Clearing land opens up new possibilities for your property, whether you’re preparing a building site, creating pasture, developing a ranch, or establishing access routes through wooded areas. At Foster Land Modifications, we provide professional land and timber clearing services throughout Arthur City and Northeast Texas using track hoes and dozers. With over 35 years of heavy equipment experience, we handle clearing projects of all sizes from small residential lots to large ranch development work.
We clear timber and vegetation efficiently without the extensive damage to topsoil that can come from less experienced operators. We also provide burn clearing services to properly finish the job and leave your property ready for its next use.
Types of Clearing Projects
We handle several types of land clearing work. Residential lot clearing prepares wooded properties for home construction, removing trees and brush to create building sites and yard areas. Ranch development clearing opens up pasture, establishes fence lines, or creates access routes across timber land. Commercial site clearing prepares larger properties for business development, storage facilities, or other commercial uses.
The approach varies depending on what you’re clearing and what you plan to do with the land afterward. Building sites need careful attention to topsoil preservation. Pasture development focuses on removing woody vegetation while maintaining soil quality. Access routes require cleared corridors that allow equipment and vehicle access.
Our Clearing Methods
We use track hoes and dozers for land clearing work. Track hoes excel at selective removal, pulling individual trees while leaving desired vegetation in place. They’re also effective for removing stumps and roots, which is important when the cleared area will be cultivated or built on. Dozers handle larger areas efficiently, pushing down timber and piling material for disposal or burning.
We don’t use forestry mulching equipment. While mulching has its place, our experience is with traditional track hoe and dozer clearing, which provides more control over the final result and works well for the types of projects we typically handle.
Small Lot Clearing
Many homeowners buy wooded lots and need clearing before construction can begin. These projects typically involve clearing the building site itself, the area that will become the yard, and establishing driveway access from the road. Selective clearing often works well here, removing enough trees to create usable space while leaving some for shade and screening.
We work carefully on residential lots to avoid unnecessary damage to trees you want to keep and to preserve topsoil that will become your yard. The cleared material can be piled for burn clearing or hauled away, depending on your preference and local regulations.
Large Tract Clearing
Larger clearing projects—opening up acres of timber for pasture or ranch development—require different planning. These projects move faster than small lot work because we’re focused on removing all woody vegetation across large areas rather than working selectively.
The timeline depends on how dense the timber is and whether we’re just pushing down trees or also removing stumps. Clearing without stump removal leaves the area suitable for pasture but not for cultivation. Full clearing with stump removal takes longer but leaves the land ready for any use.
Stump Removal
Stumps are often the most time-consuming part of land clearing. Whether stumps need to be removed depends on your plans for the land. Building sites need stumps gone so they don’t interfere with foundations or create settling problems. Pasture can often work with stumps left in place, though removing them provides more usable land. Areas that will be farmed or planted need complete stump removal.
We remove stumps using track hoes, digging them out along with their root systems. The debris gets piled with other cleared material for disposal. Stump grinding is another option on some projects, though that typically requires bringing in specialized equipment.
Fence Line and Boundary Clearing
Many ranch properties need fence lines cleared or re-cleared as brush grows back over time. Clear fence lines make fence maintenance easier, improve visibility of livestock and property boundaries, and reduce hiding places for predators. We can clear existing fence lines or establish new ones where you’re planning to add fencing.
Fence line clearing often uses track hoes to selectively remove brush and small trees while leaving larger boundary trees intact. The narrow cleared corridor uses less equipment time than full area clearing while still achieving the goal.
Access Route Clearing
Creating roads or paths through wooded property requires clearing a corridor wide enough for the route plus adequate drainage. We clear these access routes using the same equipment and methods as larger clearing projects, just in a more confined area. The cleared corridor provides room for the road itself and prevents branches from constantly falling onto the route.
Access route clearing often happens as the first phase of a larger project, establishing the ability to get equipment to building sites, ponds, or other work areas deeper in the property.
Burn Clearing
Once the initial clearing work is complete, we provide burn clearing services to properly dispose of piled timber and brush. Burning clears the site completely and eliminates the piles of material that would otherwise need hauling away. We conduct burns following local regulations and weather considerations, waiting for appropriate conditions that allow controlled burns without risk of fire spreading.
