Mark’s Mulching: Bobcat Hire, Firebreaks and Land Clearing in Albany
We are a locally owned small business running bobcat hire and land clearing in Albany, working for landowners across the City of Albany, the surrounding rural areas and the adjoining shires. Our yard is at 47713 South Coast Highway, Gledhow. Firebreaks, mulching, slashing, parkland clearing and bobcat work all come from the one outfit, so an overgrown block does not need three separate contractors.
A Local Family Business, Seventeen Years In
The business is over 17 years old and is owned and operated by a local family – Mark and Karina Barrett. Mark’s background is in farming, arboriculture and civil work, and that mix is the useful part. It means the person quoting your job has actually managed land, cut trees and moved dirt, so the advice about what a block needs tends to be practical rather than theoretical. We work with modern equipment, which is how even badly overgrown ground gets turned into something manageable and safe reasonably quickly.
Bobcat Services
What the Bobcat Gets Used For
- Earthmoving: excavating, grading and levelling ground.
- Site preparation: from small residential projects and farms through to larger commercial jobs.
- Fence line clearing: getting fence lines back to clear ground, free of overgrowth, brush and debris.
- Material handling: shifting gravel, mulch and soil around a site without doing it by hand.
Our project photos show the sort of access work that goes with it – new tracks pushed through bushland so a fire truck can get in, and jobs on steep slopes and hard-access ground where a bigger machine will not fit.
Firebreaks, Clearing, Mulching and Slashing
Firebreaks are a good part of what we do. We clear vegetation and create buffer zones that act as barriers to slow a fire’s spread, using proven methods and working to local regulations so you end up with defensible space. We also have extensive experience with vegetation clearance and with Bushfire Attack Level (BAL) and Asset Protection Zone (APZ) requirements.
We publish our own firebreak compliance guide on our website, because the requirements catch people out every year. It covers perimeter firebreaks, which the City of Albany requires on properties larger than 4,000 square metres; the separate breaks needed around wood heaps, hay stacks, fuel storage areas, garden refuse piles, green power domes and power poles, whatever the size of the block; and Strategic Fire Access Routes, including who has to build and maintain one. The figures in it are the City’s requirements rather than ours, and they are revised from time to time, so read the current version on our site or check with the City before you cut. One line in the guide is worth repeating anywhere: where a contractor installs the firebreaks, the landowner or occupier is still the one responsible for making sure they meet the standard. If you would rather just be told what your block needs, ring and ask.
Parkland clearing takes out unwanted vegetation, undergrowth and debris while keeping the environment intact, on public parks and private recreational areas alike. Mulching breaks organic material down into nutrient-rich mulch that can be spread back across your landscape, which helps hold moisture, keeps weeds down and improves the soil. Slashing suits large areas such as fields and pastures – specialised machinery cuts down tall grass, weeds and shrubs, which keeps the place accessible and takes dry fuel out of the equation before summer.
The Properties We Work On, and How to Get a Quote
Whatever the size, condition and land use, there is usually something we can help with. We work on everything from the smallest residential town block through to rural lifestyle properties, hobby farms, horse blocks, plantations and large broadacre farms. If you are looking at a block and not sure where to start, ring Mark on 0419 693 111 or email [email protected], or use the quote form on our website. Firebreak season books out, so it pays to get in early rather than in the week it is due.