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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Dover sits on the Cumberland River where it widens into Lake Barkley. This is the rugged northwest corner of the Highland Rim, and the land runs in ridges and hollows. The soil is cherty silt over limestone, and rock shows up close to the surface in places. Digging in Stewart County usually means cutting a pad into a slope and then moving water off it.
Wilson Forestry and Excavating is based in Woodlawn, just west of Clarksville. Dover is a short drive west on US 79, and Stewart County is regular ground for us. We dig footings and building pads for homeowners and builders, and we handle land clearing and site prep and grading. Call or text (931) 572-8673 for a free estimate on your property.
Tell us about the job and the ground. We will get right back to you.
An excavation contractor in Dover deals with the grade before anything else. The ridges above town run out in fingers, and the ground drops into hollows on both sides. Building there means cut and fill, so we bench a pad into the hillside.
The cut dirt goes to the low side, and a grade laser sets the elevations. Stewart County soil is cherty silt over limestone, so chert gravel and rock turn up in many cuts. Rock changes how a pad or a footing gets dug. We look for it on the first site visit.
Middle Tennessee gets about 50 inches of rain a year, and the clay under the topsoil holds it. Wet clay slows equipment and makes a mess of a haul road across a site. On Dover jobs we plan the dirt work around the weather.
Stewart County is timber country, and state and federal agencies hold more than 44 percent of its land. Land Between the Lakes lies west of town. Stewart State Forest covers 4,223 acres in the south of the county, almost all of it hardwood. Most of that is oak and hickory, and private ground around Dover grows the same timber.
Much of that timber sits on old farm ground. Dark fired tobacco is still the county's main cash crop, and idle fields fill with brush fast. Bush hogging knocks an overgrown field back down. Forestry mulching grinds heavier brush and saplings in place and leaves chips instead of a pile.
For a house site or a field going back into use, clearing goes further. Trees and brush come out, and the excavator thumb pulls the stumps. We rake the ground back over so it is ready to build on or plant.
US 79 runs through Dover as Donelson Parkway and crosses the Cumberland River in town. Highway 49 starts downtown and runs east toward Erin. Highway 46 meets US 79 north of Indian Mound. Most houses out here sit well off those routes, at the end of a long private drive.
A drive that long has to shed water or the gravel ends up in the ditch. We cut the road bed, set culverts where water crosses, and crown the surface. Gravel then goes down in layers over a base that can carry a loaded truck.
Farm roads and timber roads get built the same way, only heavier. Our roots are in building roads for a timber company's log trucks and heavy equipment. That makes gravel driveways and access roads a specialty. Sawmills still run in Stewart County, and a loaded log truck needs a road that holds up wet.
Water is the other half of every job in Stewart County. The Cumberland River is backed up into Lake Barkley here, and creek bottoms feed it from every hollow. East of Dover, Cross Creeks National Wildlife Refuge covers 8,862 acres of river bottom. That is how flat and wet the low ground gets near the water.
Up on the slopes the problem flips, and rain moves fast enough to cut a ditch apart. Wilson Forestry and Excavating is an approved erosion control contractor with TDEC. On a Dover site that can mean silt fence and rock check dams. Riprap goes in where a pipe outlets, and matting holds a bare slope until cover takes.
Around a house, the same water shows up as a soggy yard or a wet crawl space. The fix is usually regrading the ground away from the foundation and adding French drains. Those drains carry the water out to daylight. Builders working under a stormwater permit need erosion control work in place before the ground opens.
Communities and areas we serve around Dover: Bear Spring, Big Rock, Indian Mound, Bumpus Mills, Leatherwood, Standing Rock, Tobaccoport, Carlisle, Tharpe, Fort Henry, Tennessee Ridge.
Dover ZIP codes served: 37058, 37079, 37023, 37028.
Free estimates throughout Stewart 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 Dover. 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.