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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Zapata sits on the shore of Falcon Lake, and brush country runs back from the water on every side. Mesquite and prickly pear fill empty lake lots, and blackbrush closes in old ranch lanes. Zapata County even keeps a code enforcement office for abandoned lots and buildings.
Zapata is part of our service area for land clearing, about 50 road miles down US 83 from Laredo. Iron Steer Land Services clears brush with a skid steer and forestry mulching, and the mulch stays on the ground. Trencher and auger attachments handle water lines and post holes. Call or text (956) 206-3992 and tell us what your land needs.
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.
Falcon Lake filled in 1954 and covered the old town of Zapata. The town was rebuilt on higher ground beside the new lake. Texas Parks and Wildlife lists the reservoir at 83,654 acres, and the International Boundary and Water Commission controls it. Its level can swing 40 to 50 feet or more, the department notes.
Siesta Shores, Falcon Lake Estates and Falcon Mesa line the water just south of town. Medina and Las Palmas sit to the north, and the 2020 Census counted 3,953 people in Medina. Census estimates show about half of Zapata's homes were built in 1992 or later. About one home in six is a mobile home.
NRCS soil maps show the Hebbronville series, a deep loamy fine sand, as Zapata County's most common soil. Its native brush includes mesquite, prickly pear, tasajillo and granjeno, and empty lots grow up in it. Our brush clearing for lots and homesites takes a lot back to open ground and keeps the trees you mark. A builder or an excavation contractor handles the pad and the drive after that.
Zapata has no city government. No town in Zapata County is incorporated, so the Commissioners Court sets the local rules. State law lets the county zone land within 25,000 feet of Falcon Lake and the Rio Grande. That reach also runs along the arroyos that drain into them.
The county calls that land the Falcon Lake Area, and its rules say the area includes San Ygnacio. Inside it, the county's zoning rules say land may not be cleared, graded or excavated without a county permit. Ask the Zapata County Zoning Administrator before the work starts. We point you to the right office, and the county answers for your land.
In San Ygnacio, property with a historic designation goes to the historic district commission first. Zapata County also takes part in the National Flood Insurance Program. In a mapped flood zone, the program's rules count digging and fill as development. The county's floodplain administrator answers that question before a trench goes in.
Away from the lake, Zapata County is ranch country. The 2022 USDA farm census counted 305 farms and ranches on 287,324 acres, and 264,004 of those acres were pasture. Sixty-five of them cover 1,000 acres or more. Livestock brought in 95 percent of farm sales.
State Highway 16 ends in Zapata and runs north toward Hebbronville and Freer. US 83 runs northwest to San Ygnacio and southeast to Lopeño. NOAA's 30-year averages for the Zapata station show about 20 inches of rain a year, with September the wettest. Hunting is a year-round draw across the county, the Handbook of Texas notes.
Ranches cut senderos through the brush for feeders and stands. Our sendero clearing opens new lanes and reopens old ones. Where you want regrowth stopped, the rippers root plow the lane. We also do fence line clearing and post hole digging when a pasture needs a new fence.
Zapata is gas country. The Handbook of Texas calls the town the center of extensive oil and gas wells. The county even passed a 2008 ordinance on noise from drilling gas wells.
Pipeline easements and the edges of well pads grow up in brush. Our right of way clearing mulches that brush and keeps an easement open. Smaller operators can bring us in as an extra machine.
In town, Zapata County runs the waterworks. On ranches, water lines run to troughs and stock tanks, and power runs out to barns and wells. Our trenching for water lines cuts the trench along the route your plumber or electrician marks. They lay and connect the line, and we backfill when the quote includes it.
Communities and areas we serve around Zapata: Medina, Siesta Shores, Falcon Lake Estates, Falcon Mesa, Las Palmas, San Ygnacio, Ramireño, Lopeño, New Falcon, US 83 corridor, State Highway 16 corridor.
Zapata ZIP codes served: 78076.
Zapata 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 Zapata. 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.