Suppose you have a property with lots of overgrown vegetation or unwanted trees that are limiting your ability to build on the land or improve its landscape. You might consider do-it-yourself land clearing instead of calling a tree service in Houston, TX, to resolve the issue quickly under those circumstances.
Clearing your property alone can be tempting, yet it’s not something you should do. It takes substantial experience, skills, commercial-grade equipment, and extensive knowledge, which our professionals at Tree Care Inc. have, to safely remove trees, shrubs, and vegetation from a yard.
Below, we shed light on the dangers of DIY land clearing.
Why Consider Clearing Land Without Professional Help?
Cost-effectiveness is one of the top reasons people choose to clear their own land. It might seem like you’ll save money by not hiring professionals to do the job. Unfortunately, you’ll likely spend more than you think since you may have to purchase or rent the right equipment and materials to remove trees, tree stumps, shrubbery, and other organic waste.
You may also have to hire a professional to fix any mistakes you make. Mistakes are common with land clearing if you lack experience with the process. Expenses will add up fast.
The Problems With DIY Land Clearing
Do-it-yourself land clearing might seem like a straightforward process. Yet it can create severe injury risks for many reasons like a lack of experience handling dangerous machinery and not knowing how to stabilize ladders correctly to avoid a dangerous fall.
The risk factors are too great to manage such an extensive project by yourself, especially when it involves tree removal. Below are other problems with DIY land clearing and why it’s best to explore professional options for land clearing instead of doing it alone.
No Tree Removal Experience
Tree removal is an essential step in many lot-clearing projects. However, removing trees requires in-depth knowledge of physics and biology to ensure the removal process occurs without harming people or nearby structures.
For instance, if you don’t know how to identify a tree with internal rot or how to accurately calculate the plant’s height and weight and your cutting angle in the removal process, the tree could fall the wrong way. You could also misinterpret how heavy tree limbs could be or how fast damaged branches can snap.
Injury risks rise substantially with these kinds of mistakes that experienced tree removal professionals aren’t likely to make.
Misunderstanding of Common and Uncommon Safety Hazards
Proper land clearing involves the use of heavy machinery and equipment like:
- Chainsaws
- Backhoes
- Tractors
- Bulldozers
- Towing chains
- Brush hogs
Many people who handle their own land clearing projects tend to focus more on the projects’ results than how to handle this type of equipment carefully to achieve desired outcomes. Injuries are a common consequence of this type of negligence and a general lack of understanding.
Land clearing machinery and tools aren’t the only safety hazards. Environmental hazards like nearby powerlines, hidden boulders, and deep-set tree roots can also cause complications for a do-it-yourself land clearing project.
No Professional Equipment for the Job
Though many land-clearing professionals use handheld tools to rid properties of unwanted vegetation, that doesn’t mean they’re the same kind or quality equipment that the average property owner will have. To safely and effectively carry out a lot clearing job, you’d need items like:
- Chainsaws
- Axes
- Safety gloves
- Hard hat
- Goggles
- Trimmers
- Harnesses
Chances are, you won’t have everything you need for DIY land clearing, so you’d need to buy them. You should also know how to use the equipment correctly and ensure everything is in tip-top condition to avoid unnecessary delays, complications, and injuries.
Not Understanding Environmental Impacts of Land Clearing
How you handle land clearing will affect the surrounding environment for better or for worse. Ideally, the process should have a minimal environmental impact. So you should identify valuable trees and plants, take steps to protect them, and leave wildlife habitats alone.
Sometimes taking a conservative approach to DIY land clearing to avoid environmental harm results in too few tree removals. You must cut enough trees and vegetation to ensure your land has sufficient space to lay foundations, build sidewalks, lay a parking lot, or do whatever you intend to do with the open land.
A successful land clearing project includes expert planners who can ensure you remove enough plants for the construction or landscaping project without harming the surrounding environment.
Inability To Save Time Effectively
Clearing a lot is labor-intensive and time-consuming. If you insist on do-it-yourself land clearing, you might have to take days or weeks to complete the project, whereas a qualified team can handle the task successfully in a fraction of the time it would take you.
Not Fulfilling Permit Requirements
Even if a tree is on your property, you might need a permit and municipal approval to remove it. Failing to submit the right paperwork before carrying out your land-clearing project could end with hefty fines, which adds to the job’s total expenses.
Improper Waste Removal
Do you know what to do with the waste you end up with after clearing out your property? Trees, shrubs, rocks, and dirt are some of the materials you might have to clean up before concluding your task. Unfortunately, waste disposal becomes complicated when you don’t have an experienced team on your side that knows how to haul and dispose of these materials correctly.
Let Our Tree Care Inc. Experts Manage Your Next Land Clearing Project
What is land clearing? Should you perform this kind of service yourself or hire professionals to do it?
Do-it-yourself land clearing tends to cause more problems than it resolves, so you should call local professionals like Tree Care Inc. for the job. As one of Houston, Texas’s top tree care companies offering top-tier land clearing services, we have the trained technicians, heavy machinery, and direct experience necessary to streamline lot clearing for any construction job, landscaping project, or curb appeal enhancement.
Our tree care crew has more than 25 years of experience delivering outstanding services to local residents. Get your free estimate now — call (713) 234-0914 and learn more.
