Forestry Mulching
A forestry mulching head on our skid loader grinds brush and small trees where they stand. The mulch stays on the ground and covers the soil.
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Fort Scott sits on clay soils over limestone and shale, where Mill Creek meets the Marmaton River. Out in Bourbon County, pasture and fence rows fill in with brush and cedars when nobody keeps them open. In town, an empty lot in an older neighborhood can grow up in saplings and brush. Then the ground is hard to use or sell.
Nickell's Land Management is a land clearing company based in Parker. We clear land with a skid loader and an excavator, and Fort Scott is part of our service area. Around Fort Scott, we clear brushy pasture and town lots, and we build and clean out ponds. Call or text (620) 252-9314, and we will look at the job and put the quote in writing.
Tell us what the land needs and where it is. We look at the job and put the quote in writing.
The army built the fort here in 1842, on a bluff over the Marmaton River and Mill Creek. Today Fort Scott National Historic Site sits in downtown, where US-69 and US-54 meet. The town is the seat of Bourbon County and home to about 7,500 people. Downtown is about 5 miles west of the Missouri line.
NRCS soil maps show mostly clay soils across the city. Under much of town, limestone bedrock lies 20 to 40 inches down, and some ground is stony. Parts of the Marmaton bottoms hold poorly drained clay that floods now and then.
NOAA climate normals for Fort Scott show about 44 inches of precipitation a year. May is the wettest month, at a little over 6 inches. Clay that wet stays soft, and heavy machines can rut it. We look at the ground and the rock when we see the job, and we plan the work around both.
Fort Scott is an old town. Census estimates put about 4 in 10 homes in town as built before 1940. Census building permit counts show only a few new single-family houses in the city each year. The city's Infill Program aims to bring new homes to residential lots in existing neighborhoods.
If a lot has grown up in trees, lot clearing comes before the house. The excavator takes out the trees and pulls the stumps, roots and all. Then site prep levels the ground and cuts in the access for the builder.
Out in the county, plan the septic area before the clearing starts. Bourbon County's sanitation office asks for a permit and a site inspection before a septic system goes in. A septic installer handles that part of the job.
Inside the city limits, Fort Scott's permit list includes earthworks, meaning any digging or trenching. Fences need a permit too. The city's Codes Department answers what a given job needs before work starts.
The Codes Department can also tell you if a property sits in the floodplain. FEMA flood maps put low ground along the Marmaton River in the high-risk zone. That includes land north of downtown and by Gunn Park.
Fort Scott bans burning leaves inside the city limits. Brush can be burned there only with Fire Department approval and a burn permit. Out in the county, the Bourbon County Commission declares burn bans. Forestry mulching grinds brush into mulch where it stands, and the mulch stays on the ground.
Fort Scott National Historic Site manages five acres of restored tallgrass prairie. Private pasture around town takes work to keep open. Cedars and brush move in from the fence rows and the timber edges. Our brush clearing work opens that ground back up as pasture.
Fence line clearing takes the trees and brush out of an old fence row. Then a new fence can go up. Fort Scott's Codes Department sends owners to a surveyor to find their property lines. Have the line surveyed before the clearing starts.
Fort Scott Lake and Rock Creek Lake hold water for the city and rural water systems. On private land, we build new farm and home ponds with the excavator and the skid loader. Before pond construction starts, we look at the soil and the rock on the site.
Communities and areas we serve around Fort Scott: Downtown Fort Scott, Fort Scott National Historic Site, Gunn Park, Marmaton River, Mill Creek, Fort Scott Lake, Rock Creek Lake, Woodland Hills Golf Course, Fort Scott Community College, US-69, US-54.
Fort Scott ZIP codes served: 66701.
Fort Scott is part of our service area. We look at the job first, then put the quote in writing.
(620) 252-9314 A forestry mulching head on our skid loader grinds brush and small trees where they stand. The mulch stays on the ground and covers the soil.
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We open up pasture and yards that brush and young trees have taken over. A forestry mulching head grinds the brush, and the excavator pulls bigger stems by the roots.
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We clear building lots and parcels around Parker, Kansas, with an excavator and a skid loader. The stumps get pulled, roots and all.
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We level and rough grade cleared ground for a new home or a shop. Then we cut in the access so the builder can start.
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We clear volunteer cedars and hedge out of fence rows and tree lines with an excavator and a skid loader. The line opens back up so a new fence can go in or a field edge can come back.
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We build new farm and home ponds with an excavator and a skid loader. We dig the basin and build the dam, then shape the banks and the spillway.
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We dig the silt and muck out of old farm and home ponds with an excavator. Then we clear and reshape the overgrown banks and the dam.
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We build retaining walls where a bank or a grade change needs holding. The base under the wall and the drainage behind it are part of the job.
Learn MoreA few of the questions we hear most around Fort Scott. If yours is not here, call or text and ask.
Send the form with the town and a few words about the land. You can also call or text (620) 252-9314.
Tell us what the land needs and where it is. We look at the job and put the quote in writing.