Land Clearing
Brush, undergrowth and small trees cleared off lots and acreage with forestry mulchers and brush rakes, leaving ground you can use.
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Service Area
Salem sits on the Willamette River with hills on three sides. The Salem Hills rise south of town, and West Salem climbs into the Eola Hills across the water. On that ground a back acre goes to brush in two or three wet seasons. Himalayan blackberry leads the way, and it is the most widespread noxious weed in western Oregon.
Willamette Valley Land Clearing is based in Lebanon, about 36 miles up the valley from Salem. We clear brush, undergrowth and small trees off Salem lots and acreage with a skid steer and an excavator. Both machines run forestry mulcher heads, so the brush turns into chips on the ground instead of burn piles. Call or text (541) 936-4687 for a free estimate on land clearing or forestry mulching anywhere in town.
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The Salem Hills rise straight off the south edge of town and top out around 600 to 700 feet. Old records called them the Red Hills and the Red Clay Hills. That red clay is Jory soil, Oregon's state soil, and it grows Douglas fir and Oregon white oak well. It grows brush just as well, so a hillside acre left alone fills in from the edges.
Rosedale sits in those hills just south of town, and much of that ground is rural acreage. The back part of a place like that fills with blackberry canes, brush and fir seedlings under older oaks. Our Bobcat skid steer runs a forestry mulcher head and grinds that growth down where it stands. The excavator carries a mulching head and a brush rake for heavier stems and root balls.
Slope changes how a clearing job runs. On steeper Salem Hills ground we work across the hill and leave the mulch layer in place. That chip layer holds soil through the wet season, which around here runs from about October into May. Where you want bare dirt instead, we rake the material into piles and set them where you can reach them.
Mill Creek and Pringle Creek cross the middle of Salem. Battle Creek, Croisan Creek and Claggett Creek run through the south and southeast. Glenn Creek drains West Salem on the Polk County side. Blackberry follows every one of them, then pushes out into the fields and yards alongside.
Blackberry is a machine problem once a patch is over your head. We mulch the cane mass down first, so you can see the ground again. Where you want the crowns out, the excavator pulls root balls with the brush rake. Marion County typically bars open burning inside the Salem and Keizer urban growth boundary, so mulching in place fits.
We do not spray, so keeping a cleared field open comes down to repeat mowing or a second mulching pass. Work right at the water gets planned differently, because Oregon has removal and fill rules for streams. Scope near a creek bank gets sorted out with you first. Upland fence lines, field edges and back acreage are the everyday blackberry removal work around Salem.
Marion County is farm country before it is anything else. It is one of Oregon's main nursery and greenhouse counties, and the valley around Salem grows grass seed and hazelnuts. Small acreages sit in between, and plenty of them are five or ten acres nobody has cut in years. Grass and light brush like that calls for mowing.
Our skid steer runs a heavy brush mower for it. The mower takes tall grass, weeds and light brush down in one pass and leaves the cuttings spread. Orchard rows, headlands, ditch banks and the strip along a fence all get the same treatment. Brush hogging a field once or twice a year is what keeps it from filling back in.
Winter ground on valley clay is soft, so heavy field work waits for it to firm up. Salem sits in the Oregon Department of Forestry's North Cascade District, which covers Marion and Polk counties. Fire season there typically brings regulated use rules and precaution levels that can limit power equipment hours near forestland. We plan the work around whatever is in effect that week.
Salem has passed 180,000 people and keeps filling in toward its urban growth boundary. Four Corners sits just outside the city limits on the east side, inside that boundary, with about 16,700 residents. Hayesville, Northgate and East Lancaster tell the same story, where subdivisions run up against farm ground. Acreage on those edges gets bought for a house, and the first job is taking the brush off.
Lot clearing means opening the building footprint, the driveway line and the room a crew needs to work. We take out brush, small trees and stumps, and the excavator digs the stumps out of the ground. Trees you want kept stay standing, and we work around them. Your excavation contractor takes it from there for the dirt work.
Two other things come up on Salem lots. Oregon typically requires an 811 utility locate before ground disturbing work, so that call goes in before the machines. On wooded homesites in the Salem Hills or the Eola Hills, owners often want fuels cut back around the house. Dry grass, low limbs and brush against a structure come off in the same trip.
Communities and areas we serve around Salem: West Salem, South Gateway, Faye Wright, Sunnyslope, Croisan Creek, East Lancaster, Northgate, Four Corners, Hayesville, Rosedale, Macleay, Eola.
Salem ZIP codes served: 97301, 97302, 97303, 97304, 97305, 97306, 97317.
Free estimates throughout Marion County and the surrounding area.
(541) 936-4687 Brush, undergrowth and small trees cleared off lots and acreage with forestry mulchers and brush rakes, leaving ground you can use.
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A mulcher head grinds brush and small trees into chips in one pass. You get the ground back under a layer of chips.
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We clear thick brush, undergrowth and small trees off lots, field edges, fence lines and back acreage. The material gets mulched in place or raked into a pile.
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We clear Himalayan blackberry off fields, fence lines, yards and back acreage with mulcher heads. Blackberry regrows from its root crowns, so we plan the follow-up mowing with you.
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We brush hog overgrown fields, pasture and heavy weeds with a skid steer brush mower. Free estimates across the mid-Willamette Valley from our base in Lebanon.
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We clear homesites and building lots before construction starts. Brush, small trees and stumps come off the footprint and the access.
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Driveways, farm lanes and access roads that brush has closed in, opened back up. We cut the edges and the overhead, then mulch what comes off.
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We clear brush, blackberry and small trees back from homes, shops and barns. Machine work across the mid-Willamette Valley, with free estimates.
Learn MoreA few of the questions we hear most around Salem. If yours is not here, call or text and ask.
Tell us where the property is and what you want cleared, and we will set up a look at it. You can also call or text (541) 936-4687.
Tell us about the job. We will get right back to you.