On this page
- Land Clearing Services in Macclenny, FL
- Lot Clearing for New Homes in Macclenny and Glen St. Mary
- Brush Clearing and Forestry Mulching Near Macclenny
- How Much Does Land Clearing Cost in Macclenny?
- Permits, Gopher Tortoises and Drainage Before You Clear in Macclenny
- Land Clearing Services Across Macclenny and Glen St. Mary
- Land Clearing FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions from Macclenny Property Owners
Land Clearing Services in Macclenny, FL
Whitfield Clearing & Grading provides land clearing, forestry mulching, lot clearing, brush clearing, stump grinding and site prep across the Macclenny area, from I-10 exits 336 and 343 out US 90 to Glen St. Mary. We are a land clearing company serving residential and commercial properties in Macclenny and the surrounding area, with services throughout the county and the Jacksonville area.
- Pine-lot conversion: plantation rows to a buildable footprint.
- Mulching: a land clearing method that uses specialized equipment to grind trees and brush standing, vegetation into mulch where it grew.
- House lots: the footprint, the drive and the septic field.
- Brush removal on overgrown land and fence rows.
- Downed pine: tree removal and cleanup.
- Stumps: we grind at $4.25 per inch of diameter, $160 minimum, pad first.
- Site prep and grading: pad staked and compacted.
Property clearing, land improvement, site work: priced on the same walk. No concrete, wells, septic or demolition from this crew. I know people who do.
Lot Clearing for New Homes in Macclenny and Glen St. Mary
Macclenny proper issued 5 single-family permits in 2025 and Baker County 99, 94 of them unincorporated (Census Building Permits Survey). Flat year over year, the only county in the metro that did not drop. The lots are 1 to 10 acres off US 90, SR 121 and CR 125, most of them pine plantation last decade. Residential land clearing on planted pine is clean work: straight rows, stumps in a grid.
Site preparation goes stakes first. House, drive, septic field, string line, then the machine. Stumps inside the pad get ground or grubbed, the rest mulched flush. The pad is quoted per pad: rough grade and 12 inches of compacted fill above crown of road, three roller passes. On a parcel off CR 125 last winter the pad proof-rolled first try; plantation ground is already firm. The nearest comparable is 3 acres of palmetto and slash pine off CR 218 in Middleburg, two days, $5,400. Professional clearing on a pine lot is mostly keeping the rows you want. Bring your site plan.
Brush Clearing and Forestry Mulching Near Macclenny
Palmetto and pine flatwoods mulch at $1,400 to 2,300 an acre by density; longleaf sandhill toward Trail Ridge runs $1,100 to 1,700 because sugar sand carries the machine and there is no root mat. What mulches and what gets cut on a Macclenny lot:
- Mulched in place: palmetto, gallberry, wax myrtle, titi edge, pine to 8 inches.
- Cut, then the stump ground: slash pine over 8 inches, laurel oak, water oak.
- Left standing: live oak, longleaf you flag, the cypress line.
The palmetto mat takes a second pass below grade or the fronds are back in a year. The 300-hp mulcher handles large acreage clearing; the 12-acre pasture reclaim near Callahan ran three days, $12,300 plus transport. Areas with dense gallberry take the wet-season extra day, June to September. Selective clearing around the oaks is by the acre. We can remove brush along a fence line without cutting the rows. Flatwoods overgrow. A professional land clearing service in Macclenny quotes stems per acre and will make your property walkable in a day.
How Much Does Land Clearing Cost in Macclenny?
Land clearing costs in Macclenny run $1,100 to 2,300 an acre mulched and $2,800 to 5,000 an acre for full clearing to dirt with stumps out. The total depends on the size of the tract, the stump count and what has to leave the site. In the written price first: the FWC gopher tortoise survey on sandhill, $400 to 900, and the wet-season extra day on flatwoods.
- Skid steer forestry mulcher: $2,700 a day, trailer included.
- The 300-hp mulcher: $4,100 a day plus transport.
- One day for a half-acre lot, $2,700; a quarter-acre infill is $1,900 flat.
- Root rake or dozer grubbing: $165 an hour with operator.
- Hauling: $650 to 1,200 per 10-yard load.
- Burn pile: Florida Forest Service authorization, often practical in this county.
Most land clearing projects here run one to three days plus a pad. No surprises on the invoice. Call (904) 406-7990 or pick a walk-through slot on the calendar; the written price shows up the same evening.
Permits, Gopher Tortoises and Drainage Before You Clear in Macclenny
Baker County has no stand-alone tree ordinance outside the city. The Baker County Land Development Regulations tie clearing to a building permit or an agricultural use; inside Macclenny the city tree code adds protected trees. The FWC gopher tortoise rule runs on the sandhill ridges: survey within 90 days of clearing, no work within 25 feet of a burrow, and a relocation permit when burrows turn up. Red-cockaded woodpecker cavity trees near the Osceola longleaf stay.
SJRWMD covers most of the county, SRWMD west of Olustee. Clearing on its own is not an Environmental Resource Permit trigger; filling a wet spot or changing drainage is. The cypress and bayhead on the St. Marys and Turkey Creek flooded in Debby; they stay out of the footprint. Excavation waits on Sunshine 811 marking the gas pipeline and power lines. I pull what the county wants; you sign it.
Land Clearing Services Across Macclenny and Glen St. Mary
ZIP 32063 is Macclenny and the US 90 and SR 121 acreage. Nearby: Glen St. Mary, Sanderson toward Olustee, Baldwin east on US 90, Hilliard north on CR 121. Macclenny, FL and the surrounding area sits inside the included-transport zone. One yard sends land clearing services across northeast Florida; the land clearing Macclenny owners book is the same crew that works Baldwin. The county page and the Jacksonville metro hub have the rest.
Land Clearing FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions from Macclenny Property Owners
How much does land clearing cost here in 2026?
Flatwoods run $1,400 to 2,300 an acre, longleaf sandhill $1,100 to 1,700, full clearing to dirt with stumps $2,800 to 5,000; a half-acre lot is one day, $2,700. Site conditions and the stump count set the number, so the written price follows the site visit.
Do you clear commercial sites?
Yes. Commercial land clearing services cover commercial sites at the I-10 exits, full site clearing for a pad, and commercial development tracts on US 90 that want the big machine. Commercial properties in Macclenny fall under the city tree code. Commercial clearing goes by the day or by the acre.
Can I burn the piles in Baker County?
Usually, on acreage. A Florida Forest Service burn authorization is required for any pile and is often granted here in the dry season. Inside the city it is not. Mulching is still the cheaper way to clear land: nothing piled, nothing hauled.
Can you work wet ground?
With a mulcher, yes. It floats on the chip layer; a dozer cuts the hardpan and sinks. Depending on site drainage we add the wet-season day, June to September, and the pad waits for a dry week so the fill takes compaction.
What does the land clearing process look like, and how do I book?
Site visit, written price, tortoise survey on sandhill, county paperwork, machine. I walk the property with you and the price goes out that evening. Last on the list: stumps in the landscape beds. Pick a walk-through slot on the calendar or call (904) 406-7990.
