Answered 24/7
- SW-ALicensed & insured
- SW-BAnswered 24/7
- SW-DFree estimates
- SW-CSe habla español
- SW-HSatisfaction guaranteed
Clearing ground you plan to build on
David’s been clearing brush and moving dirt across the San Antonio area since 2000, and land clearing in San Antonio starts with the trees you’re keeping. Each tract gets sized to the oaks that stay and the brush that goes, and you’ll get the estimate free from photos and a map pin.
We do land clearing for owners and land clearing for home builders, and both start with how much ground the plan needs open. A single homesite with its drive and yard is lot clearing. A multi-acre construction area cleared to a builder’s plan set is site clearing, and it’s sized off those plans.
On Kendall County acreage, where a house often sits on five-plus acres, you’re deciding how much to open, and selective clearing leaves the rest wooded. If the tract sits in a city’s ETJ, the band past its limits, check whether an ETJ tree permit applies before you pick a plan. Fair Oaks Ranch has its own tree rules too, so ask the city about land clearing permits there.
Fence lines, road frontage and easement strips
Some clearing follows a line off a survey or plat instead of filling a tract. A new or overgrown fence line goes to Fence Line Clearing. Road frontage, a gate you can’t see till you’re on it, or a blind pull-out at the drive goes to Right-of-Way Clearing.
A recorded pipeline or access easement crossing your land goes to Easement Clearing, and the recorded width decides how wide it’s cut. Cut a lane a few feet off the line and the posts land on the neighbor’s side, or the brush stays tight against the wire.
Ranch ground where brush keeps taking over
On grazing land, the question is whether grass or brush is winning. Pasture clearing takes out the mesquite, huisache and prickly pear that have shaded the forage out, while the shade trees you choose stay put. If brush that was shredded a few years back has come back thicker, the roots are the problem, and that’s mesquite removal.
Picking the lighter job when the roots are the trouble usually means you’ll clear the same pasture twice. Any of these jobs can leave piles of cut cedar, rock and root, and debris removal loads them up and hauls them off.
Local ground, growth and burn rules around town
The Balcones Escarpment splits this country, and which side your tract sits on often tells you which kind of clearing you’re shopping for. North and west, Ashe juniper grows under live oak and Spanish oak on shallow limestone ground, so the job is opening room while big trees stay. South and southeast, mesquite, huisache and prickly pear take over clay and sandy loam, and the work leans toward getting pasture back. Older cedar up north can sit near warbler habitat, so the golden-cheeked warbler window gets checked first.
Our yard’s off Culebra Road, west of Loop 1604, where the far west side keeps filling in. The Alamo Ranch area’s population is up more than 65% since COVID. Alamo Ranch Parkway and Culebra Road have absorbed 20,000-plus more vehicles a day since 2020. Builder lots and edge tracts here come up fast on tight schedules, and they’re close to where our machines park.
Burning brush isn’t part of what we do, and some counties take it off the table anyway. In August 2024, Medina County commissioners ordered an immediate countywide outdoor burning ban when the Keetch-Byram Drought Index, a dryness reading, hit 572. Orders like that can take effect immediately, so a clearing plan here shouldn’t lean on a burn pile.
What to have ready when you call
- Rough acreage or a dropped map pin
- Photos of the thickest brush
- Which trees and mottes you’re keeping
- Whether it’s city, ETJ or county land
- What goes on the ground afterward
- Where the gate and access road are
What to sort out before clearing day
- Keep-trees tied with bright tape
- Survey pins found and flagged
- Tree rules checked with the city
- Buried utility lines marked by 811
- Livestock moved off the work area
- A gate wide enough for a trailer
How we walk a tract before clearing starts
Every clearing job runs in this order, whether it’s one lot, a fence lane or a whole pasture. You’ll know what’s coming out before a machine starts.
- 01
Call and describe the tract
Call (210) 866‑3822 and describe the tract in a sentence. Sarah logs whether it’s a lot, a line or a pasture so the right estimate gets set up, and she answers every call, day or night.
- 02
Send photos and a map pin
Photos usually tell us enough to write the estimate, but if they don’t, we’ll say so and set up a site walk. Send them through the estimate form with a dropped pin and rough acreage if you’ve got it.
- 03
Mark the keepers and the lines
Tie tape around the trees and live oak mottes you’re keeping, and point out survey pins and anything buried. If the tract’s inside a city or the ETJ, check the tree rules before anything gets cut.
- 04
Clearing day on your tract
The mulcher, a drum head on a compact track loader, chews cedar and brush into mulch. Grubbing, which pulls roots out of the ground, happens only where roots can’t stay, like a pad, a drive or mesquite that’d resprout.
- 05
Walk the finished ground
The work’s satisfaction guaranteed, so walk the tract with the crew lead once the machine’s parked. Check what’s open, what’s standing and anything that isn’t right before the trailer’s loaded.
Land Clearing
Our land clearing services
Lot Clearing
One homesite, cleared without scalping the lot. Flag the oaks you’re keeping and they stay, while cedar, brush and stumps come off the house footprint, the driveway path and the utility run.
Site Clearing
David runs the crews on multi-acre construction sites, clearing to the civil plan set with the limits flagged before a machine moves. We’ll mulch on site or haul off, whatever the plans call for.
Fence Line Clearing
We clear the lane and your fence crew builds the fence. Working off the survey pins, a mulcher pass opens an overgrown line wide enough for posts and wire, so cedar isn’t leaning on it later.
Learn moreRight-of-Way Clearing
We open road frontage where cedar hides a ranch gate until you’re on top of it. We also clear the right-of-way strip and sight lines on private land and lift low limbs. Power lines aren’t ours.
