Land in Schuyler County fills in fast. A lake camp left alone for a few summers disappears behind saplings and vines. Old field edges near Hector and Tyrone grow into thickets of brush. A lot bought for a new home outside Watkins Glen may need a driveway corridor and a building pad opened up before the excavator can start.
Tubbs Tree Service clears selectively. Jason Tubbs, with 20+ years of experience in forestry and construction and property management, walks the land with you during a $50 on-site consultation, flags the trees to keep, and writes an itemized plan with several scopes to choose from. The $50 is credited to the job when you accept the plan.
Reclaiming an overgrown camp lot
Seasonal lake properties tend to have the same mix: dead ash, leaning saplings, tangled brush on the slope and a few fine shade trees worth saving. We clear in stages so you can see the space open up and adjust as we go. Brush is chipped, logs are cut for local use, and the knuckle boom with its log grapple lifts heavy wood out without dragging it across the lawn or the bank.
Picking keepers and pulling invasives
- Healthy oaks, sugar maples and pines are usually worth working around
- Norway maple and black locust are on New York’s regulated invasive list, so they are good candidates to remove
- Dead or declining ash is often cleared before it becomes a hazard
- Hedgerows can be thinned rather than wiped out, keeping a windbreak and wildlife cover
- Bats and nesting birds use trees in the warm months, so timing and a wildlife check are part of the plan
Working slopes that drain to the lake
Much of the county drains straight to Seneca Lake or into glens. Stripping a slope bare invites erosion, so on steep ground we usually cut brush low and leave stumps and roots to hold the soil. If you are near a stream, wetland or the Finger Lakes National Forest boundary in Hector, check with your town office about any rules before the work is scheduled. Jason can help you think through what to ask.
What sets the scope and price of clearing
- Total area, and how dense the brush and saplings are
- How many large trees need felling versus small stems that can be chipped
- Slope, soft ground and how close equipment can get
- Whether stumps stay, get cut low or get ground out
- Where the material goes: chips left on site, logs kept for you or sent to local use
Brush & Land Clearing Questions From Schuyler County
Can you clear a building site near Watkins Glen but save the oaks?
Yes. That is one of the main reasons to clear selectively instead of bulldozing. We mark keeper trees during the consultation and keep equipment off their root zones as much as the site allows. If your builder has a site plan, bring it, so Jason can match the clearing to the footprint, the driveway and the utility route.
What happens to all the brush and logs from a big clearing job?
Brush is chipped, and the chips can stay on site for paths and mulch or be hauled away. Logs go to local use as firewood, mulch or sometimes building material, or you can keep them. Untreated firewood should stay within 50 miles of where it grew, which local use handles naturally.
My land in Reading borders a stream. Can you still clear it?
Often, yes, with care. We keep trees and roots along the banks where they protect the stream from erosion and focus clearing on the uplands. Rules for work near water can differ, so a call to your town office before work begins is wise. Your plan will show which areas are cleared and which are left alone.
Want the full picture? Read our brush & land clearing guide, or see everything we do in Schuyler County.