big fields?
Yes. Old hay ground that has gone a few seasons without a cut is brush hogged, and the forestry mulcher handles the rows and the saplings, all with the same tracked machine in one visit. See brush hogging in Lapeer County.
How long does a fence row take?
A quarter mile of thirty-foot row is about an acre, which is roughly a day in heavy box elder and faster in lighter growth, so most rows between two fields are a one- or two-day job. We measure it on the walk or from your photos and give you one price for the whole row.
Can you work around a planted field?
Yes. We schedule edge work for after harvest or after the hay is off, stay on the row and the chip strip, and keep the tracks off the crop. If the timing has to fall in the growing season we work from the row itself.
Will the box elder and honeysuckle come back in the row?
Mulching shreds the root crown, so most of it stays down. Expect a few sprouts from the roots the first summer; a single mowing or a spot follow-up that year usually turns the row into grass for good.
Do you clear commercial parcels along I-69 and Van Dyke?
Yes. We clear to the surveyor's stakes, leave a chip surface the site contractor grades, and provide the insurance paperwork a general contractor asks for. Commercial land clearing covers how we fit into the site schedule.
How soon can you start, and what do you need?
The address, a few photos and the line you want cut, with the posts or stakes flagged. You get one project price first. Field edges are scheduled around your harvest and hay dates, so tell us those and we work backward from them.
Nearby Areas We Also Serve
See everything we do in Lapeer County or browse all service areas.
Services in Lapeer County
- Land Clearing in Lapeer County
- Land Clearing in Southeast Michigan
- Forestry Mulching in Lapeer County
- Lot Clearing
- Brush Hogging in Lapeer County
- Fence Line Clearing
- Brush Clearing & Brush Removal
- Site Preparation
- Commercial Land Clearing
- Hunting Land Clearing
- Land Clearing for New Construction
- Pasture Reclamation
- Driveway Clearing
Overgrown Ground in Imlay City?
Send the address and a few photos through the quote form, or call. You will get one project price for the whole job, travel included.