Excavator Mulching
We run a mulching head on the excavator boom to clear ditch banks, creek banks and pond edges. The machine works from firm ground above, so the soft ground below stays put.
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Standing water is a slow problem. It kills pasture grass, ruts a field and keeps a building lot too wet to work. EM Land Services handles land drainage on rural property around Monticello, Florida. We dig new drainage ditches, clean out old ones and shape the ground so the water has a way out.
We work as a drainage contractor on rural land: pastures, hay fields, building lots and driveways. The digging is done with an excavator, so a ditch gets real depth and a shaped bottom. Bigger dirt jobs run together with our land excavation work. Call or text (850) 815-0054 for a free estimate.
Tell us about the job. We will get right back to you.
Most of the land around here is flat. South of Monticello and toward the coast it is sandy pine flatwoods. Soil work from UF/IFAS describes a weakly cemented hardpan sitting about one to three feet under those sands. Water soaks down, hits that layer and stops.
In the wet months the water table climbs close to the surface and stays there. Rain records for the Tallahassee area run around 60 inches a year. That much water on flat ground with a hardpan under it has to move across the surface.
North of town the Red Hills roll and the subsoil turns to clay. Clay sheds water instead of soaking it in, so it runs downhill and pools in low spots. Either way the fix is the same: cut a path for the water and give it somewhere to end up.
A drainage ditch only works if the water can get out at the far end. The first question is where the water comes from and where the ground falls. NRCS field ditch standards describe the same idea: carry the water to an outlet without ponding along the way.
A ditch is the deeper answer. It is cut with the excavator, given fall from one end to the other, and shaped so the sides hold. A swale is shallower and wider, with grassed sides you can drive a tractor across. Fields that stay in production usually get swales, and the road side gets the ditch.
The dig also includes shaping the ground beside it. Low spots get pulled toward the ditch, and a drive or road gets a crown so the surface sheds. Water crossing a drive is usually a grade problem, and that ties into gravel driveways and farm roads. Any digging in Florida starts with a free call to Sunshine 811, which needs two full business days.
Most ditches around here were dug years ago and left alone. Silt washes in, the bottom fills, and brush and saplings take the banks. What is left looks like a ditch but holds water instead of moving it. Ditch cleaning puts the depth and the fall back.
We pull the silt and growth out with the excavator and reset the bottom and slopes. Where banks are grown up thick, we run a mulching head on the excavator as well as the skid steer. The brush gets ground off from solid footing above the ditch. That reach makes excavator mulching the tool for wet banks, where a machine down in the ditch would bog.
Ditch work comes with rules worth checking before the machine shows up. Florida rules treat cleaning an old ditch back to its original shape differently than cutting new channels near wetlands. Jefferson County is split between two water management districts, west under Northwest Florida and east under Suwannee River. The county and the district that covers your parcel are the ones to ask.
Free, no-obligation estimates across North Florida and South Georgia.
(850) 815-0054From the first call or text to the last load hauled off, here is how it goes.
Call or text (850) 815-0054 with where the property is and what you want done. A rough idea of the acreage helps.
We drive out and look at the ground, the growth and the access for the machines. That visit is the free estimate.
The land decides between mulching in place and a full clear with the debris hauled off. Thick understory usually mulches. Ground going under a building usually gets a full clear with the stumps out.
We haul the excavator and the skid steer in on our own trailers. Clearing, mulching, stump work and load-out run in whatever order the job calls for.
Debris is mulched in place or loaded into the dump truck and hauled off. We leave the ground open and usable, and you look it over before the machines leave.
Common questions about drainage across North Florida and South Georgia. If yours is not here, call or text and ask.
We run a mulching head on the excavator boom to clear ditch banks, creek banks and pond edges. The machine works from firm ground above, so the soft ground below stays put.
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General land excavation with the excavator: digging and shaping ground, pulling stumps and roots, cutting ditches and moving dirt. Free on-site estimates around Monticello and about 40 miles out.
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We build and rebuild gravel driveways, farm roads and access roads on rural property. We clear the route, shape a crowned base, cut ditches and lay gravel or limerock.
Learn MoreWe run a mulching head on the skid steer and on the excavator. The skid steer covers open ground fast. The excavator reaches out over banks and wet spots that will not carry a machine.
Clearing, stump work, ditches and hauling all come from one company. You deal with one phone number from the first cut to the last load off the property.
We work about 40 miles out from town. That reaches Jefferson, Madison, Taylor, Leon and Wakulla counties, plus Thomas, Grady and Brooks counties across the Georgia line. Most of it is farm, timber and plantation land.
We come out, look at the land and tell you how we would run the job. The estimate is free and it comes from your actual ground.
Gravel driveway cost in Florida: published market ranges per square foot and per mile, plus what drives the price. Call or text (850) 815-0054.
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How much does it cost to dig a pond in Florida? Published market ranges by size and depth, what moves the price, and how our soils factor in.
Read more →Tell us where the property is and what you want cleared. Call or text (850) 815-0054, or send the form and we will set up a free estimate.
Tell us about the job. We will get right back to you.