Forestry Mulching
We grind standing brush, saplings and small trees into mulch with a mulcher head on our tracked loader. The chips stay on the ground and hold the soil in place.
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Land around Romney fills in fast. Old pasture down in the South Branch bottoms grows up in multiflora rose, autumn olive, briars and saplings. Ridge lots off Jersey Mountain Road and Mill Creek Mountain send up oak and Virginia pine sprouts. A few seasons of that turns a clean field into brush too thick to mow.
Marloy Hill Enterprise is based in Augusta, about seven miles east of Romney on US 50. We handle brush clearing and forestry mulching, stump work, digging and grading around Romney. Our mini excavator and tracked loader ride in on our own trailer to reach back lanes and field lots. Call or text (540) 327-1400 for a free estimate.
Tell us about the job and the ground. We will get right back to you.
Romney sits at about 800 feet in the lower valley of the South Branch Potomac. Mill Creek Mountain runs along the west side of town. US 50 and Mill Creek both cut through it at Mechanicsburg Gap. South Branch Mountain rises east of town and tops 3,000 feet, the highest ground in the county.
Hampshire County counted 880 farms on 145,379 acres in the 2022 farm census. Hay and haylage were the top crop by a wide margin, close to 29,000 acres. Cattle numbers ran over 16,000 head. When a field drops out of hay for a couple of years, brush takes it back.
Bottom ground along the river is flat and easy to work. The slope above it is a different job. On a hillside we leave a chip layer behind so rain runs over cover instead of bare dirt.
A lot of the land around Romney is bought for hunting or for a weekend place. Nearly half the farmland in the county is woodland, over 61,000 acres of it. Fort Mill Ridge sits two miles southwest of town, oak and Virginia pine from 680 to 1,100 feet. Ridge tracts off Jersey Mountain Road and out toward Vanderlip and Shanks look much the same.
On that ground the mulcher head on our tracked loader grinds brush and small trees where they stand. The material comes back down as a chip layer, and what is left is open trail and shooting lanes. Where a stump has to come out below grade, our mini excavator digs it up, roots and all. Stump removal leaves a hole, and we backfill and level it so the ground can be mowed.
When a job needs both machines, both come out, so the clearing and the digging get done on the same job. Each machine rides in on our own trailer, and on a ridge lot with a long rough drive it can unload at the road and track in.
Much of the ground here is Weikert and Berks channery silt loam, full of shale fragments. Weikert is shallow, with bedrock 10 to 20 inches down, and Berks reaches bedrock at 20 to 40 inches. Rain runs across that kind of soil instead of soaking in. On a cut slope it takes the dirt with it.
Romney gets close to 38 inches of precipitation a year and around 29 inches of snow. Freeze and thaw all winter breaks the surface up and moves it. That is how a yard turns soft and water ends up sitting against a foundation. French drains and drainage trenches dug with the mini excavator carry that water past the house.
The same rain works on gravel drives and lanes. A drive with no crown holds water and washes into ruts. Gravel driveway work here means cutting the grade back in and shaping a crown that sheds water.
The Hampshire County Planning Office is in Romney on North High Street. The county requires a building permit for improvements on a property, including homes, additions, garages, barns and sheds. Clearing the ground is often the first step before that permit gets used. It helps to know where the building will sit before we shape the pad.
Ground near the South Branch and its runs can fall in the regulatory floodplain. Work there needs a permit from the county floodplain administrator. Land being subdivided or developed also needs an approved site plan. Check with the planning office before any dirt moves.
A new entrance onto a state road is handled separately. The West Virginia Division of Highways issues driveway permits for entrances on state highways at no charge. That covers the numbered routes around Romney, including US 50 and WV 28. Once access is settled, we cut the drive in and shape the ground.
Communities and areas we serve around Romney: Mechanicsburg Gap, Sunrise Summit, Three Churches, Jersey Mountain Road, Shanks, Vanderlip, Junction, Wappocomo, Hanging Rock, Sedan, Springfield, Fort Mill Ridge.
Romney ZIP codes served: 26757.
Free estimates throughout Hampshire County and the surrounding area.
(540) 327-1400 We grind standing brush, saplings and small trees into mulch with a mulcher head on our tracked loader. The chips stay on the ground and hold the soil in place.
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We cut overgrown fields, pastures and fence rows back down to open ground. A brush cutter on the mini excavator reaches banks, ditch lines and fence rows from level footing.
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We clear wooded and grown-up building lots for a house, a cabin, a mobile home or a shop. Brush gets mulched where it stands, and stumps come out where the house and the drive go.
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We dig stumps out with a mini excavator, root ball and all. The hole gets backfilled and bladed level so the spot can be mowed or built on.
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Mini excavator digging for trenches, ditches, driveway cuts and dirt work. We clear and dig on the same job across Hampshire County and the Eastern Panhandle.
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We level pads, smooth rutted ground and shape lots after clearing. The finished grade sends water away from your buildings instead of toward them.
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We cut in new gravel driveways and lanes on rural lots, and regrade drives that have rutted or washed out. The surface gets crowned so water runs off the drive instead of down it.
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We regrade private gravel roads that have washed out or worn into ruts and potholes. The crown goes back in and the ditch lines get cleaned out so water leaves the road.
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We install French drains and drainage trenches that move water away from houses, cabins, barns and driveways. The mini excavator digs the line, then pipe and washed stone go in so the ground drains.
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We clear grown up fence rows and property lines on farms and acreage across Hampshire County. The row comes back to a clean line your fence crew can work from.
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We bring our tracked skid steer to grade yards and lanes, spread gravel and topsoil, and fill washouts. A forestry mulcher head on the same loader grinds brush and saplings where they stand.
Learn MoreA few of the questions we hear most around Romney. If yours is not here, call or text and ask.
Tell us where the property is and what you want the ground to do. Call or text (540) 327-1400, or fill in the form and we will get back to you.
Tell us about the job and the ground. We will get right back to you.