Land Clearing in Montgomery County, TX: Conroe, Magnolia, The Woodlands
North of The Woodlands the ground changes. Gumbo clay gives way to sandy loam, tallow gives way to loblolly pine, and your acre of brush is suddenly two acres of timber. I've cleared pine tracts from Willis to New Caney since 2018. The big mulcher runs $4,000 a day plus transport and takes 4 to 8 acres of pine understory a day. Call (713) 587-6978 or send three photos of your place. Janine will have a number back to you by tomorrow, and the pine will still be standing when she does.
COUNTY FIELD GUIDE
Land Clearing Services in Montgomery County
Services planned around Montgomery County soil, brush, and access.
Pine is the job in Montgomery County, and pine clears clean. A land clearing service removes the understory, the yaupon and sweetgum, and either keeps or drops the loblolly above it. Our land clearing projects in Willis, TX and the surrounding areas break into five kinds of work:
- Forestry mulching and brush clearing, $3,000 a day on the skid steer, $4,000 plus transport on the big machine.
- Lot clearing and site clearing for new homes and barndominiums.
- Tree clearing and tree removal, with the stump ground or pushed.
- Stump grinding: pine stumps grind soft, water oak fights the teeth.
- Dirt work services: grading, pad prep, excavation for a pond.
Residential and commercial land clearing gets the same treatment: a pencil sketch before, an invoice after, both on the page. I do not pour concrete, install septic or demolish houses. I know people who do.
Land clearing
Brush, timber, stumps, and a clear route to the next job.
See the work ↗02 / FORESTRY MULCHINGForestry mulching
Grind brush in place. Keep the soil covered.
See the work ↗03 / LOT CLEARINGLot clearing
Open the ground for a home, shop, or building pad.
See the work ↗04 / STUMP GRINDINGStump grinding
The tree is gone. Finish the job below ground.
See the work ↗Lot & Acreage Clearing for New Homes in Conroe, The Woodlands, Willis
The county pulled 11,597 single-family permits in 2025 by the Census Building Permits Survey, the only county around Houston that held flat. Conroe alone pulled 1,839. That is residential land clearing on 1 to 5 acre tracts along FM 1488, FM 1314 and the Highway 105 corridor. The Conroe acre in my Field Sketches was loblolly understory cleared with 14 pines kept and the house pad roughed in: two days, $6,800. Small residential lots in older Willis and Montgomery subdivisions get the skid steer; anything over two acres gets the big machine. On pine ground we rough the pad 12 inches above the surveyed crown of the road, since sandy loam settles after the first wet winter. Commercial land clearing along I-45 runs by the acre with haul-off priced per load. Tell us the slab date and we work back from it.
Forestry Mulching & Brush Clearing on Pine Ground
Forestry mulching does 4 to 8 acres a day here because pine understory is soft going. The head shreds yaupon, sweetgum and small pine into a mulch layer that holds the sand through the first storms, which bare sand will not do. Our mulching services cover undergrowth under kept pines, clearing brush off a fence line, and cutting a corridor through a thicket for a drive. Underbrushing is the usual order near Lake Conroe: trees and brush below 8 inches out, the pines and water oaks left standing so you see the water from the porch. No burn piles, which matters when the county burn ban is on. A homeowner can reclaim overgrown land with one day of the skid steer on most lots. Yaupon is the only thing in Texas that grows faster than a subdivision, so plan on a mow line every spring.
Land Clearing Cost in Montgomery County
Numbers first. The lot decides the final price.
Clearing land here runs $1,500 to $2,000 an acre for light brush, $2,500 to $3,500 for yaupon thickets and small pine, and $4,000 and up for dense timber or a clear-cut with haul-off. Forestry mulching alone runs $1,000 to $2,500 an acre by density. The site conditions that move the number are timber size and access, not mud; sand drains.
- Skid steer mulcher: $3,000 a day, transport included, 1 to 3 acres a day.
- Big mulcher: $4,000 a day plus transport, 11 feet wide, 4 to 8 acres a day.
- Stump grinding: $150 to $400 per stump by diameter.
- Haul-off: $600 to $1,200 a load.
- Minimum trip: $1,200 to $1,500.
The Magnolia job in my sketches was three acres of selective clearing, keep the oaks, see the pond from the porch: two days on the big mulcher, $8,400 with transport. On our jobs along Highway 105 with pines over 14 inches, a timber buyer sometimes pays for the sawlogs and that offsets part of the bill. Call (713) 587-6978 with the address and I will tell you if your pine is worth a call to a buyer first.
Skid steer mulcher
Per day. Transport included. Trees under 8 inches.
Dedicated mulcher
Per day. Transport is additional. Large timber and dense ground.
Changes the day
Access, moisture, and what must leave the lot change the real number.
Terrain, Soil & Vegetation North of The Woodlands
Montgomery County has its own mix of loblolly pine, yaupon, sweetgum, water oak. We walk the plan through access, soil, and drainage. If a mapped floodplain or waterway is involved, we check the required approvals before dirt moves.
