Overgrown brush and dry grass are fire fuel. We cut them back on homes, cabins and land across Tuolumne County, clear the 100 feet around your house to CAL FIRE's and the City of Sonora's standards, and send you before and after photos for your insurer.
Sonora Brush Clearing is a local crew that clears brush, dry grass and trees from homes, cabins and land in Sonora and across Tuolumne County. We work for homeowners getting ready for a CAL FIRE inspection, people with a weed abatement notice or an insurance letter, owners who live out of the area, and anyone whose lot has gotten away from them.
Steep and rocky ground is cut by hand with brush cutters and chainsaws, where a mower or a machine cannot go, and on open ground our Bobcat moves the brush and logs. The brush is chipped, hauled to the green waste site with dump fees included, or stacked for your burn permit. Most homes take one day, and the price is set in writing before we start.
Fires here start close to homes. The 2021 Washington Fire, at Golf Links Road and Highway 108 just west of Sonora, burned 100 acres and destroyed 18 structures. See what CAL FIRE and the City of Sonora ask for around your house.
Every pair is our own crew's photos of one job, before we started and after we finished. Move across the photo to compare, then pick another job to see it.
Low limbs and brush under a row of oaks beside the drive, cut back so the trunks stand clear and the ground underneath is open.
West of Sonora, July 2026
Oak limbs that hung to the ground beside a fence, cut back so a ground fire cannot climb into the trees.
West of Sonora, July 2026
Grass and brush under the oaks, the fuel that carries fire from tree to tree, cut short across the stand.
Dead limbs and dry grass right against the siding, the first five feet inspectors look at. Raked down to gravel.
Three kinds of work, often on the same visit. Most jobs get one written price, by the job and not by the hour, with hauling and dump fees in it.
Also called brush removal or clearing overgrown brush
Overgrown brush, manzanita, blackberry, poison oak and small trees cut down, then chipped, hauled away or stacked for a permitted burn.
The 100-foot fire clearance CAL FIRE inspects
The 100 feet around your house cleared to the state standard, zone by zone, with before and after photos you can send to your insurer.
Vacant lots, acreage, fence lines and fire breaks
Lots and acreage cut back before a weed abatement deadline, a sale or a build, plus fire breaks along drives, fences and outbuildings.
California law (Public Resources Code 4291) asks owners of homes on or next to brush, grass or forest land to keep 100 feet of defensible space around each building, or out to the property line if that is closer. CAL FIRE splits the 100 feet into zones, and the closer a zone is to the house, the stricter it gets. Pick a zone to see what it asks for and what we clear there.
Zone 0 is the strip right against the walls, deck and fences, where wind-blown embers land and pile up. The state Board of Forestry adopted Zone 0 rules on August 19, 2026, then withdrew them on September 8, 2026, so no statewide Zone 0 requirement is in force yet. CAL FIRE still recommends the steps below, and a cleared five-foot zone already counts toward insurance discounts under California's Safer from Wildfires rules.
We pull dead plants and needle drift away from the walls, rake bark and wood mulch out, clear under the deck and stairs, and haul it all away.
Zone 1 is where an inspector looks hardest. The goal is a yard with nothing dead in it and gaps between plants, so a ground fire cannot run up to the house or climb into a tree.
We cut and rake the grass, take out dead plants and low limbs, cut branches back from the roof and chimney, and open up space between the shrubs.
Zone 2 is about less fuel, not bare ground. Grass is cut short, trees keep their shade, and shrubs and trees are spaced so a fire coming up the hill slows down and drops to the ground.
We cut the grass across the whole zone, limb trees up, thin the brush to the spacing your slope needs, and chip or haul everything we cut.
The City's defensible space ordinance asks for dead grass cut to 2 inches, not 4, and a 10-foot cleared strip along every property line that borders a building or a driveway. It covers vacant lots too.
The county ordinance asks for a 10-foot reduced fuel strip along driveways and roads with 15 feet of clearance overhead, and vacant lots cleared wherever they come within 100 feet of a neighbor's building.
We are not CAL FIRE and we do not do official inspections. We clear to the same checklist the inspectors use, including the city and county rules above, and send you photos of every zone when we finish. Every rule, with its source, is on our page about defensible space rules in Sonora and Tuolumne County.
Sources: Public Resources Code 4291, CAL FIRE defensible space guidance and the Office of Administrative Law record for Zone 0. Checked October 17, 2026.
Every property is different, so we do not post a price list. We charge one of two ways: most jobs get one written price for the whole job, and some projects are done at a flat day rate. The estimate is free either way.
Most jobs
We walk the property, then give you one price for the whole job, by the job and not by the hour. It is set before we start and does not grow on the day.
Some projects
We come for the day with a crew and the gear the work needs, charge one flat rate for the day, and get as much done as we can in it.
It suits some projects and not others, so it is not something we offer on every job.
Call us. We will give you a free estimate and find what works best for your property.
Call (209) 243-5574 or send the form for a free estimate. We call back the same day, usually within the hour.
Usually within a day or two of your call. If you live out of the area, we walk it with you on the phone.
One price for the whole job, set before we start, with hauling and dump fees in it. It does not grow on the day.
We cut, chip or haul, rake up, and text you before and after photos. You pay when the job is done.
Brush cutters, chainsaws and rakes on the slopes, and our wood-sided trailers for the haul. Tap a photo to see it larger.
Brush cut back from the driveway and piled up for the chipper.
