Forestry Mulching
The mulching head on our skid steer grinds brush and small trees into mulch that stays on the ground. The oaks and mottes you mark stay standing.
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Around Alice, farm ground and pasture sit side by side, and both fill with brush when left alone. On the two biggest soils around town, the federal soil survey names mesquite and huisache as the main woody invaders. Fence lines grow shut, and lots on the edge of town turn into thickets. Land clearing in Alice means taking that ground back and choosing what stays.
Iron Steer Land Services clears land with a skid steer and a mulching head. Alice is part of our service area. The mulcher grinds brush and small trees into mulch, and the rippers root plow lanes where regrowth has to stop. Call or text (956) 206-3992 to talk about your land, or read how forestry mulching works.
Tell us about the land and the work it needs. We look at the land or your photos of it, then put the quote in writing.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) soil survey maps two main kinds of ground around Alice. Lattas clay is heavy farm ground, used mostly for grain sorghum and cotton. Opelika fine sandy loam is used about equally for rangeland and pasture. The NRCS describes both soils from sample sites in Jim Wells County, south of town.
Mesquite and huisache lead the woody invaders on both soils. Whitebrush moves into the clay, and blackbrush and prickly pear take the sandy loam. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's vegetation map places its Mesquite-Granjeno Woods type chiefly in Kleberg and Jim Wells counties. Our brush clearing page covers the mesquite and cactus work.
San Fernando Creek and San Diego Creek both have U.S. Geological Survey stream gauges at Alice. In town, Lattas Creek runs past Buena Vista Park, and Lake Findley holds raw water piped from Lake Corpus Christi. NOAA normals give the Alice airport about 29 inches of rain a year, wettest in May and September. Opelika ground stays wet at the surface for a short time after heavy rain, so we plan around it.
Alice grew up as a cattle town on the railroad. By 1894 it was the busiest shipping point in South Texas, per the Handbook of Texas. The town had an oil boom in 1938, when the Alice oilfield was discovered.
Pasture is still the biggest use of farm and ranch land in the county. The 2022 Census of Agriculture counts about 220,000 acres of pastureland and 116,000 acres of cropland. Grain sorghum is the top crop by acres. The Railroad Commission's February 2025 count lists 169 producing gas wells and 50 producing oil wells in the county.
Land like this needs pasture taken back from mesquite and fence lines opened up before the fence crew comes. Operators with a pipeline easement or a pad edge to keep open can read about our right of way clearing.
Alice is the Jim Wells County seat, with 17,891 people at the 2020 Census. More than half of its homes were built before 1980, per Census estimates. Some acreage communities outside the city are newer: the Census puts the median build year in Alice Acres at 2002.
Small tracts are common in this county. The 2022 Census of Agriculture counts 436 of Jim Wells County's 960 farms at under 50 acres. A homesite or a few acres gone to brush gets the same mulching head as a big pasture.
Inside the city limits, the City of Alice Code Enforcement Division handles high weeds and weedy lots. When a lot is out of compliance, the city sends the owner a notice to correct it. If the problem remains at re-inspection, the city abates it and bills the owner. An unpaid bill becomes a lien on the property.
Inside the city, the Community Development Department runs building inspection and code enforcement. The city's Engineering Division manages work in city right of ways. Outside the city limits, ask Jim Wells County what your project needs.
Texas law calls for an 811 notice two business days before any dig 16 inches or deeper. Weekends and legal holidays do not count. That rule reaches trenching for water and electric lines and post holes that go that deep. Locators mark the lines operators own, so point out your own, such as a well line to a trough.
Alice and Jim Wells County both take part in the National Flood Insurance Program. If your land sits in a mapped flood zone, ask the city or county floodplain administrator before any digging. Jim Wells County can set a burn ban, and mulch left on the ground means no brush pile to burn.
Communities and areas we serve around Alice: Rancho Alegre, Alice Acres, Coyote Acres, Ben Bolt, Loma Linda East, Owl Ranch, Amargosa, Lake Findley and North Texas Boulevard, San Fernando Creek, State Highway 44 toward San Diego, US 281 toward Premont.
Alice ZIP codes served: 78332, 78333.
Alice is part of our service area. We look at the land first, then put the quote in writing.
(956) 206-3992 The mulching head on our skid steer grinds brush and small trees into mulch that stays on the ground. The oaks and mottes you mark stay standing.
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We clear mesquite, huisache, blackbrush and prickly pear from overgrown pasture and lots. The mulching head grinds the brush where it stands, and the rippers root plow what must stay open.
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We cut new senderos and re-open old ones on hunting ranches around Laredo. The mulching head clears the lane, and the rippers root plow it where it needs to stay open.
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We clear mesquite and brush off old fence lines and cut the path for new ones. New lines get root plowed before the fence crew comes.
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The auger on our skid steer drills fence post holes for ranch fences, game fences, pens and gates. Your fence builder gives the spacing and depth, and we drill to it.
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The trencher on the skid steer cuts trenches for water lines and electric runs on ranches and rural land. Your plumber or electrician marks the route and the depth, and we cut to match.
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We clear and mulch brush along pipeline rights of way and around pads in the Eagle Ford. A smaller operator or a big crew with overflow work gets an extra machine.
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The mulching head and rippers on our skid steer do the brush work a Texas wildlife management plan calls for. You write the plan, alone or with a biologist, and we clear to the acres and pattern it lists.
Learn MoreA few of the questions we hear most around Alice. If yours is not here, call or text and ask.
Tell us where the property is and the work it needs, and send photos if you have them. Call or text (956) 206-3992 or use the form, and we will get back to you.
Tell us about the land and the work it needs. We look at the land or your photos of it, then put the quote in writing.