The access checklist
Access decides machine class, machine class decides capability, and capability decides price. These measurements take twenty minutes and change more about a quote than the acreage does.
Published by the Land Clearing Authority editorial team · Last revised 2026-07-29 · Editorial policy · Corrections
Who this is for
- Anyone requesting quotes before a contractor has visited
- Owners whose work area is behind a gate, a bridge, or a narrow drive
- People whose quotes came back with wide ranges and lots of caveats
The short answer
Measure the narrowest point on the route from the public road to the work area, including gate posts, and measure the lowest overhead obstruction. Those two numbers eliminate machines from consideration before anyone travels.
Note what the route crosses: turf, paving, a culvert, a bridge, a septic field. Anything with a load limit or a surface you care about is a constraint the contractor needs before quoting.
Photograph the entrance from the road, the narrowest point, the route, and the work area. Four photographs answer questions a paragraph cannot.
Provide the largest trunk diameter on the property. It is the single most useful measurement you can give and it determines which machine is appropriate.
What changes the answer
- Width and height of the narrowest and lowest point
- What the route surface is and whether it must survive
- Whether any crossing has a load limit
- Turning space at the work area
- Whether material can leave by the same route
- Ground conditions in the season the work will happen
The measurements, and what each one decides
Take these with a tape rather than by eye. Estimates of width are consistently optimistic.
| Measurement | Where | What it determines |
|---|---|---|
| Narrowest width | Gate posts, between buildings, at a bend | Maximum machine width, and therefore class |
| Lowest clearance | Overhead wires, branches, a soffit | Maximum machine height with attachment raised |
| Route length | Road to work area | Travel time, and material egress cost |
| Turning space | At the work area and at any bend | Whether a machine can manoeuvre or must reverse |
| Gradient | Steepest section of the route | Whether a loaded machine can climb it |
| Largest trunk diameter | The biggest stem on the property | Machine capability and production rate |
The four photographs
Photographs answer questions the contractor did not know to ask.
- The entrance, taken from the public road, showing the approach and any kerb or ditch.
- The narrowest point, with a tape or a familiar object in frame for scale.
- The route from entrance to work area, taken standing at the entrance looking in.
- The work area itself, wide enough to show what surrounds it.
- A fifth, if relevant: anything you are worried about — a culvert, a bank, a soft patch, a structure close to the work.
What to note about the route surface
This is the part owners most often omit and most often regret.
A machine has to reach the work across whatever is between the road and it. If that includes turf you care about, a paved drive, or a lawn with an irrigation system under it, the contractor needs to know before quoting, because protection is a real line item and repair is a larger one.
Crossings deserve specific attention. A culvert or a small bridge built for a car may not carry a tracked machine on a trailer, and finding that out on the day is an expensive discovery. If you know of a load limit, say so; if you do not know, say that too.
Note also where material can be staged. Everything that leaves has to be gathered somewhere first, and a site with no staging area forces many small movements instead of a few large ones.
Marking, before anyone arrives
The checklist is not only measurements. Physical marking is the other half, and it is the cheapest intervention in the entire project.
- Flag every tree you intend to keep. An operator in a cab cannot act on a conversation held last week.
- Mark the septic tank, lid, and field, and any well head.
- Mark every private line you know about — irrigation, drainage, cable to an outbuilding, the run to a pump.
- Mark the boundary of the work area, generously, with a visible edge.
- Mark any area that must not be entered at all, and say why.
Seasonal conditions, which the measurements miss
A tape measure records geometry and says nothing about whether the route works in the month the job will happen.
A drive that carries anything in August may not carry a loaded trailer in March. A field crossing that looks like the obvious route may be the worst option after rain. Both are worth flagging when you describe the site, because they change the machine choice and sometimes the timing.
Note where water sits after heavy rain, where the ground stays soft longest, and whether any part of the route has failed under load before. Owners know these things and routinely do not mention them.
If the work is scheduled for a wet season, ask directly what the contractor would do differently, and whether waiting would produce a better result on your ground.
What drives the cost
| Driver | Effect |
|---|---|
| Narrowest access point | Caps machine class, and a smaller machine on the same growth costs more hours. |
| Route protection | Mats or a temporary surface where the ground must survive. |
| Route length | Travel time each way, multiplied by every material movement. |
| Staging space | No staging area means many small movements instead of few large ones. |
| Crossing load limits | A route that cannot carry the equipment may need a different approach entirely. |
Common mistakes
- Measuring the gate opening rather than the width including posts
- Forgetting overhead clearance, which strands machines more often than width
- Not mentioning what the route crosses
- Describing retained trees instead of flagging them
- Assuming the 811 process covers private irrigation and septic lines
Questions to ask a contractor
- Given these measurements, what machine would you bring?
- What protection does the route need, and what will it look like afterwards?
- Where would you stage material?
- Does anything in these photographs concern you?
What to do next
- Take the six measurements with a tape and write them down
- Take the four photographs and send them with your enquiry
- Flag retained trees and mark services before any visit
- Run the site access checker to see which constraints apply
Questions people actually ask
Why does the contractor need this before visiting?
Because it determines whether a visit is worth either party’s time. A contractor whose smallest machine will not fit your entrance can tell you that from two numbers, which is better for both of you than a wasted appointment.
What if I cannot measure part of the route?
Say which part and why. An honest gap is workable; a guess presented as a measurement is not. Contractors plan around uncertainty they know about far better than around uncertainty they discover.
Does access really change the price that much?
On a constrained site it is frequently the largest single factor, because it caps machine class and therefore production. Two identical parcels with different entrances can differ substantially in cost.
What if the only route crosses my neighbour’s land?
Then access is a permission question before it is a measurement question, and it needs settling in writing before anyone quotes. Verbal arrangements about access across another parcel are a common source of mid-project stoppages.
Work out the scope before you ask for prices
Answer the five questions every quote depends on — what is growing, where the material goes, how deep removal has to reach, whether equipment can get in, and what the land is for afterwards. Then send one properly described project to the right kind of contractor.
Nothing on this site is a recommendation of a specific company. The guidance describes categories of work and the questions worth asking. If you decide to request quotes, the introduction is free to you, contractors may pay to receive it, and you are under no obligation to hire anyone.