Brush clearing typically costs $800 to $1,500 per acre for light brush, $1,500 to $3,500 per acre for moderate growth, and $3,500 to $6,000 or more per acre for heavy, overgrown brush with small trees mixed in. Treat every figure on this page as a starting point rather than a quote: these are realistic average ranges across the US and Canada, and rates vary by state and province, by season and by how far the equipment has to travel to reach you.
Brush clearing means removing the understory, meaning shrubs, vines, saplings and small trees, rather than felling mature timber. Most of it is done with a forestry mulcher, which grinds standing growth into a layer of mulch in a single pass. There is no hauling and no burn pile, and the mulch protects the soil from erosion while it breaks down.
The three tiers
Light brush is scattered shrubs, tall grass and saplings under about two inches, with plenty of open ground between them. A mulcher moves through it quickly, and an acre can often be done in a few hours.
Moderate brush is continuous cover you cannot easily walk through, with saplings and small trees up to about four to six inches. The machine has to slow down, take more passes and process more material per square foot.
Heavy brush is dense, tangled growth and thorny thickets with trees in the six-inch-plus range mixed in, often on land that has been left for ten years or more. This is the slowest tier, and it is where stumps and larger stems may need an excavator rather than a mulcher.
Recommended Equipment
Skid steer with a forestry mulcher, an excavator for heavier material and stumps, and a dozer on large open acreage. The mulcher handles light and moderate brush in a single pass and leaves it as mulch; an excavator with a mulching head or thumb takes over where stems and stumps are past what a skid steer can process; a dozer is the efficient choice for pushing and piling on large, open tracts.
Find operators by machine: Skid Steer operators · Excavator operators · Dozer operators
What actually drives the price
Density and stem size are the main factors, which is why brush clearing is quoted in tiers rather than a flat per-acre rate. The same property can sit in a different tier from one end to the other, so walk it and note where growth changes.
Terrain comes next. Flat, dry, firm ground lets a machine work at full speed. Slopes, rock, wet areas and gullies slow it down or require a smaller machine.
Acreage affects the per-acre rate. Getting equipment to the property is a fixed cost, so one acre usually costs more per acre than ten, and many operators have a half-day or full-day minimum.
What is left behind matters. Mulching in place is usually the cheapest finish. Removing stumps, picking rock or hauling material away are separate line items.
Selective clearing, keeping specific trees or a buffer along a creek, takes more care than clearing everything and costs more per acre. Mark the trees that stay clearly before the machine arrives.
A short checklist before you book
Walk the property and sort it into light, moderate and heavy areas. Mark any trees, fence lines or features that must stay. Decide whether mulch left on the ground is acceptable or whether material has to be removed. Ask about minimum charges and the cost of getting the machine to site. Confirm property lines before clearing near a boundary. Ask about regrowth and whether a follow-up pass is recommended in a year or two.
Costs vary by site conditions. Use the ranges here to sanity-check what you're quoted, then get a direct price for your own property.
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