Easement Clearing
Read the recorded width before anything gets cut. On pipeline and access easements, we call 811, mulch above grade over marked lines without grubbing, and don’t clear past the recorded edge.
Mesquite & Huisache Removal
Shred a mesquite and it’ll come back thicker, since the buds sit in the root crown. On old pasture around Lytle, we grub that crown out with an excavator and thumb, and huisache gets the same.
Pasture Clearing
Grass can’t grow under a brush canopy. We take out mesquite, huisache and prickly pear and keep the shade trees and mottes your cattle use. It gives the forage a fair shot at coming back next season.
Land Clearing Permits
Before clearing, it’s smart to check the tree rules. San Antonio’s ordinance reaches into the ETJ, and Helotes keeps its own. We’ll point you to the right office so the permit’s filed first.
Debris Removal
Brush piles, cut cedar, and rock and root piles left after clearing get loaded with a grapple bucket and hauled off by the trailer load. We don’t burn brush, so the rest gets mulched in place.
Did you know?
The cedar-covered Hill Country isn’t how it looked before settlement. The uplands were open prairie dotted with oaks, with juniper mostly tucked into steep slopes and ravines. Then heavy grazing and fewer grass fires let it spread across the hills.
FAQs about land clearing in San Antonio
Before you clear a single acre
Two checks head off trouble on almost any tract. Is the land in city limits or the ETJ, and which trees do you want standing when the machines leave? Settle both and you won’t be guessing later.
Do I need a permit to clear land in the San Antonio ETJ?
Yes, San Antonio’s tree ordinance covers private property inside city limits and the ETJ, which reaches about five miles past the city line. You’ll need a tree affidavit or permit application before any clearing starts. San Antonio’s Development Services FAQ treats Ashe juniper, mesquite and huisache as significant at 10 inches in diameter, and heritage trees start at 24. Check a tract’s ETJ status with DSD before clearing day is set.
How much does land clearing cost in San Antonio?
Land clearing cost in San Antonio follows the brush as much as the acreage. Thick cedar brakes take longer to grind than scattered mesquite, and big trunks take longer than saplings. Every tree you’re keeping adds time, since the mulcher has to work around it, and slope, shelf rock and tight gates slow the machines too. Hauling brush off costs more than mulching it in place, and Longhorn Land Clearing & Excavation prices each tract free from photos and a map pin.
Can I clear the brush on my lot and keep the live oaks?
Yes, selective clearing takes out cedar, underbrush and small brush while the trees you flag stay standing. A mulcher can work close around a live oak motte, and hand saws handle tight spots under the canopy where a machine shouldn’t go. Flag every tree you want kept before clearing day, and walk the lot with the crew lead if you can. On the half-acre-plus wooded lots in Fair Oaks Ranch, cedar thinning and underbrush work beneath the oaks is the typical need.
What happens to the brush after land clearing in Bexar County?
Brush gets mulched on site or hauled, and that’s your call. Mulch left as a layer keeps the ground covered and breaks down over time. The pad area and driveway route usually get hauled clean with a grapple and dump trailers. Bexar is in the San Antonio ozone nonattainment area, so state rules limit land-clearing burns there to cases with no practical alternative. Longhorn Land Clearing & Excavation sets the mulch and haul split with you at the estimate.
What is the best way to get rid of mesquite and huisache on pasture?
Grubbing out the root crown stops mesquite and huisache, because both resprout when they’re only cut or shredded at ground level. A mini excavator or root rake pulls the crown and main roots, and the holes get smoothed back so the pasture can be grazed or mowed. Texas A&M’s Natural Resources Institute describes huisache as an aggressive invasive that cuts into forage. That brush is common on pasture south and east of San Antonio, around Lytle, Devine and Floresville.
What is the difference between lot clearing and site clearing?
Lot clearing prepares a single homesite, usually keeping the best trees and opening just the house footprint, driveway and yard. Site clearing covers a larger construction area, often for a builder, and follows the clearing limits on a plan set across pads, roads and lots. Both start with the same permit check when they’re inside San Antonio’s ETJ. Longhorn Land Clearing & Excavation handles single homesites for owners and multi-lot sites for builders.
How do you clear an overgrown fence line on acreage?
An overgrown fence line gets cleared by mulching a strip along one or both sides, then grubbing out mesquite or cedar rooted against the wire. If the old fence is coming out, the wire and posts are pulled first so they don’t tangle in the mulcher head. If it’s staying, the machine works along it and hand tools clean up right at the wire. On pasture around Devine and Floresville, mesquite and huisache grown into the fence are the usual problem.
What equipment is used for land clearing around San Antonio?
Most clearing runs on a compact track loader with a forestry mulcher head, which grinds cedar and brush where it stands. A mini excavator with a hydraulic thumb pulls stumps and grubs mesquite roots, and a dozer builds pads, ranch roads and fire breaks. Root rakes and grapples gather and load debris, and dump trailers haul off whatever isn’t mulched. Longhorn Land Clearing & Excavation runs its own machines, so jobs don’t wait on a rental yard.
Can you clear land around a water well?
Yes, but clearing can’t start until the well head, water lines and any drain field are marked. The machines route around those spots, and brush right next to the well is best cut by hand. Private wells are common near Old Town Helotes, and most Spring Branch properties run on them, so plan for this on tracts in those areas. Point them out at the estimate so the clearing plan accounts for them.
Can land be cleared after heavy rain around San Antonio?
Usually not right away, because wet ground ruts under heavy machines and the ruts take more work to fix than the wait. The cracking clay soils across much of Bexar County south of the escarpment hold water longest and need time to dry out. Thin limestone ground in the Hill Country to the north and west firms up sooner. A good crew reschedules so it doesn’t tear up your ground.