How much does land clearing
cost in Lebanon, Oregon? A 2026 local guide.

The short version

For typical Lebanon-area land clearing — overgrown pasture, blackberry, mixed brush on rural-residential acreage — expect to pay roughly:

• Light brush, ¼ acre, easy access: $900–$1,400
• Standard density blackberry, ¾ acre, 1 day: $2,500–$3,400
• Heavy brush + small saplings, 2 acres, multi-day: $5,000–$7,500
• Heavy brush + stump removal + rough grade, 2 acres: $7,500–$11,500
• Per-acre baseline for "average" Lebanon-area brush: roughly $1,500 to $4,000 per acre, before stumps, haul-out, or grading.

Below those numbers, somebody's cutting corners or sandbagging the scope. Above them, the job has real complexity — usually slope, tree cover, or stump count — that should be visible on the walk-through.

Where in Lebanon matters more than people think

Lebanon spans about three different terrain types, and the same acre costs different amounts in each.

East side / foothill edge

Properties up Stoltz Hill, off Mountain View, or anywhere along the foothill transition toward Sweet Home tend to be more work per acre. More slope means slower cutting and more careful approach lines. More conifer cover means more "around the trees, not through them" maneuvering. Plus a lot of east-side properties are interested in defensible-space-style clearing rather than just brush takedown — that's a different specification (you keep mature trees, you cut the ladder fuel) and usually adds 15–30% to the per-acre cost compared to a flat-pasture cut.

Center / along the South Santiam

Properties near the river and through the Cheadle Lake area sit on classic river-bottom silt loam. The ground is soft, especially after winter, which means we watch the calendar — too wet and the skid steer leaves ruts you'll be filling for a year. Spring cuts on river-bottom ground are usually fine; January cuts often need to wait. Material density tends to be higher here too: blackberry on bottomland gets thick. Per-acre numbers run typical-to-slightly-high.

South and west / valley flats

Out toward Berlin Road, south of town along Russell Drive, and west toward Tangent and Albany — this is the cheapest-per-acre terrain in our service area. Flat, accessible, mostly oak savanna and pasture, often with established farm roads we can drive on. A two-acre cut on flat valley ground can run $4,500–$5,500 instead of the $6,000–$7,500 it'd cost on a foothill property. Same machine, same operator — easier ground.

Three real-style Lebanon job profiles

1. The half-acre back corner — $1,800

Common scenario: rural-residential lot off Russell Drive, owner moved in three years ago, the back corner of the property has gone from "could maybe walk through it" to "wall of blackberry." Roughly half an acre of standard-density Himalayan blackberry on flat ground, easy gate access for the trailer.

One day with the skid steer and brush cutter. Cuttings mulched in place. No stumps to pull, no grading. Out the door at $1,800. Owner can finally walk to their fence again.

2. The pasture reclaim — $4,800

Common scenario: 5-acre property south of town, was hayed for years, sat untended for the last 5–7. About 1½ acres at the back of the property has filled in with blackberry and small alder saplings. Front 3½ acres is still recoverable pasture but needs a cut. Owner wants the whole back cleared and the front mowed.

Two days with the skid steer. Day one is the heavy stuff — blackberry tangle and saplings up to 3" diameter. Day two is the easier pasture cut. Cuttings mulched in place. No stumps pulled (most saplings cut clean). Out the door at $4,800. Owner has 5 acres of usable ground again.

3. The full clear-and-prep — $9,500

Common scenario: 2-acre lot up Stoltz Hill, owner is planning to put up a shop and an ADU. The whole lot is heavy brush, mixed conifer regrowth, blackberry, and somewhere between 8 and 15 stumps from a clearing that was started and abandoned a decade ago. Modest slope. Owner wants the full lot cleared and rough-graded so the building pad area is buildable.

Three days. Day one: brush cutter on the heavy stuff. Day two: excavator pulling stumps and consolidating debris into burn piles. Day three: rough grading across the build area. No haul-out (owner is burning the piles in the fall). Out the door at $9,500. Property is build-ready for the next contractor.

What makes a Lebanon-area quote go up

• Slope over about 15° — slower and more careful work. Common on east-side properties.
• Tree cover that's staying. Cutting around trees is slower than cutting through open brush. Common on properties where the goal is defensible space, not full clear.
• Stump count. Each stump pulled adds roughly $200–$400 depending on size and species. Doug fir stumps in clay are the worst.
• Wet ground. Winter and early-spring cuts on bottomland often have to wait or move to a different part of the property. Schedule pressure costs money.
• Debris haul-off. Mulching in place is free. Hauling brush to a debris facility adds typically $500–$1,500 in trailer runs and dump fees.
• Riparian or wetland buffers. If you're near the river, a creek, or a regulated wetland, we cut to the buffer line — sometimes that means more hand-trim work and a slower rate.

What makes a Lebanon-area quote go down

• Flat ground with good gate access for the trailer.
• Open pasture — even when overgrown, it cuts faster than woods-edge or under-canopy work.
• Mulch in place instead of haul-out.
• Bundling the next step. If you're going to grade or build after, asking for the clearing and the rough grade in one engagement saves a mobilization fee. We often discount by $200–$400 for the package.
• Off-season scheduling. Late February through April is our quietest window for clearing — bookings are easier, sometimes pricing is too. July–August is our busiest stretch and we book out further.

What's not included in most Lebanon clearing quotes

• Stump removal. Cutting brush and small saplings doesn't pull the stumps. If you want stumps out, that's a separate line item — $200–$400 per stump for residential sizes.
• Final grading. Brush down ≠ ground level. If the ground is going to be a building pad, pasture, or driveway, you'll need grading on top of clearing.
• Permits. Most clearing in Linn County doesn't need a permit, but anything near a stream, wetland, or in a regulated zone might. We flag it, we don't pull it for you.
• Tree felling. Anything bigger than about 4" diameter, or anywhere near a structure, goes to a tree service. We come in after.
• Burn-pile attendance. We can stack the debris into a burn-ready pile; you light it, watch it, and report it per ODF rules.

How to read a Lebanon-area quote

A fair quote for Lebanon-area land clearing should:

• Specify what's being cut — blackberry, saplings up to 3", grass, fence-line — not just "the property."
• Specify what's NOT being done — stumps, grading, haul-off, tree felling. If the quote is silent on those, ask.
• Give a day range, not a single number. "1–2 days" is honest; "1 day" with no contingency is sandbagging or going to overrun.
• Show the per-piece pricing for add-ons — per-stump, per-trailer-run, per-hour for unforeseen scope.
• Walk the property before quoting. Quotes given off photos are useful for ballpark, but anything more than $2,000 should involve a real walk-through.

If a Lebanon contractor quotes $800 for an acre of heavy blackberry, they're going to either run away from the job, run out of time, or charge you "extras" later. If they quote $8,000 for an acre of light pasture overgrowth, they're padding. The middle of the curve is where most honest quotes live.

Get a real quote on your Lebanon property

The fastest way to know what your specific property will cost is a 30-minute walk-through. We do them free in the Lebanon area, usually within the week of a call. If you've got photos of the worst part of the property, send them — it lets us tell you the ballpark before we drive out.

Call Jeff at 541-740-8658, or request a quote. Related reading: land clearing costs across Oregon, 7 questions to ask before hiring an excavation contractor, the order to do clearing/grading/drainage when you're building.