Land Clearing
We clear lots and acreage of trees, brush, and stumps across Montgomery County and Middle Tennessee. The ground gets cleaned up so it is ready to build on or put back into pasture.
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Dickson sits on the Western Highland Rim, and the ground here carries the town's name. Dickson silt loam is Tennessee's official state soil, first mapped in this county in the 1920s. It holds a dense band called a fragipan roughly 18 to 36 inches down. Water soaks into the top, reaches that band, and then moves sideways under yards and building pads.
Wilson Forestry and Excavating is based in Woodlawn, just west of Clarksville, about 35 miles north of Dickson. Highway 48 runs down to it through Charlotte and Cumberland Furnace. We cover Dickson for excavation, land clearing, grading, and drainage work. Call or text (931) 572-8673 for a free estimate on the site.
Tell us about the job and the ground. We will get right back to you.
The soil map for this town is unusually specific. Dickson silt loam formed in a silty mantle two to four feet thick over limestone residuum. Above that fragipan the soil drains at a normal pace. Inside the fragipan the water barely moves, so it backs up and sits.
Dickson County averages about 50 inches of rain a year. Wet clay grabs equipment and smears instead of cutting clean. We plan the cut so the pad drains while we build it. Grade lasers hold the elevation from one end of the pad to the other.
Rock is part of the picture too, and Highland Rim ground here runs to chert and limestone. It can sit close to the surface on ridges and cut banks. We check what is under a pad before we price the dig. Where water already stands against a house, the fix is regrading plus French drains and yard drainage.
Dickson counted 16,058 people at the 2020 census, and the county counted 54,315. Both keep climbing, and state forecasters put the county above 59,900 by 2030. Interstate 40 runs five miles south of downtown, and Nashville is 37 miles east from Exit 172. That drive pulls commuters out here and pulls builders with them.
Most of the new single family building sits in the southeast quadrant of the county. That is south of US 70 and east of Highway 46. Subdivisions like StoneBrook, Cherry Springs Estates, Woodside Estates, and Rock Church Estates fill in that side of town. Older pockets such as East Hills, Druid Hills, and Northwood sit closer to the middle of Dickson.
Builders in Dickson need the same ground work on almost every lot. We cut and fill for a level building pad and cut the driveway in. Trenching for water lines, conduit, and sewer runs goes in the same trip, and Tennessee 811 gets called first. Rough and finish site prep and grading shapes the lot so water leaves the house.
Dickson sits on the Tennessee Valley Divide, which is unusual for a town this size. The southwest side drains by the East Piney River into the Piney, then the Duck, then the Tennessee. The northeast side drains by Turnbull Creek or Jones Creek into the Harpeth, then the Cumberland. Water leaves this town two directions, and it leaves fast.
Bare dirt on a Dickson slope moves fast in a hard rain. In August 2021 heavy rain flooded parts of the city and the county. A February 2019 flood washed out a water line near the Piney River. It also damaged part of the county wastewater plant.
Wilson Forestry and Excavating is on TDEC's approved contractor list for erosion control, and we have done TDEC jobs. On Dickson sites the erosion control measures are silt fence, rock check dams, and a stabilized construction entrance. Riprap at pipe outlets and seeding or matting hold the rest of the slope. Builders under a stormwater permit want them in before the dirt moves.
Close to 70 percent of Dickson County residents live in rural areas. Charlotte is the county seat and has one of Tennessee's oldest working courthouses. Cumberland Furnace, Vanleer, White Bluff, and Burns sit on the roads out of Dickson. Montgomery Bell State Park covers timbered hills seven miles east on US 70.
Long driveways and farm roads are normal in this county. We cut the road bed, build the base and gravel layers, crown it, and set culverts where a ditch crosses. New gravel driveways and farm roads hold up when the crown and the ditches are right. The company got its start building roads for a timber company's log trucks and heavy equipment.
Acreage work runs alongside the road work, and an excavator with a thumb pulls stumps and opens a wooded lot. A skid steer with a forestry mulcher head grinds brush and saplings in place. Fence lines, trails, and overgrown pasture get the mulcher or the brush cutter. Which one fits depends on what you want the ground to do next.
Communities and areas we serve around Dickson: StoneBrook, Cherry Springs Estates, Woodside Estates, Rock Church Estates, East Hills, Druid Hills, Northwood, Burns, White Bluff, Charlotte, Cumberland Furnace, Vanleer.
Dickson ZIP codes served: 37055, 37056, 37029, 37187, 37036, 37051, 37181.
Free estimates throughout Dickson County and the surrounding area.
(931) 572-8673 We clear lots and acreage of trees, brush, and stumps across Montgomery County and Middle Tennessee. The ground gets cleaned up so it is ready to build on or put back into pasture.
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A skid steer with a forestry mulcher head grinds brush, saplings, and undergrowth into mulch right where it stands. We also bush hog overgrown fields and pastures back to usable ground.
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We handle the dirt work before a build: building pads, cut and fill, rough and finish grading, and driveway cuts. The ground ends up level where it should be and sloped so water leaves the site.
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We build new gravel driveways, farm roads and access roads across Montgomery County and out toward Nashville. The road bed gets cut and stoned, then crowned so water sheds off instead of standing in the tracks.
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We install erosion control measures that keep soil on site and out of the ditch. Wilson Forestry and Excavating is an approved erosion control contractor with TDEC.
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Water standing in the yard or against the house needs a way out. We regrade the ground and put in French drains and pipe that carry it off.
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We trench and backfill for water lines, electrical conduit, sewer lines, and septic lines. Your plumber or electrician makes the connections, and we handle the digging and the ground work.
Learn MoreA few of the questions we hear most around Dickson. If yours is not here, call or text and ask.
Tell us what the job is and where the property sits, and we will get you an estimate. You can also call or text (931) 572-8673 if that is faster.
Tell us about the job and the ground. We will get right back to you.