Sandy loam over clay is what you stand on from Willis to Splendora. It drains in two days where gumbo clay takes two weeks, so our season here runs longer. The vegetation is loblolly pine with a yaupon and sweetgum understory, water oak in the low spots, and some tallow creeping up the San Jacinto bottoms from the south. Pine and hardwood behave differently under the head: pine shreds into fine wood that mats down, sweetgum leaves stringy chunks. Removing vegetation off bare sand without leaving mulch invites erosion in the first thunderstorm, so we leave the layer. Woodland tracts overgrow with yaupon in three seasons once the canopy opens. We remove unwanted vegetation and keep the shade trees that slow it down. Flag the trees you love before we come. Orange tape is cheaper than regret.
The growth decides what can be mulched and what needs more than one pass.
Wet ground and access change the number before work starts.
Janine checks the route and schedule for each address.
The point Hollis checks first
sandy loam over clay; pine mulch holds sand through first storms. A clean lot is no use if water gets trapped against the next building pad. Tell us if the ground stays wet after a rain.
Pine Timber Tracts: Clear the Land, Mulch It or Sell the Timber
Permits are rare for land clearing in Montgomery County outside the FEMA mapped floodplain along the San Jacinto and Lake Creek. Inside it, the county's development permit comes before dirt moves. The real question on a pine tract is money: 2 to 20 acres of 30-year loblolly can carry sawlog value, and a timber buyer will cut and haul the big trees for the logs. Then we come behind and mulch the tops, the yaupon and the small pine, which is cheaper per acre than a clear-cut with haul-off. Property owners in master-planned communities like The Woodlands and Woodforest have tree covenants that rule out a clear-cut anyway. Commercial development and property development along I-45 and Highway 242 need a drainage review from the county engineer. Agricultural land clearing for pasture needs none. Send me the acreage and tree size, and I will tell you which order to call people in.
Areas We Serve in Montgomery County
Our equipment yard is in Hockley. Send the address and Janine will confirm the route.
Conroe, Magnolia, The Woodlands, Willis, Montgomery, New Caney and Splendora, plus every county road between FM 1488 and Highway 105. We are serving Montgomery County from the Hockley yard, 40 minutes up FM 1488 to the county line. Our service area runs throughout Montgomery County and down into north Houston, and the towns we serve in Montgomery County get the same per-acre numbers as Harris. The services available in Montgomery County are the five above; across Montgomery County the land clearing services in Montgomery County most often ordered are forestry mulching and lot clearing. Professional land clearing services on the lake side, near Lake Conroe and up toward Willis, are mostly selective clearing for a view. Montgomery County's barndominium belt along FM 1774 is mostly pad clearing. We work in seven counties in Texas and this is the one with the most pine.
Ready to Clear Your Pine Tract?
Send three photos and the address, or call (713) 587-6978. Janine will have a number back to you by tomorrow, usually within the hour on weekdays. On tracts over two acres I walk the property with you and sketch it first; the on-site visit and the free quote cost nothing inside Greater Houston. Our crews are insured. Get an estimate now and the pine comes down in dry weather. Nobody here is selling comprehensive land clearing solutions. We cut yaupon under pine and show you the invoice. Your tract won't transform overnight; it will be clear by Friday.
Tell Janine about your lot.
The address. The growth. Three honest photos.
Design preview. This form does not send or store information until a backend is connected.
Land Clearing Questions from Pine Country
If your question is about wet ground, Janine will ask me.
How much does land clearing cost per acre here?
$1,500 to $2,000 an acre for light brush, $2,500 to $3,500 for yaupon and small pine, $4,000 and up for timber with haul-off. Forestry mulching alone is $1,000 to $2,500 an acre. On residential jobs under two acres the day rate governs: $3,000 for the skid steer, $4,000 plus transport for the big mulcher.
Can you clear heavily wooded tracts around The Woodlands and Willis?
Yes, up to about 20 acres of mature loblolly in one booking. Expert land clearing on heavy pine means the right order: sawlogs sold first if the trees carry value, then a land clearing service like ours takes the tops and understory at 4 to 8 acres a day. Our equipment and expertise handle the rest safely and efficiently.
Do I need a permit to burn cleared brush in Conroe?
Inside Conroe city limits, no open burning. Outside, TCEQ outdoor burning rules apply and the county burn ban shuts it down most summers. Mulching skips the question: the trees and branches become a layer on the ground, nothing is piled, and the cleanup is finished the day the machine leaves.
How soon can you get equipment to Conroe?
Usually within a week in dry months, two in spring when the schedule fills. Transport from the Hockley yard is included on the skid steer and billed on the big machine. We have the experience and equipment to handle pine, hardwood and anything under the canopy, and Janine runs the schedule by the day, not the week.
How do I get a number for site prep on my lot?
Call (713) 587-6978 or send three photos and the address, and the number is back by tomorrow. For site preparation with a pad, I come out. Last spring on a lot off FM 2854 near Conroe we cleared an acre of pine understory and roughed the pad in two days, and I sketched it before and after so the owner saw both.