Lot clearing, forestry mulching, and excavation for landowners, homeowners, hunters, and real estate professionals. Owner-operated out of Chesterhill, covering a 60-mile radius from Zanesville to Marietta and Athens to Logan.
Buckeye handles the full range of ground work a property needs before anything else can happen on it — clearing, mulching, digging, grading, and drainage. We also take on demolition and septic system work for clients already using us on a site. Everything below is available anywhere inside our 60-mile service radius across Southeast Ohio.
Overgrown ground is the reason most Southeast Ohio properties sit unused. As your land clearing contractor, we open up lots and acreage for building, cut back brush and underbrush that has taken over pasture or hunting ground, and take out trees and stumps down to grade so the site is genuinely workable. We also handle right-of-way clearing and storm cleanup when downed timber has blocked access or made a property unsafe. Every job ends with the debris dealt with, not pushed into a pile at the tree line.
Forestry mulching clears brush and small timber in a single pass and grinds it back into the ground as mulch, so there is no burning, no hauling, and no stump field left behind. It is the fastest way to reclaim pasture, open a hunting lane, or make an overgrown parcel presentable before it goes on the market. We handle brush and vegetation mulching on smaller jobs and full land reclamation mulching on acreage that has gone years without attention. The mulch layer left behind holds soil in place and breaks down into it over the following seasons.
As excavating contractors we handle the dirt work that has to happen before anything gets built. That includes trenching for water, electric, and drainage lines, final grading and site prep so a builder can start clean, and building pads sized for residential work. We also cut in driveways and entrances and install drainage systems that move water away from structures instead of toward them. If you need land grading contractors for a finish grade rather than a full site build, that is well within what we do.
When something on the property has to come down before the real work starts, we take care of it. We handle structure demolition on outbuildings, barns, sheds, mobile homes, and small structures, and we clear the debris rather than leaving it for someone else to deal with. Because we are already on site with an excavator, adding demolition to a clearing or excavation job is usually far cheaper than bringing in a separate contractor. Ask about it when we come out for your estimate.
A septic system is often the piece that decides whether a rural parcel is buildable at all. We install new systems on cleared and excavated sites and handle repair and service work on systems that have failed or backed up. Because we do the clearing, the excavation, and the septic on the same property, the site work and the system get planned together instead of fighting each other. Ohio septic work is permitted through your county health department, and we walk you through exactly what that involves.
Brush clearing takes out the low growth — briars, saplings, volunteer scrub, and invasive shrubs like multiflora rose and autumn olive — without touching the canopy or disturbing the surface underneath. Where the root crown can be reached, we grind it below grade rather than just cutting the top, which is the difference between killing a plant and giving it a haircut it comes back thicker from. It is the practical fix for a fence row that has crept into the field, a lot you can no longer walk, or a lane that scratches every vehicle going down it. We take the small jobs, including the half-day ones most outfits will not move equipment for.
Getting started is easy. Contact us by phone or fill out our online form for a free estimate, and we’ll get back to you promptly to learn more about your project needs.
Buckeye Land Clearing & Excavation is owned and run by Stuart Smith, who has spent more than 30 years in construction — running crews, bidding work, and moving dirt across Ohio. Buckeye Land Clearing & Excavation is the land clearing and excavation side of his company, Sandia Construction LLC, working out of Chesterhill and covering roughly a 60-mile radius across Southeast Ohio. We work for homeowners, landowners, hunters, and real estate professionals who need overgrown or unusable ground turned into something they can build on, hunt on, or sell. When you call, you get the owner — the person who quotes your job is the person running the equipment.
Our work covers land clearing, forestry mulching, and excavation, plus demolition and septic system installation when a project calls for it. That runs from opening up a hunting lane or clearing a house lot to trenching utility lines, cutting in a driveway, and setting the final grade. We are a registered Ohio contractor operating under an established LLC, we carry insurance, and we offer financing so cost does not have to be the reason a project sits another year. Every job starts with a free, no-pressure estimate on site.
We walk the property with you, look at what is actually there — timber size, slope, wet ground, access — and talk through what you want the land to do when it is finished. You get a clear price with no obligation, and no charge for the visit. If financing makes the project easier, we go over those options at the same time.
We confirm the boundaries, mark anything staying, and locate utilities before a blade touches the ground. If your project needs a permit — a septic system, a drainage tie-in, a right-of-way — we tell you exactly what is required and who to file with. Nothing starts until you know the plan and the price.
