Equipment Rate Calc

Land Clearing Calculator

Estimate land clearing price from acreage, brush density, equipment hours, hauling, disposal, operator cost, and margin. Results update automatically as inputs change.

Inputs

Job assumptions

Use the net area to be cleared from a map or survey, excluding buffers and retained vegetation.

Base the estimate on completed work with similar stems, terrain, access, disposal, and finish.

Use 1.0 for baseline difficulty, then raise it for thicker growth, larger stems, slope, rock, or wet ground.

Enter total loading, trucking, tipping, burning, chipping, or processing cost allowed by the scope.

Include transport for each machine, permits, loading, unloading, support vehicles, and setup.

Operating cost

Combine machine, attachment, fuel, operator, maintenance, and overhead cost per working hour.

Profit & protection

Margin is profit divided by the final selling price, not a markup on cost.

Calculations stay in this browser unless you explicitly save or share.

Recommended Quote 0

How this calculator works

Machine hours = acres x hours per acre x density factor. Quote = (machine cost + disposal + mobilization) / (1 - target margin).

Read the methodology and editorial policy

Use the result as a cost checkpoint

Use this calculator for small acreage clearing, brush removal, lot cleanup, and prep work where density and disposal can move the price more than acreage alone.

This tool is best for pricing small acreage clearing and brush removal. Use the result to decide what clearing work should charge after acres, density, machine hours, disposal, mobilization, and margin. Review stumps, rocks, hidden debris, fence, wet access, steep ground, and customer expectations for finish cleanup before relying on the result.

Worked example

A 1.5 acre job at 7 hours per acre with a 1.2 density factor becomes 12.6 estimated machine hours.

Increase time for stumps, rocks, fence, steep ground, wet access, dump runs, and cleanup expectations. Price repeated bulk-material truck cycles in the Dump Truck Cycle and Hauling Cost Calculator when disposal is more than a simple allowance.

Input and quote review

  • Clarify whether clearing includes grubbing, stump removal, or only brush cutting.
  • Add disposal cost when material leaves the site.
  • Use a density factor when walking conditions are not easy.
  • Price cleanup standards before the work starts.

Keep the final scope, assumptions, exclusions, allowances, change triggers, and post-job results with the estimate so future defaults are supported by evidence.

Common questions

Is this the final customer price?

No. It is a planning checkpoint. Walk the site, confirm scope and access, verify current costs, and apply contract, permit, tax, utility, safety, and professional requirements.

Where are saved inputs stored?

Only an explicit Save stores inputs in this browser's localStorage. Share places inputs in the URL hash. The calculator does not send them to Equipment Rate Calc.

Should I copy a competitor's rate?

Use market prices as a reasonableness check after calculating your own cost, scope, utilization, risk, and margin.

Validate clearing production assumptions

For a repeatable task that can be measured by cycle and capacity, use the Equipment Production and Unit Cost Calculator as a sensitivity check before relying on hours per acre in the clearing estimate.

Important disclaimerPlanning estimate only. Verify current costs, measurements, production, scope, access, customer requirements, contracts, permits, insurance, taxes, and local rules before quoting or committing money. This tool does not determine utility clearance, shoring, slope, ground stability, legal payload, securement, machine capacity, licensing, traffic control, environmental compliance, or safe operating procedure. Follow applicable law, plans, manufacturer instructions, and qualified safety guidance.