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Dozer grading a staked building pad, land clearing in Ellis County, Texas
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Land Clearing in Ellis County, TX: Professional Land Clearing, Cedar Brakes and Pond Sites in Waxahachie, Midlothian and Ennis

Ellis County is the one place in North Texas where I price by cedar canopy percent. The escarpment west of I-35E grows cedar, which is ashe juniper, on white chalk, and canopy sets the per-acre number from $900 to $4,000. Around Waxahachie, TX and the surrounding areas it is blackland, and the date sets the price. Call (832) 987-3495 or send the form. Teo will call you back before the end of the business day.

Estimate in Ellis County

Dispatcher Teo takes every form and call at the Johnson City office. Callback before the end of the business day.

Free on-site estimate within 60 miles of a yard.

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Land Clearing Services Available in Ellis County

Five services cover the residential and commercial tracts between the chalk and the blackland.

  • Residential land clearing to a pad: grub, haul or pile, rough grade, $2,000 to $4,500 an acre.
  • Commercial land clearing and site clearing along US 287 and I-45.
  • Forestry mulching and tree clearing of cedar, trees and brush in place, one to three acres a day.
  • Lot clearing for small residential lots: underbrushing, tree removal of dead hackberry, stump grinding at $4 an inch, $175 minimum.
  • Site prep and dirt work services: drainage, pond excavation, grading, cleanup.

Our land clearing service removes what grows. Concrete, wells, septic and demolition are other trades.

Lot and Acreage Clearing for New Homes in Waxahachie and Ennis

The county permitted 3,230 single-family homes in 2025 by the Census Building Permits Survey, up 13 percent while the big counties in Texas fell. Master-planned communities along US 287 are developer work. Our residential jobs are the homeowner on two to ten acres of old cotton ground near Ennis who needs a pad and a pond, and property owners on the chalk with a cedar brake they want opened into oak savannah for property development.

A half-acre lot is one skid steer day, $2,800. Cedar lots run by canopy: when I wrote EQIP plans I read canopy with a densitometer, and I still take a canopy reading before I quote a brake. Commercial development pads near I-35E are land clearing projects priced by the acre.

Forestry Mulching and Brush Clearing Across Ellis County

Our mulching services take cedar canopy from 50 percent to under 5 in one pass, and the mulch stays on the chalk. AgriLife research and my own canopy readings agree: mature ashe juniper intercepts the first inch of rain, and removing it puts that water back in the seeps. Cedar regrows from seed, not the stump, so a mulched brake stays open. Clearing brush this way leaves no pile and no burn ban exposure.

Blackland is a sponge in March and a brick in August. On the clay we remove unwanted vegetation along the fence line, hackberry and bois d'arc mostly, and the wood goes down as three inches of mulch for erosion control. Removing vegetation from the undergrowth under post oak is selective clearing: oaks over 8 inches stay. No pine and hardwood understory here.

How Much Does Land Clearing Cost in Ellis County?

Land clearing in Ellis County runs $900 to $4,500 an acre, and two rules move the number first. Wet blackland east of I-35E adds a day from November to April. The chalk side sits inside 60 miles of our Weatherford yard, so transport is included there. Waxahachie and Ennis are past the line, and transport is quoted separately.

  • Skid steer mulcher, transport included inside 60 miles: $2,800 a day.
  • 300-hp mulcher, 8-foot head: $4,200 a day plus transport, equipment to handle old-growth cedar.
  • Cedar mulching by the acre: $900 to $1,400 under 30 percent canopy, $1,800 to $2,600 medium, $3,000 to $4,000 dense.
  • Full clearing to dirt, graded: $2,000 to $4,500 an acre by density.
  • Bush hog: $60 to $90 an acre with a $400 minimum. Haul-off: $650 to $1,200 per load, $1,100 minimum trip.

Agricultural land under an NRCS EQIP brush plan, practice code 314, draws 50 to 75 percent cost-share on the payment-schedule rate. Call (832) 987-3495 or send the form for a free quote.