This is the work itself — cutting brush and trees, mulching the material back into the soil, pulling stumps, digging trenches, shaping drainage. You get the owner on the equipment for every hour of it, and a call at the end of each day if anything on site changes the plan.
This is the work itself — cutting brush and trees, mulching the material back into the soil, pulling stumps, digging trenches, shaping drainage. You get the owner on the equipment for every hour of it, and a call at the end of each day if anything on site changes the plan.
We set the final grade so water runs where it should, clear the debris, and leave the site ready for whatever comes next — a builder, a seed drill, or a for-sale sign. Then we walk the property with you before the equipment goes on the trailer, so nothing is left unfinished or unsaid.
Buckeye is built on more than 30 years of hands-on construction experience. Owner Stuart has worked in the construction industry for decades, including running his own electrical contracting company throughout the 2000s, bringing a level of knowledge and problem-solving that goes far beyond the age of the equipment. When you work with Buckeye, the person who visits your property to provide the estimate is the same person who completes the job, ensuring clear communication and consistent results from start to finish. Because the excavator, brush cutter, and mulcher are company-owned rather than rented, projects can be scheduled more flexibly without the pressure of rental deadlines affecting decisions on your property. Buckeye also understands that land improvement projects can be a significant investment, which is why financing options are available to help make the cost more manageable by allowing payments to be spread out over time.
We provide land clearing services, forestry mulching, and excavation across a 60-mile radius from our base in Chesterhill — roughly an hour and a half in any direction. That covers Muskingum, Noble, Washington, Athens, Perry, Guernsey, and Fairfield counties, along with the towns and cities below.
It depends far more on what is on the ground than on how many acres there are. A field of light brush clears quickly; an acre of mature hardwood with stumps to pull is a different job entirely, and so is anything on a steep grade or wet ground. Slope, access for equipment, and what you want done with the debris all move the number. That is why we quote every job on site rather than publishing a per-acre rate that would be wrong for most properties — the visit and the estimate are free.
Forestry mulching grinds brush and small trees into mulch on the spot, in one pass, and leaves that material on the ground. Traditional clearing cuts and removes the material, which means hauling, burning, or piling it, and usually means pulling stumps too. Mulching is faster and cheaper on brush and small timber, and it leaves a mulch layer that protects the soil. Traditional clearing is what you want when the ground has to be bare for building, or when the timber is too large to mulch efficiently. We will tell you which one your property actually needs.
With a mulcher on light to moderate brush, an acre can often be done in a day. Heavier timber, stump removal, or hauling debris off site can push that to several days per acre. Wet ground and steep terrain slow everything down, and Ohio spring conditions in particular can add time. You will get a realistic timeline with your estimate, not a best-case number.
For most private residential clearing in rural Southeast Ohio, no permit is required to remove brush and trees on your own property. It changes once the work touches a stream, wetland, or floodplain, or once it involves a septic system, a drainage tie-in, or a right-of-way. Some townships and municipalities also have their own rules. We check what applies to your property before we start and tell you exactly what has to be filed and with whom.
Yes — residential land clearing for new construction is one of the most common jobs we take. We clear the building envelope, remove stumps, and set a final grade your builder can work from, and we can trench utilities and cut in the driveway while we are already on site. Doing the clearing and the excavation with one contractor means the grade and the drainage get planned together rather than patched later. Bring us in early and the rest of the build goes smoother.
All of it. Alongside clearing and mulching we work as land grading contractors and excavating contractors — trenching for water, electric, and drain lines, final grading and site prep, driveways and entrances, and drainage systems that move water away from your buildings. Most properties need more than one of those, and having a single contractor handle the whole sequence saves both money and finger-pointing.
Yes. Clearing and excavation are real investments, and we would rather help you get the project done now than have it wait another season. Financing is available on qualifying projects, with the cost spread over monthly payments instead of paid up front. Ask about it when we come out for your free estimate and we will walk you through the options.
We work within roughly a 60-mile radius of Chesterhill, which is about an hour and a half in any direction. That covers Athens, McConnelsville, Nelsonville, Beverly, Glouster, Zanesville, Marietta, Logan, Pomeroy, and the surrounding counties. If you are near the edge of that radius, call anyway — depending on the size of the job we can often make it work.