The chipper at work, throwing the chips out onto the dry slope.
The chipper set up behind the work truck, close to the cut brush.
Pulling cut brush out from the edge of the driveway.
Dragging a long cut limb out to the driveway.
Heading back into the brush by the creek for the next load.
Cut brush loaded on one of our wood-sided trailers for the haul.
A strip cleared along a fence, with the dry hills behind it.
Where the owner has a burn permit and it is a burn day, cut brush can be piled and burned, and the rounds stacked.
A gravel yard cleared along the fence and rock wall, with nothing left to carry a fire.
Every photo is from one of our own jobs.
Get a free estimateEvery review here is a 5-star Google review of our crew, quoted word for word.
This crew was great. Had to remove tough junipers on a hill. Had a bobcat, trailer and can-do attitude to get the job done.
Hard workers, did an awesome job removing my trees and cleaned up after they were done. Very courteous and punctual. They did a very good job, I would recommend them to anyone who needs the same job done!
They cleared around my trees, took care of a couple hillsides, and did the full perimeter. Got it all done at a reasonable price.
These guys are amazing! Hardworking and responsive to communication. They helped me clear half an acre of accumulated Pine Needles at a reasonable price. I will definitely hire them again and again.
Very responsible and capable crew. Great communication, and good hard work that helps our Firewise Community.
We also had a downed oak tree that they cut up for us, which was a big chore in itself.
Levi Cones started his first yard business in 2024, during his junior year of high school. Since the start of 2025 his crews have worked for more than 1,000 customers around Tuolumne County, and today three crews a day clear brush, grass and fire fuel from Sonora up the Highway 108 corridor.
We clear brush for homeowners, cabin and rental owners and ranches.
Late fall through spring is best: the soil is soft, burning is usually allowed, and the grass has not dried out yet.
Have the grass and the first 30 feet done by late May.
3 of 4
large, damaging fires in Tuolumne County since 1951 started between mid-June and mid-August.
Source: CAL FIRE
Easy to book. Good months for chainsaw work, limbing and dead trees, and for burn piles on permitted burn days once CAL FIRE lifts the summer suspension.
Schedules fill from February. The ground is soft, the brush is easy to see and the grass has not cured.
Grass turns from green to gold fast. In 2026 CAL FIRE suspended burning below 3,500 feet on May 25 and everywhere on June 15.
Brush is chipped or hauled, not burned. CAL FIRE advises cutting dry grass before 10 a.m. and never on a hot or windy day.
We are based in Sonora and work across Tuolumne County, from the oak and grass hills around Jamestown up the Highway 108 corridor into the pines, and over the county line to Angels Camp, Murphys and Arnold in Calaveras County.
Every town we serve in Tuolumne and Calaveras counties
Question not here? Call us. Somebody picks up.
Call (209) 243-5574It depends on how much brush there is, how woody it is, the slope and whether it is chipped, hauled or burned. Most jobs are priced by the job, not the hour: one written price before we start, with dump fees included. Some projects are done at a flat day rate instead, with a crew and the gear the work needs for the whole day. The estimate is free either way, and nothing starts until you say yes. Our brush clearing cost guide explains what moves the price.
California law asks for 100 feet of defensible space around a home, or out to the property line if that is closer. The first 30 feet gets the most attention: nothing dead, and limbs off the roof and chimney. From 30 to 100 feet, grass is cut to 4 inches and shrubs and trees are spaced apart.
Yes. Inside city limits, Sonora's defensible space ordinance asks for dead grass cut to 2 inches instead of 4, and a 10-foot cleared strip along any property line that borders a building or a driveway, on vacant lots too. The Sonora Fire Department enforces it. We clear city lots to the city standard.
Not yet. The state Board of Forestry adopted Zone 0 rules for the first five feet around a house on August 19, 2026, then withdrew them on September 8, 2026, so no statewide deadline is in force. CAL FIRE still recommends keeping that strip free of anything that burns, and it is quick to do on the same visit.
You get a notice listing what to fix and a date for a second look. Fix the list by then and you are done. If it is not fixed, a first violation of the state law is an infraction with a fine of $100 to $500, and a third within five years is a misdemeanor. Tell us the date on your notice and we will schedule around it.
If the home is in a High or Very High fire hazard zone, yes. California's AB 38 requires documentation that the property meets defensible space rules when it is sold, or the buyer has to take care of it within a year of closing. Most of Sonora is mapped Very High. Clearing before the inspection keeps it off the buyer's list.
Whichever you pick. We chip it on site, haul it to the green waste site with dump fees included, or stack it for your burn. Burning needs a CAL FIRE permit, piles 4 feet across or smaller and a permissive burn day (call (209) 533-5598), and it is suspended through fire season. Poison oak is always bagged and hauled, never burned.
Not much right now. The Tuolumne Fire Safe Council's free program for low-income seniors and disabled residents is full and was not taking new applications as of May 2026. Insurers do count defensible space toward a discount under California's Safer from Wildfires rules, and our before and after photos can be the proof you send.
It can. In 2023, insurers declined to renew about 18 percent of the Tuolumne County homeowners policies up for renewal, roughly twice the state rate. Under California's Safer from Wildfires rules, defensible space compliance counts toward a discount. Nobody can promise what an insurer decides, but we send before and after photos you can forward.
Tell us where the property is and what needs clearing. We call you back the same day, usually within the hour, and set a time to walk it with you, in person or on the phone if you are out of the area.