Not every property allows burning, depending on local ordinances and burn ban status. When burning isn’t an option, we can arrange for material to be hauled away, though this typically adds to project costs.
What We Don’t Do
We don’t provide forestry mulching services. Forestry mulchers are specialized machines that grind standing timber into chips, and that’s not our area of focus. Our experience and equipment are built around track hoe and dozer clearing, which we’ve been doing for over 35 years.
If your project specifically requires forestry mulching, we’re happy to help you find contractors who specialize in that work. But for traditional land clearing using proven methods, we’re your resource.
Service Area
We provide land and timber clearing services throughout Arthur City, Paris, Sulphur Springs, Sherman, Gainesville, Emory, and the surrounding Northeast Texas and Southern Oklahoma region. For larger ranch development projects, we’re willing to travel further. Contact us to discuss your property location and clearing needs.
Experience Matters
Casey Foster has been operating heavy equipment for over 35 years, including extensive land clearing work throughout his career. That experience means we work efficiently, minimize damage to topsoil and remaining vegetation, and understand how to handle the variety of conditions Texas properties present.
We own and maintain our own track hoes and dozers. When we start clearing your property, we finish it. You work directly with Casey from initial site visit through project completion.
Land & Timber Clearing FAQs
How long does it take to clear land? Timeline depends on acreage, how heavily wooded the property is, and whether stumps need removing. A small residential lot with moderate timber might take a few days. Clearing several acres of heavy timber for pasture development could take several weeks. Weather affects clearing schedules, especially when we need dry conditions for burn clearing. During your estimate, we provide realistic timelines based on your specific property conditions.
What happens to all the trees and brush? Most cleared material gets piled for burn clearing. We wait for appropriate weather conditions and then conduct controlled burns that reduce the piles to ash. Some properties don’t allow burning due to local regulations or current burn bans. In those cases, material can be hauled away, though that adds cost to the project. If you have other uses for cleared timber, such as firewood or lumber, we can set that material aside separately before burning the brush.
Can you clear around trees I want to keep? Yes, selective clearing is common on residential lots where homeowners want to preserve certain trees for shade or aesthetics. We work carefully around designated trees to avoid damaging roots or bark. The more selective the work needs to be, the longer the project takes, but it’s entirely possible to clear most of a lot while saving specific trees. You mark or tell us which trees to preserve, and we plan the clearing work around them.
Do you remove stumps or just cut trees down? We handle both approaches. Full clearing includes stump removal using our track hoe to dig out stumps and root systems. This leaves land ready for any use including building, planting, or smooth mowing. If stumps don’t need to go—such as when clearing for pasture where they won’t interfere with livestock—we can leave them in place, which speeds up the work and reduces cost. We discuss your plans for the land during the estimate to determine what makes sense.
Will clearing damage my topsoil? We work carefully to minimize topsoil damage, especially on building sites where preserving soil quality matters. Track hoes are particularly useful for selective work because they have less ground impact than dozers running across the entire property. Some surface disruption is unavoidable when pulling stumps or pushing over large trees, but experienced operators know how to minimize damage. For properties that will be seeded for pasture, some soil disturbance can actually help seed germination.
Can you clear land in winter or do you need to wait for spring? We can clear land year-round, though extreme weather occasionally causes delays. Wet winter conditions can make some properties too muddy to work without causing excessive rutting. Frozen ground in rare cold snaps makes stump removal difficult. Most of the time, winter clearing works fine and actually has some advantages—trees drop leaves, improving visibility, and there’s less concern about fire risk during burn clearing. We assess current conditions and let you know if we see any issues that suggest waiting.
Get Your Free Estimate
We provide free estimates for all land clearing projects. Casey will visit your property, assess what needs to be cleared, and discuss your goals for the land. The estimate covers all clearing work and any burn clearing or hauling required.
Call (903) 754-7601 to schedule your estimate, or use our contact form to tell us about your clearing project. We serve Arthur City and Northeast Texas and are available seven days a week.