How much does brush hogging cost in Tampa Bay?
At Pinewood, brush hogging (also called bush hogging) runs $100 to $250 an acre, by what’s growing, with a $300 job minimum. These are starting prices for Hillsborough and Pasco Counties, and here’s what moves them.
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Priced by the acre, by what’s growing.
Brush hogging is a tractor pulling a heavy rotary cutter through grass, weeds and brush that are too tall for a mower. We price it by the acre, and the rate depends on how thick the growth is.
Tall grass and weeds with no brush start at $100 an acre. Thick weeds and light brush start at $150 an acre, and dense brush and palmetto at $250 an acre.
Land that’s kept up only needs field mowing, which starts at $75 an acre with a $200 job minimum. The lawn around a house is priced per visit instead, as our lawn mowing cost guide explains.
Every figure here is a starting price. We confirm the final price once we’ve seen the land, in person or from your photos, and you’ll have it before any work is scheduled.
The rates and the minimums.
These are the same figures as our Pricing page. The thicker the growth, the slower the tractor goes, so the rate per acre rises with it.
| What’s growing | Per acre | Job minimum |
|---|---|---|
| Kept upField mowing, grass under about a foot | $75 | $200 |
| Tall grass and weedsOver a foot, but no brush | $100 | $300 |
| Thick weeds, light brushSome small saplings | $150 | $300 |
| Dense brushPalmetto, saplings up to 3″ | $250 | $300 |
Examples
- 5 acres of kept-up pasture: from $375
- 2 acres of tall grass and weeds: from $300
- 4 acres of thick weeds and light brush: from $600
- 3 acres of dense brush: from $750
What can change the price
- Hidden stumps, debris, or holes
- Wet or soft ground
- Gate access and travel distance
To see where your own land starts, get your acreage price.
The growth sets the rate.
Pasture that’s gone to weeds is the common middle case. UF/IFAS calls dogfennel Florida’s most common pasture weed, and it spreads from underground rootstocks as well as seed. Once it’s thick, a field needs brush hogging rather than field mowing.
The top tier is dense brush: palmetto, and saplings up to 3 inches thick. Anything with a wider trunk counts as tree work and stays standing.
Saw palmetto comes back, too. According to UF/IFAS, its growing point sits inside the top of its rhizome, near or below the ground, and it regrows quickly after it’s mowed.
Most land holds more than one kind of growth. Your scope lists each area and whether it gets field mowing or brush hogging.
How the job minimum works.
The math is acres times the rate for what’s growing, and never below the job minimum. Here’s how that plays out. Brush hogging has a $300 job minimum, so two acres of tall grass and weeds at $100 an acre come to $300, not $200.
You don’t need an exact acreage to get started. Enter the address in the quote tool, and it checks Hillsborough and Pasco County parcel records for a figure you can change. Count only the part that needs cutting.
Gates, stumps and soft ground.
A starting price assumes the tractor can reach the work and cut it cleanly. Hidden stumps, debris and holes can change that, so anything we spot when we review the land is flagged with you before we cut.
Then there’s soft ground. Tractor tires cut ruts in a soaked field, so wet areas either wait to dry out or come out of the job.
Gate access and travel distance are part of the price as well. With a gate code or an unlocked gate, you don’t need to be there.
The first cut usually costs the most.
A field that’s left through the rainy season can grow past a foot and move up a tier. Land that’s gotten away needs a brush hog first.
After that, regular cuts keep it at the kept-up rate, with field mowing from $75 an acre. When to cut, and how often, is covered in our guide to mowing pasture and acreage. If trees and stumps have to go as well, our guide to brush hogging, forestry mulching and land clearing explains where brush hogging stops.
Why a per-acre price works in your favor.
An hourly rate puts the unknowns on you. If the palmetto’s thicker than it looked, the clock keeps running and so does the bill.
A per-acre price ties the cost to what you’re getting: a set area, cut at the rate for what’s growing on it. You see a starting price before you call, the final price is agreed with you before any work is scheduled, and you pay once the work’s done.
It also makes quotes easier to compare. Ask anyone pricing your land how many acres they’re counting and which kind of growth they’ve priced.
A brush hog cuts. It doesn’t clear land.
The cutter takes down what’s growing and leaves the ground as it is. Tree removal, stump grinding, land clearing, grading and forestry mulching aren’t included.
That difference matters when you compare prices. Land clearing takes out trees, stumps and roots, which is heavier work than cutting. A brush hog stops at saplings up to 3 inches, and trees and stumps stay where they are.
Start with the acres and the growth.
If you know roughly how many acres need cutting and what’s on them, the table above gives you a starting price. Photos of the thickest areas help us confirm it.
Our brush hogging page covers what we cut and how the work runs. The quote tool takes about a minute.
Get a price for your land.
See your starting price online, or call or text us a photo or two. You’ll hear back within one business day, and the price is confirmed once we’ve seen the property, in person or from your photos.
More answers on mowing, brush hogging and overgrown lots are in our other guides.
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