Hand Crew Cutting & Chipping Services

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Brush Clearing and Oak Tree Trimming

Hand crews for cutting and chipping work effectively and efficiently in tandem with our machines or alone for smaller or more detailed jobs. Our team adeptly navigates diverse terrains with targeted clearing solutions that optimize your investment.

For smaller jobs such as brush clearing and oak tree trimming, hand crew cutting offers a meticulous and environmentally sensitive alternative. Skilled crews utilize manual cutting techniques to selectively remove vegetation, focusing on precision and attention to detail. This ultimately allows for very little soil disruption, leads to less soil erosion and delivers a clean landscape.

Depending upon the terrain and landscape of your property, we will customize a solution to meet your needs. Some jobs include chipping the wood, leaving it in piles for exemption requirements or distributing the material as a layer of land-preserving mulch.

The hand crews often perform a number of wildlife extension tasks for our customers by cutting and creating small brush piles for wildlife. These tasks can also include brush dams to slow erosion and oak inclusions to promote new oak growth.

Our crews have worked closely with Texas Parks & Wildlife on numerous occasions to complete various tasks. Most notably would be the recent completion of cutting trail corridors in for the new Palo Pinto Mountain State Park near Strawn, Texas.

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Oak Wilt Prevention is Essential

Oak wilt is a disease caused by the fungus Ceratocystis fagacearum that affects oak trees across the Hill Country. Although the disease typically spreads through root-to-root contact, it can (in rare cases) also spread by a type of beetle that carries fungal spores from an infected tree to other trees nearby. Any recent wounds (between 24 to 48 hours old) are vulnerable to this type of transmittal.

That’s why our hand crews take every precaution when dealing with trees infected with oak wilt or when oak wilt is known to be in the area. We “paint the oaks” by spraying and sealing the wounds we create to prevent the disease from spreading. Don’t hesitate to talk to your job supervisor about oak wilt concerns.

It is best to cut on oaks during the winter months usually between November through February. This ensures less stress on the trees.

Hand Crew Cutting FAQs

Here are some frequent questions that we receive regarding our brush clearing services.

How do you work around dense oak motts?

When dealing with dense oaks motts we typically recommend a combination of one of our Cedar Eater™ mulching machines, as well as a team of hand crew guys and a skid steer with grapple if needed.

There are many cases when the canopies of the oaks are too low, and the mulching machine cannot operate without risking damage to the oaks. This is where we recommend the use of our hand crew and skid steer.

Though they are not needed on all our jobs, the hand crew and skid steer play a vital role in achieving a park-like look and help to speed up the clearing process by moving the material into areas where the machine can mulch it.

This also ensures less damage to the hardwoods being saved.

Do you mulch oak trees that have been killed by oak wilt?

Yes, we mulch infected, dead, or dying oaks.

The cost to clear these trees is usually much higher than when we are dealing with cedar. This is mainly due to the variances of density in the oak wood as it is difficult to give a landowner an exact bid on how long it will take to mulch the infected trees.

Some move fairly quickly due to holes in the tree or from the exposure to the elements. Others move slowly when the wood is dry and very dense. The hard wood also takes a toll on our machinery, so the hourly rate is usually much higher to cover the cost of repair.

These are all things we must take into account when we give you an estimate.

When is the best time to clear oak trees that suffer from oak wilt?

The best time to remove infected oaks is between late fall and early spring.

The cooler weather allows our machines to not only be able to handle the harder wood but also helps aid in keeping the now inactive spores from spreading as they do during mid spring through summer into mid fall.

What steps do you take to prevent oak wilt?

We try to take every precaution necessary to keep from spreading oak wilt.

Our hand crews paint the oaks we cut when we are working on a property that has the disease or when the disease is located nearby. Our operators clean off our machines daily to keep from transferring any contaminated debris. We also try to keep any and all infected trees separated from healthy oaks.

If a landowner is still worried we will wash the machine using a mixture of bleach and water.

Are you familiar with the NRCS?

Yes, Cedar Eaters is familiar with the NRCS and we are an EQUIP-approved contractor.

If you have applied for governmental assistance in clearing your land then we can work closely with you and your local extension agent in devising a clearing plan.

If you are not familiar with the NRCS you can learn more by visiting their website at www.tx.nrcs.usda.gov.

Before After

Look at the Difference Our Brush Clearing Services Made

Beneath the thick, overgrown vegetation is land just waiting to be restored to a natural healthy habitat.

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Hand Crew Cutting Expertise

With more than two decades of experience in Texas, our comprehensive approach to hand cutting is an example of our attention to detail. Our teams go through extensive training before we ever put them in the field, and even then, we send them out with experienced team members to watch and learn. Our hand crew team is incredibly fast and effective in transforming landscapes and one more reason why Cedar Eaters is second to none in our business.

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With a proven track record of successful projects and a dedication to preserving native ecosystems, Cedar Eaters of Texas ensures superior results that prioritize both environmental health and landowner satisfaction. Contact us for more information and schedule a free estimate today.

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