Forestry Mulching
Forestry mulching in Moncton, NB
Trees, brush and saplings ground into chip where they stand. One machine, one pass, no burn piles and no disposal bill — the method we use for the vegetation on most of the jobs on this site.
The method
One machine instead of four
A forestry mulcher is a steel drum studded with carbide teeth, spinning fast, carried on the boom of an excavator. It takes a standing tree from the top down or the side in and turns it into chip in seconds. The chip lands where the tree stood.
Set that against how clearing used to be done here: a dozer or feller to knock it down, a grapple to gather it, a truck to haul it or a burn pile and a permit and three days of watching it, then the dozer again to fix the ruts and windrows. Four machines, multiple mobilizations, and a disposal invoice.
Mulching collapses that into one pass. The saving isn't a cheaper rate — it's deleting three-quarters of the process.
Mulching headTight, low shot of the drum engaged in a stem with chip flying. Best single image on the site.
Comparison
Mulching vs. conventional clear-and-haul
| Forestry mulching | Clear & haul | |
|---|---|---|
| Machines on site | One | Typically three to four |
| Debris | Stays as chip on the ground | Piled, burned or trucked away |
| Disposal cost | None | Often a third of the bill |
| Burn permit | Not needed | Needed, and weather-dependent |
| Topsoil | Left in place | Frequently pushed off with the debris |
| Erosion risk after | Low — the mat holds the surface | High — bare, compacted ground |
| Cleanup needed | Little to none | Regrading, often reseeding |
| Stumps & roots | Stay in the ground | Usually removed |
| Best for | Pasture, woodlot, reclamation, first pass on a lot | Sites being excavated anyway |
The honest limit
Mulching leaves the roots. If you're pouring a foundation, running a septic field or building a road base, they have to come out and mulching alone won't finish the job. Mulch first, then grub — you still come out ahead, because clearing the vegetation first makes the grubbing much faster.
Where we use it
What mulching handles on a typical job
First pass on a building lot
Envelope, driveway line and septic area cleared to grade before the bucket comes out for the stumps.
Opening up acreage
Turning a wall of bush into open, walkable ground over a couple of days.
Field and pasture reclamation
Alder and spruce regeneration taken off old farmland with the sod left intact underneath.
Access corridors
Driveway lines, woods roads and trails cut to width, with the chip left as an initial running surface.
Woodlot understory
Competing stems removed to release the trees worth keeping, without touching the crop.
Fuel reduction near buildings
Pushing the vegetation load back off a house, camp or outbuilding.
Straight answers
Forestry mulching questions
What is forestry mulching?
Land clearing done with a single machine. A drum of carbide teeth mounted on the boom of an excavator grinds standing trees, brush and saplings into chip that stays on the ground where it fell. No piling, no burning, no trucking, no disposal bill.
The traditional alternative is cut, pile, haul and burn: three or four machines, several operators, disposal costs and a site that needs repairing when it's over.
Does mulching remove stumps?
No. The head grinds the stump flush with the ground or slightly below, and the root system stays. That's completely fine for pasture, trails, woodlot work and general property cleanup.
For anything structural the roots have to come out, which is grubbing — a separate operation with a bucket and thumb. On a building lot the usual plan is mulch first, grub second.
Is it cheaper than conventional clearing?
On most properties, yes — but not because the hourly rate is lower. It's cheaper because of what it deletes. Conventional clearing has four cost centres: the clearing, the piling, the hauling or burning, and repairing the ground afterward. Mulching has one.
Where the gap closes is a job that needs grubbing anyway. There you're paying for excavation regardless of how the vegetation came off.
What size trees can it handle?
Comfortably up to roughly 8 to 10 inches on the stump, in one pass. Bigger stems can be taken in stages, but the time per tree climbs sharply.
There's also a common-sense limit. A 20-inch hardwood is worth money as a log. If a lot carries merchantable timber, the sensible plan is to have it harvested first and mulch what's left — we'll say so even though it means less work for us.
Is it better for the ground?
Measurably. Dozing tears out the root mat and takes the topsoil with it. Mulching cuts at grade and leaves the soil profile intact, then covers it with two to four inches of chip that holds the surface through heavy rain, moderates ground temperature and breaks down into the soil.
On sloped ground running toward a brook, that erosion control is the entire argument.
When is mulching the wrong choice?
When the roots have to come out anyway and the site is going to be dug up regardless — there, the soil protection you're paying for is about to be excavated. And when there's merchantable timber standing that's worth more as logs.
Both are things we'd tell you on the quote visit rather than after.
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