Forestry Mulching & Land Clearing in Kirksville, MO
Grown-over timber and acreage lots around Adair County, cleared and left as mulch on the ground.
Land clearing in Kirksville, MO covers Adair County ground along Highway 63 and Route 6, the timbered breaks toward Thousand Hills State Park and the Chariton River, and the farm country out toward Novinger, Greentop and Brashear.
Forestry mulching around Kirksville, Missouri clears the cedar, bush honeysuckle and young trees that fill in acreage across Adair County. The machine grinds brush where it stands and leaves it lying on the ground as mulch. You do not have a burn pile to babysit or a trailer load of brush to get rid of. That counts for a lot on the steep ground near the Chariton River.
Kirksville: college town, timbered back forties
Kirksville is the Adair County seat, and it is home to Truman State University and A.T. Still University. Drive a few miles out and the land turns into rolling farm ground cut up by wooded creeks. Much of it used to be pasture. These days a good share belongs to folks who live in town and work at the schools or the hospital. They do not run cattle on it. Leave ground like that alone for a while and it fills in with cedar and honeysuckle, plus whatever thorny brush the birds plant. Most of our calls from up here are about ground like that.
Head west from town and the land falls off toward the Chariton River. Thousand Hills State Park is out that way, around Forest Lake. The lake was made by damming Big Creek, and the city gets part of its water from it. Near the park and the river the ground is steep and wooded. On a slope like that, what you leave on the dirt makes a difference. A mat of mulch slows the rain down. Bare dirt washes into the creeks that run to the lake.
East of Highway 63 it flattens out and opens up. Over there we mostly work fence rows, field edges and old pasture that has gone to cedar and hedge. Folks planted osage orange as a living fence all over north Missouri, and the old rows around Kirksville are thick and thorny now. The mulcher grinds the low limbs and brush out along them. Then there is room to set posts for a new fence.
Out around Novinger and the west side of the county, old coal mining left the ground lumpy and rough in spots. Brush and locust grow in thick on it, since nobody has farmed it in years. A tracked machine can walk that kind of grade. Because we grind in place, nobody has to push brush piles around on ground that is already rough. That old mine ground can make decent deer cover, so some owners only want a few trails through it.
Kirksville is as far north as we usually go. The shop is in Salisbury, about an hour and a half south by way of Macon. With a drive like that, call or text first. We can talk the job over, set up a free on-site estimate, and tell you what the trip adds before anything is on the calendar. If your neighbors up here have brush too, mention it when you call.
Acreage off 63 and Route 6
Highway 63 is the main road through Kirksville. It runs north toward the Iowa line and south toward Macon. Route 6 crosses it east to west, out to Novinger on one side and Edina on the other. Most of the small acreage places are a short drive off one of those two roads. A lot of them have a house up front and timber or old pasture out back, usually with a gravel lane and a pond.
The back acres are where it gets away from people. A strip of woods along a draw turns into a solid wall of honeysuckle. An old hay field grows up in cedar. Sometimes the owner just wants a walking path or a fence line they can get to again, and sometimes it is a view from the porch. Mulching can handle that without tearing up the whole place.
Honeysuckle, autumn olive and the Chariton bottoms
Eastern red cedar is the big one here, same as most of north Missouri. It is also the simplest to deal with. Honeysuckle is a different animal. It comes up again from the roots, and so does multiflora rose. A cleared edge needs mowing or spraying the next season or the honeysuckle will have it back. Autumn olive behaves the same way, and it spreads fast once birds get the berries.
Down in the Chariton River bottoms the timber is different. Silver maple, cottonwood and sycamore grow in the wet ground there, along with swamp white oak. Most owners want to keep those big trees. So the work in the bottoms is usually taking out the brush and saplings under them. Afterward you can see through the timber and drive a side by side back in. Wet bottoms are best done when the ground is dry or frozen.
Deer ground and new house sites in Adair County
Deer hunting is a big deal in Adair County. Plenty of the land around Kirksville gets bought for it. That means trails to stands, shooting lanes and small openings for food plots. The machine cuts only what you flag. Brush gets ground into the trail floor, and that makes for a quiet walk in. Late winter is a good time for it. The woods have time to settle before fall, and the deer get used to the new paths.
The other call we get a lot is a building site. Someone buys a few acres off a county road and needs room for a house and a shop, with a driveway in from the gravel. Mulching opens that space up. Stumps get ground down low so a dirt crew can come in after us and build the pad. Before we start, mark any trees near the house you want saved.
Services in Kirksville
Forestry Mulching
Standing brush, saplings and undergrowth ground down into mulch where they stand. No burn piles, nothing hauled off.
Building Site Clearing
House pads, shop sites, barn sites and access lanes cleared and opened up so your builder or excavator can start on schedule.
Brush Clearing
Fence lines, field edges, ditch banks and pasture reclaimed from honeysuckle, cedar, multiflora rose and volunteer brush.
Trail Clearing
Shooting lanes, ATV and UTV trails, walking paths and access lanes cut through timber at the width you want.
Fire Breaks
Fire breaks mulched around structures, timber stands and property lines ahead of prescribed burns or fire season.
Small Tree Pulling
Small trees and cedars pulled root ball and all where a stump left behind would be a problem later.
General Land Clean Up
Storm debris, dead falls, old brush piles and the leftovers of a logging job cleaned up and the ground put back in order.
Communities We Serve in Adair County
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Free on-site estimates for all Adair County properties. One crew, one machine, done.
Kirksville FAQ
Common questions from property owners in Kirksville, Missouri.
Yes, Adair County is in our service area. The shop is in Salisbury, about an hour and a half south. Since it is a longer drive, we like to talk by phone or text first. After that we set up a free on-site estimate and walk the ground with you. You will know what the travel adds before you decide anything.
Mulching suits slopes near water because the dirt stays covered. The brush gets ground into a mat that lies on the soil and slows the rain down. A dozer job is a different story. It leaves bare dirt that can run off. If your land borders the park or the lake, ask about any rules for that ground before work starts.
It can. Bush honeysuckle comes back up from the roots. Mulching knocks it down, but by itself it will not kill it. Most owners mow the cleared ground or spray the new sprouts the following season. Stay after it a couple of years and it starts losing. Cedar gives us a lot less trouble than honeysuckle ever does.
Yes, and a forestry mulcher is good at that kind of work. It grinds the brush and small saplings under the big maples and sycamores and leaves the tall trees standing. You walk the ground with us and point out what stays. Wet bottoms may have to wait for dry or frozen ground.
Usually not. The mulcher is on tracks, so it handles ridges and dips better than anything on wheels. The brush is ground right where it is, so nothing has to be piled on rough ground. Some very steep spoil banks or holes may be off limits. We will show you those during the estimate.
Late winter works well. With the leaves off it is easy to lay out lanes and trails, and the ground is often firm or frozen. Clearing then gives the woods all spring and summer to calm down before deer season. Call or text early, because that time of year books up.
Nearby Service Areas
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