Clearing building lots and wooded acreage where wet ground and a strict local buffer set the limits.
We clear land in Tewksbury for builders, homeowners preparing a site for an addition or new home, and landowners taking back overgrown wooded acreage. Our track loaders, mini excavator and grapple handle trees, stumps and brush, and our trucks and trailers haul debris away.
Call our Massachusetts line at (978) 696-6659 or use Get a Quote with the address and your plans for the cleared land. Tell us if you have seen standing water, a stream or a seasonal pool on the lot. In Tewksbury those features often decide the clearing line.
Tewksbury's glacial ground mixes dry sandy flats with wet lowlands, so one parcel can clear easily at the front and be off limits at the back.
In the bylaw text the town has posted, the first 25 feet of the 100-foot wetland buffer is a No Disturb Zone, and vegetation clearing, cutting and excavating are listed as prohibited there unless the Commission permits them. For a wooded lot with a wet back corner, that line is the real edge of the project.
The bylaw protects land within 200 feet of a vernal pool, twice the usual buffer, and the town's master plan counts 98 potential vernal pools in the state inventory. A dry-looking depression that fills in spring can move the clearing line, so we ask about wet spots before we price.
The largest wetland complex in town, the Great Swamp, lies between Interstate 495 and Route 38 and feeds Trull Brook. Parcels in the northwest are a mix of drumlin, till and wet ground, so machine paths and stockpiles need to be laid out around the wet areas.
The southeastern part of town is flat glacial outwash with sandy, quick-draining soil. Clearing there goes quickly in dry weather, and the bare sandy ground needs a plan for erosion and stockpile placement before heavy rain.
Clearing near water, or for timber, can trigger state and town rules. These are the ones we look for with you.
Tewksbury Wetland Protection Bylaw. The Commission regulates work in wetland resource areas and within 100 feet of them (200 feet around vernal pools). The posted text lists a 25-foot No Disturb Zone, where clearing, cutting, grading and excavating are prohibited unless permitted, and a 50-foot No Build Zone for structures. Anyone can file a Request for Determination of Applicability to ask whether a project is covered, and larger work needs a Notice of Intent (Bylaw (opens in a new tab)). The Conservation Agent's number is (978) 640-4370, ext. 255 (Conservation Commission (opens in a new tab)).
State Wetlands Protection Act. Removing, filling or altering a bank, riverfront area or freshwater wetland needs a notice of intent and an order of conditions, and violations carry fines up to $25,000 (MGL c.131 §40 (opens in a new tab)).
Forest cutting. State rules exempt cutting up to 25,000 board feet or 50 cords at one time and clearing land for building (MGL c.132 §44 (opens in a new tab)). A larger commercial harvest can need a cutting plan.
This is general guidance, not legal advice. The town was updating its bylaw at last check, so confirm the current text with the Commission.
Sources: Town of Tewksbury: Wetland Protection Bylaw (Chapter 18.04), 2024 update text; Town of Tewksbury: Conservation Commission; MGL c.131 §40, Wetlands Protection Act; MGL c.132 §44, Forest cutting practices; exempted cuttings
HomeGuide (opens in a new tab) (updated November 2025) lists national land clearing averages by lot size, for example $800 to $3,000 for a quarter acre, $1,000 to $5,000 for a half acre and $1,200 to $8,000 for one acre. It also puts grading a small home site at about $2,000 to $5,000 on mostly level land, and much more on rocky ground. These are national reference ranges, not our prices.
Land clearing has too many variables for a calculator, so we price it after seeing the lot. If part of the job is brush and small trees, our forestry mulching cost calculator gives a rough starting point.
Cost references: HomeGuide: Land Clearing Cost
A few places locals know, and what they mean for outdoor work nearby.
The largest wetland complex in Tewksbury, in the northwest part of town between Interstate 495 and Route 38, and the source of Trull Brook. Lots that touch wet ground like this can fall inside the town's wetland buffer rules, which changes where equipment can work.
Get directions to Great Swamp (opens Google Maps in a new tab)The tallest drumlin in the Shawsheen River watershed, and a scenic hill from which the Boston skyline is visible. Drumlin slopes and the till uplands around nearby Ames Pond are where grinder and loader positioning on a grade matters.
Get directions to Ames Hill (opens Google Maps in a new tab)A 9.55-acre conservation parcel at 760 South Street with a marked Riverwalk trail, a kayak launch and a view over the Shawsheen River. Land along the river is subject to wetland and riverfront rules, and the Conservation Commission manages this parcel.
Get directions to Shawsheen Overlook (opens Google Maps in a new tab)A 2004 state law dedicated nine parcels totaling 410 acres of Tewksbury Hospital land to conservation, agriculture and passive recreation, and the Bay Circuit Trail is planned across it. Private lots that border protected land like this need clear boundary lines before any clearing or mulching.
Get directions to Tewksbury Hospital conservation land (opens Google Maps in a new tab)Photos from our crew's jobs across New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
Only if there is no wetland, stream or vernal pool near the back. The bylaw text lists clearing as prohibited in the first 25 feet of the buffer and regulates the full 100 feet. Walk the lot after a rain and tell us where water collects.
It might. The bylaw protects land within 200 feet of a vernal pool, and a Request for Determination of Applicability is the way to find out. A seasonal pool should be flagged before any machine enters the area.
The posted bylaw limits structures in that zone, with a narrow allowance and a waiver process for hardship. Clearing the land does not change those limits, so settle the house location with the Conservation Commission first.
Not for clearing land for building or for cutting up to 25,000 board feet or 50 cords at one time. A larger commercial timber harvest is different, so mention any plan to sell timber.
We can grind them in place or haul them, depending on what you plan to build. Stumps at the edge of a wetland may need to stay in the ground if the Commission requires it.
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