Terrain, Soil and Vegetation Near Lake Waxahachie and Chambers Creek

Two soils meet at I-35E. West is the White Rock escarpment, Austin Chalk with thin soil, where cedar and live oak grow like Blanco County and rock can add a day. East is blackland prairie, where a pasture will overgrow with hackberry, honey locust and red cedar in eight years. Chambers Creek carries the woodland and most of the mapped floodplain, and the land near Lake Waxahachie is the same clay. On the clay, site conditions depend on the last rain.

On our jobs along the US 287 corridor I log two acres a day in medium cedar and one to two on wet clay.

Burn Bans and Other Rules Before Clearing Land in Ellis County

Three rules govern clearing land throughout Ellis County, and none is a state permit. The county judge or commissioners court declares a burn ban, and TCEQ outdoor burning rules govern every pile. The county issues floodplain development permits where FEMA maps Chambers Creek and Waxahachie Creek, so excavation and grading there wait on paper. Midlothian and Waxahachie have tree ordinances inside city limits and the ETJ.

Texas A&M Forest Service marks February to June as the oak wilt window. I mulch cedar around live oaks in that window without wounding a limb. Give Teo the address and the floodplain check happens before the visit.

Areas We Serve in Ellis County

Waxahachie, Midlothian and Ennis each carry their own page. Our service area also covers Red Oak, Ferris, Palmer, Italy and Maypearl. Serving Ellis County from Weatherford is an hour and a half on I-20 and US 287, so land clearing services in Ellis County book two days minimum east of I-35E. Ellis County's west side, on the chalk, sends the most cedar calls in Dallas-Fort Worth.

Ready to Clear Your Land? Get an Estimate

Professional land clearing services begin with a free on-site visit. I walk the property, read the canopy percent, and count the trees and branches that go. Expert land clearing is experience and equipment: insured crews with the equipment and expertise for cedar on chalk clear your tract safely and efficiently. Fill out the form or call (832) 987-3495. Teo calls back before the end of the business day.

Luanne Pruitt

Owner, Pruitt Range & Brush

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.

FAQ

Land Clearing Questions

Fill out the form or call (832) 987-3495. Teo will call you back before the end of the business day.

How much does land clearing cost per acre here?

Cedar mulching runs $900 to $1,400 an acre under 30 percent canopy and up to $4,000 on dense old growth. Full clearing to dirt runs $2,000 to $4,500 an acre. Wet blackland east of I-35E adds a day in winter.

What is the cheapest way to clear an overgrown pasture?

Forestry mulching is the cheapest way to reclaim overgrown land you plan to keep as pasture. Nothing leaves the tract, so the price carries no haul-off and no burn pile. Mulch will not transform chalk into topsoil, but it holds the rain where it falls.

How long does a typical land clearing job take?

A lot of a half acre to an acre is a one-day skid steer job. Five acres of medium cedar runs two to three days. Ten acres of blackland pasture runs four to five days, and from November to April I add a day for wet clay.

Do I need a permit to burn cleared brush in town?

Inside city limits, brush burning is generally prohibited, and the county judge or commissioners court can declare a burn ban for the rest of the county at any time. TCEQ outdoor burning rules cover every pile regardless. Mulching puts the brush back on the ground as chips, so the question never comes up.

Who do I call for a land clearing service in Ellis County, TX?

Call (832) 987-3495 or send the form. Teo will call you back before the end of the business day with three questions: how many acres, which road, and whether it is cedar or hackberry. The site preparation quote comes after the on-site visit, in writing, with the day count.

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Free on-site estimate within 60 miles of a yard.

Dozer grading a staked building pad, free land clearing estimate in Texas
Free on-site estimate within 60 miles of a yard

Clearing land
in Ellis County?

Fill out the form or call (832) 987-3495. Teo will call you back before the end of the business day.

(832) 987-3495

Get a free estimate

Dispatcher Teo takes every form and call at the Johnson City office. Callback before the end of the business day.

Free on-site estimate within 60 miles of a yard.

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