All County Excavation & Turf
If you own a lot in Broward, Miami-Dade, or Palm Beach County, land clearing is almost always the first real construction expense you will face. It is also one of the hardest to price from a quick phone call, because no two parcels carry the same amount of vegetation, debris, or muck. This guide explains what actually drives the price so you can compare quotes with confidence.
What drives the cost of land clearing?
1. Density of vegetation. A grassy, lightly wooded lot clears quickly. A parcel choked with Brazilian pepper, melaleuca, ficus roots, and years of overgrowth takes heavier machines and more truckloads of hauling. Density matters more than acreage.
2. Stumps and roots. Cutting trees down is the easy part. Grubbing – pulling stumps, roots, and buried organics out of the ground – is what makes a site truly buildable. If roots are left behind, they rot, settle, and crack whatever gets built on top.
3. Hauling and disposal. Everything that comes off the lot has to go somewhere legal. Disposal fees and trucking distance are a real part of every South Florida clearing quote, and they climb fast when a site holds construction debris or dumped trash, not just vegetation.
4. Access and site conditions. Tight urban infill lots, wet ground, and protected trees that must be worked around all add machine time. Seasonal water tables in South Florida can turn a simple job into a phased one.
Typical ballpark ranges
As a rough guide, lightly vegetated lots often run in the low thousands of dollars per acre, while densely wooded or debris-laden parcels can run several times that once grubbing and hauling are included. Treat any per-acre number you read online as a starting point only – a real price requires a site walk.
Do not forget permits
Most South Florida municipalities require a clearing permit, and many protect specific tree species. A licensed contractor will flag protected trees, handle the permit conversation, and keep you out of code-enforcement trouble. That protection alone is worth more than the difference between a licensed quote and a guy with a rented skid steer.
What happens after clearing?
Clearing is step one of site development. Once the lot is clean, the ground is compacted and shaped – often with laser grading – and fill is trucked in or muck trucked out through material import and export. Getting one contractor who handles the full sequence saves both money and schedule, because the clearing crew already knows what the pad needs next.
Get a real number for your lot
All County Excavation & Turf clears residential lots and full commercial sites across Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach counties, with our own machines and operators. Send us the address and we will walk the site and give you a firm, written price.
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