I wrote brush plans for twelve years. The brush never read one.
Luanne Pruitt, 51, owns Pruitt Range & Brush and runs it from Johnson City in Blanco County, with crews in Lindale and Weatherford. She grew up on a cow-calf ranch near Llano. She spent 12 years as an NRCS field technician writing EQIP Brush Management plans for Texas ranchers, bought her first mulcher in 2014 when too many of those plans sat unexecuted, and has cleared cedar, mesquite, pine understory and homesite lots full time since 2015. Her dispatcher Teo takes every call and form.
I wrote EQIP brush plans for twelve years before I ran a mulcher. Most of them sat in a drawer. In 2014 I bought the machine myself. Skid steer mulcher, $2,800 a day, transport included within 60 miles of Johnson City, Lindale or Weatherford. Fill out the form or call (832) 987-3495 and Teo will call you back before the end of the business day.
Cedar canopy tells me the price before I ever walk your tract. Under 30 percent canopy runs $900 to $1,400 an acre. Medium cover runs $1,800 to $2,600. Old-growth cedar or mesquite thick enough to hide a cow runs $3,000 to $4,000. Rock adds a day in the Hill Country. I put that in writing before the trailer leaves the yard.
A 42-acre tract in Blanco County read 55 percent cedar canopy when I walked it. Six days with the 300-hp mulcher, $27,500 plus transport. The spring below the stock tank ran again the next wet season. That is not luck. A mature ashe juniper canopy catches the first inch of rain before it reaches the ground, and AgriLife has measured it.
Fixed facts
- Skid steer mulcher$2,800 / dayTransport included within 60 miles of a yard. Stems to about 8 inches.
- 300-hp mulcher, 8 ft head$4,200 / dayPlus transport. Handles anything on the tract.
- Cedar mulching, light$900-1,400 / acreUnder 30 percent canopy.
- Cedar mulching, medium$1,800-2,600 / acre
- Cedar or mesquite, dense$3,000-4,000 / acreOld-growth cover.
- East Texas pine understory, yaupon$1,200-2,000 / acre
- Full clearing to dirt$2,000-4,500 / acreGrub, haul or pile, rough grade.
- Stump grinding$4 / inch$175 minimum per stump.
- Bush hogging$60-90 / acre$400 minimum.
- Grubbing, dozer with operator$160 / hour
- Haul-off$650-1,200 / loadMinimum trip $1,100.
Cedar is the only crop in Texas nobody planted and everybody harvests.
12 years as an NRCS field technician writing EQIP Brush Management plans (practice code 314) for ranchers: cedar canopy percent, spring recovery, grazing capacity, deferment. Too many plans sat unexecuted, so she bought her first mulcher in 2014 and has cleared full time since 2015.
Call
Teo.
Fill out the form or call (832) 987-3495. Teo will call you back before the end of the business day.
(832) 987-3495