Land Clearing in Tyler, TX

Clearing a lot or pasture? Inside Tyler, undeveloped sites need a clearing permit. Light woods run about $733 to $2,333 an acre nationally.

Get a price from a local pro

Free to use
One local company, not a list
No obligation to hire

Referral website, not the contractor. How it works

Land clearing costs about $733 to $2,333 per acre for light woods in national guides, and Tyler requires a permit to clear an undeveloped site. To get a price from a local company, send a request with the form.

Tyler TX Tree is a referral website, not a tree service company. We send your request to one independent local tree service company. You never pay us; companies we refer you to may pay us for referrals.

Tell the company the acreage, what's growing there (brush, saplings or mature trees), what you want to keep, and what the land is for. Those four things set the method and the price.

Ways to clear land

Method	What it does	Typical national cost	Source
Brush clearing	Cuts and removes underbrush and saplings, leaves the bigger trees	About $20 to $200 per acre	LawnStarter
Forestry mulching	Grinds brush and small trees in place into a mulch layer	About $150 to $250 an hour, about $400 an acre on average	LawnStarter
Clearing light woods	Removes trees and brush on a lightly wooded acre	About $733 to $2,333 per acre	LawnStarter
Clearing heavy woods	Removes trees and brush on a densely wooded acre	About $3,395 to $6,155 per acre	LawnStarter
Tree removal by the acre	Takes down the trees across an acre	About $500 to $6,000 per acre	HomeAdvisor

LawnStarter says forestry mulching suits landowners who don't plan to grade or excavate right away, and that it avoids debris removal costs. Clearing for a house pad, a driveway or a barn usually needs stump removal and grading on top, which are often priced separately. Ask the company what its price includes.

Tyler's clearing rules

Inside Tyler city limits, the Unified Development Code treats clearing an undeveloped site differently from a homeowner cutting a tree:

A permit comes first. Sec. 10-302 requires a clearing and grading permit before any agricultural timbering, predevelopment clearing or depositing fill on an undeveloped site. Sec. 10-303 requires the same permit, from the city's development services engineer, before clearing and grubbing or other earth changes.
Underbrushing is allowed. Land outside the required buffer areas can be underbrushed without a permit. Inside the buffers, underbrushing is allowed with no mechanized equipment other than a chainsaw.
Big healthy trees need the permit. The code says living, healthy trees 6 inches or more in diameter at breast height may not be removed without one.
Buffers apply where tree preservation applies. In those zones, the code asks for an undisturbed 40-foot strip along 75 percent of the street frontage and 25-foot strips along 75 percent of the side and rear lines. Tree preservation covers multifamily, commercial, office and manufacturing districts, and the code says the Agricultural Zone has no tree preservation requirement.
Clearing without a permit costs more later. The code calls it unlawful, requires the owner to replant within six months, and allows a fine.

The application asks for an inventory of trees 6 inches and up in the buffer areas and a clearing plan. Ask the clearing company whether it has worked through Tyler's permit before, and confirm with the city's development services office before any machine arrives. Outside city limits, ask the county or the town you're in what applies.

Burning brush in Smith County

Burning is the cheapest way to get rid of a brush pile, when it's allowed:

Check the burn ban. Smith County's commissioners court ordered a 90-day ban on outdoor burning on August 18, 2026. Six weeks in, the county reported 235 wildfires in unincorporated areas. The county lifted the ban early on October 5 after rain. Bans come and go with drought, so check every time.
Follow the state rules. The Smith County Fire Marshal's Office says all outdoor burning must comply with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality's outdoor burning rules. When it does, brush, leaves and vegetation may be burned on the same property they came from.
Never burn the wrong things. The fire marshal lists tires, treated lumber, electrical insulation, heavy oils and roofing shingles among the things never to burn.
Consider the alternatives. The fire marshal suggests mulching, composting, recycling or landfill disposal before burning. Inside Tyler, residents can take covered loads to Greenwood Farms Landfill on FM 2767 with a current utility bill.

Inside city limits, check with your city before burning anything. The Smith County Fire Marshal's Office is at 903-590-2650.

Keep the oaks you want to keep

Texas A&M Forest Service lists land or "cedar" clearing among the wounds that let oak wilt into a tree, along with mowers, construction and storms. If you're saving oaks on the lot:

Schedule clearing around them outside February through June, when the Forest Service asks Texans not to wound oaks.
Paint any fresh wound on an oak, any time of year. The Forest Service says any kind of paint works.
Flag the trees you're keeping before the machines arrive, and keep equipment off their root zones.

Planning a clearing job

Walk the land with the company. Mark what stays, where the property lines are, and where the well, septic system and buried lines run.
Decide what happens to the debris. Mulched in place, hauled, or piled and burned when allowed. Each changes the price.
Ask about stumps. Mulching and brush clearing leave stumps. Grading for a pad usually means pulling or grinding them.
Ask about access and ground conditions. Wet ground can delay heavy equipment.
Get the scope and price in writing, including acreage, method, stumps and cleanup.

Single trees in the way are covered on the tree removal page, and stumps on the stump grinding page. Prices for all of it are in the Tyler tree removal cost guide, and the Tyler tree rules guide has more on permits and disposal. Other questions are answered in the tree service FAQ. We take requests from Tyler, Whitehouse, Lindale and Bullard.

Common questions

How much does land clearing cost per acre?

LawnStarter (October 2026) puts lightly wooded land at about $733 to $2,333 per acre and heavily wooded land at about $3,395 to $6,155 per acre. Brush-only clearing runs about $20 to $200 per acre. Most projects land between $1,266 and $3,900.

Do I need a permit to clear land in Tyler?

Inside city limits, yes, for an undeveloped site. Tyler's Unified Development Code requires a clearing and grading permit before any agricultural timbering, predevelopment clearing or fill on an undeveloped site. Underbrushing outside the required buffer areas doesn't need one. Outside city limits, ask the county or the town you're in.

Can I burn the brush after clearing?

Only when no burn ban is in effect and you follow the state's outdoor burning rules. The Smith County Fire Marshal says brush, leaves and vegetation may be burned on the same property they came from, if the burn complies with TCEQ rules. Check the county's burn ban status first; a 90-day ban ran from August 18 until October 5, 2026.

What is forestry mulching?

A machine grinds standing brush and small trees into mulch and leaves it on the ground, so there's no pile to haul or burn. LawnStarter says it fits land you don't plan to grade right away, and puts it at about $150 to $250 an hour, or about $400 an acre on average.

Sources (9)

Last updated 2026-10-23