Forestry Mulching & Brush Hogging in Macomb County, MI

Brush hogging or forestry mulching

A brush hog takes a field of weeds and saplings back to something you can mow. A forestry mulching head goes further: it cuts standing brush and small trees and grinds them into a layer of mulch. Nothing is dug up, so the ground stays firm and there is no burn pile and no dump run. Anything bigger than the head can handle comes out with the excavator instead. The brush hogging vs. forestry mulching guide explains which suits what.

Creeks, drains and the parks next door

Northern Macomb drains to the Clinton River. Its North and Middle branches rise in the north of the county, and Wolcott Mill Metropark, a 2,625-acre park entirely within Ray Township, sits on the North Branch. Stony Creek Metropark is in the county too. Plenty of private acreage borders a creek, a drain or park land, so know where your line is before the mulcher goes into a treeline.

Macomb County Public Works administers 475 county drains. If a ditch you want cut back is one of them, ask Public Works before any work is done on it.

Trails, fence lines and wet corners

Mulching is a good way to open a walking trail, a hunting lane or a fence line you can get equipment down again. The trails and food plots guide covers that kind of work. Wet corners are usually cut when they are driest or frozen, so the machine does not rut them, and the timing is settled at the estimate.

Keeping a field back once it is open

Mulch breaks down and feeds the ground, which suits a field going back to pasture or hay. Once the field is open, a seasonal cut keeps it there, and the sooner the brush is cut the less there is to take down. If the plan changes to a building site, the stumps can come out later as a clearing job.