Grubbing
Also called: clearing and grubbing, root removal, stump grubbing, root raking
Removing stumps and roots from cleared land, usually with an excavator or a dozer fitted with a root rake, so the ground can be graded, built on or cultivated. The expensive second half of traditional land clearing: $1,500–$4,000 per acre on top of clearing.
“Clearing and grubbing” is the standard first line item on any construction site plan. Clearing takes down what’s above ground; grubbing digs out what’s below — stumps, root balls, and the mat of roots that would otherwise rot under a foundation or slab and leave voids. The machine pushes the material into piles, which are then burned, chipped or hauled.
It’s necessary for building pads, driveways, septic fields, farmland and orchards, and unnecessary for pasture, trails, fire breaks and most landscaping — where forestry mulching leaves roots in place at a fraction of the cost. A contractor who quotes grubbing for land you don’t intend to build on is either being thorough or padding the job; ask.
Grubbed ground is bare and disturbed, which is why land-disturbance permits and erosion controls (silt fence, seeding) almost always come with it.