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Land clearing quotes for Ocala and Marion County property owners
Tell us about your lot, pasture, or overgrown acreage once. We pass the request to an independent local land clearing provider so you can get a site visit and a written price, without calling around.
Marion County, Florida · quote matching
We are not a contractor. We do not run machines and we never quote prices ourselves. What we do offer is a single place to describe the job and a plain-English guide to the local rules that tend to surprise people clearing land around Ocala: city versus county tree rules, gopher tortoise burrows, utility locates, and burn authorizations.
- Homesite and lot clearing for new builds, driveways, and pads
- Forestry mulching for understory, trails, and fence lines
- Brush removal for palmetto, vines, and overgrown pasture edges
- Stump grinding after tree work or old clearing
Marion County ground is not all the same ground
People new to the area are often told Ocala sits on "sand," and much of it does. Geologic mapping of the county tells a fuller story. In a published sinkhole-susceptibility study of Marion County, Ocala Limestone underlies about 30% of the county, the loose to poorly consolidated sands of the Cypresshead Formation cover about 26%, and the clayey, phosphatic sands of the Coosawhatchie Formation cover about 17%. Those layers behave very differently under a tracked machine.
Where the limestone sits close to the surface, the landscape is karst country: rainwater slowly dissolves the rock, and sinkholes, springs, and sinking streams form. The Florida Geological Survey's map of the eastern Ocala quadrangle describes numerous springs, swallets, and other karst features. For a land clearing job, that matters in practical ways. A low, bowl-shaped spot in a wooded lot is worth pointing out to the provider before grubbing starts, and pushing debris or fill into a depression is something to discuss rather than assume.
Soil series named for this county show the same range. The Sparr series, whose official type location is a few miles south of Ocala near U.S. 441, is a very deep sandy and loamy soil. The Pedro series, by contrast, is a shallow soil formed over limestone. Shallow rock can limit how deep a stump grinder or root rake can go; deep sand changes how equipment tracks and how a cleared pad holds up in rain.
Five checks before a machine shows up
None of these is legal advice, and the office that issues a permit always has the final word. They are the questions that come up again and again on Marion County clearing jobs, with the public source for each one listed on our sources page.
1. City of Ocala or unincorporated county?
The City of Ocala's tree code generally requires a tree removal permit before removing trees 4 inches in diameter or larger, with exceptions that include qualifying single-family R-1 lots under three acres. Unincorporated Marion County uses a different structure: its Land Development Code calls for a permit for native trees 10 inches DBH or larger when removal isn't tied to development, single-family and duplex parcels are exempt from that stand-alone permit, and for sites going through development review the approved plans serve as the tree removal permit. Knowing which side of the city line your parcel is on is step one.
2. Gopher tortoise burrows
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) requires landowners to get a relocation permit before land clearing or development that falls within 25 feet of a potentially occupied gopher tortoise burrow. FWC also warns that clearing before permits and burrow surveys are verified can create a violation and add cost. A half-moon shaped hole in sandy soil with an apron of sand in front is the sign to mention.
3. Underground utilities
Florida law (Chapter 556) requires anyone excavating, including grading and moving earth, to notify Sunshine 811 at least two full business days before starting, not counting the day of the request, weekends, or listed holidays.
4. Burning the debris
Burning land clearing debris requires an authorization from the Florida Forest Service. For residential land clearing piles, the setbacks are 300 feet from occupied buildings other than the landowner's, 100 feet from roads, and 50 feet from wildlands, brush, or combustible structures. Non-residential clearing piles need 1,000 feet from occupied buildings. On many smaller lots, those distances simply cannot be met, which is why haul-off and mulching come up so often.
5. Wet-season timing
Ocala's 1991-2020 climate normals show about 51.6 inches of precipitation a year, and roughly 27.9 inches of that falls from June through September. Summer clearing is common, but a provider may plan around afternoon storms, saturated low spots, and rutting.
What land clearing tends to cost (published ranges, not quotes)
We do not set or quote prices. The figures below are national averages published by HomeGuide and are here only to help you read a written estimate. Your provider's price depends on density, access, debris handling, and permits.
| Work | Published national average (HomeGuide, checked Oct 2026) |
|---|---|
| Land clearing | $1,200 to $8,000 per acre |
| Forestry mulching | $400 to $800 per acre, or $125 to $300 per hour |
| Stump grinding | $120 to $400 for one stump; $30 to $60 per additional stump |
How a request moves
1. You describe the job
Location, rough acreage, what is growing there, and what you want it to look like afterward. Photos help if the provider asks for them.
2. We pass it on
Your request goes to one independent provider that works in your part of Marion County. We do not sell it to a list of companies.
3. They contact you
The provider schedules a site look and gives you their own written estimate. You decide whether to hire them. There is no charge from us either way.
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