Pond rake

[czechsonofagun]

Lot of weed is growing in our pond, Watershield and according to my sources, the only way to deal with it is chemical or mechanical.

I do not use chemicals unless I absolutely have to, and mechanical is a lot of work. I used to comb it out with very simple rake on a rope pulled by a lawn tractor - but it requires one person to walk the rake in the water and mud, never liked doing that.

In last few weeks I built this prototype of a pond rake - using my old rake made from bed frame and rebar, one ten feet long 2x4 and very simple 3pt hookup. It works fairly well in spots where he bank is not too steep, typically first pull gets the weed and second pull the gunk from the bottom (leaves and mud).

On one of those first pulls I got out 2 feet snapper tangled in weed.

The hitch is made from metal I had left over from other projects, there is a pocket the 2x4 fits right in. The rake itself is U bolted to the stud and two steel lines hold the rake in diagonals and in the pocket. Of course I can change the angle of the rake with the 3pt top link.

For next season I am going to rework it and use tines from landscape rake, because they will give me better angle of raking, spaced 3 inches apart and the rake itself only 2 or 3 feet wide. The 2x4 is also a weak point, I already cracked this one, but now when I know it works, I can build it to last.

Oh yeah, and Clementine likes to pose next to the tractor.

 

[dtd24]

I have thought about chaining my landscape rake to my tractor and pulling it through my pond!!

 

[srjones]

Maybe it was just me, but I was hoping to see a picture of the snapper you caught

Nice rake though...

 

[Jw5875]

srjones,

It is in pic #6 !!!!


JW5875V

 

[srjones]

Wow, you're right! How could I have missed it? It's HUGE! It must weigh 30-40 lbs.... I hope you kept it around as a pet, since it would be a crying shame to eat something like that.

 

[srjones]

CzechSOG,
I had never even thought of a rake meant for clearing pond weeds. Thanks for the education!
Another variation on the pond rake may be to attach the pond rake to the end of an extended "FEL Mounted Boom Pole". However, it would probably need to narrower and lighter to make that work.

Now I just need a pond.

 

[MrJimi]

If you look in my gallery ( link in signature ) you will see a metal version of that rake, mine is an insert I can put inside my boom along with other atachments like trailer ball and more coming soon
Jim

 

[TRUKFXR]

We have a problem with weeds in our lake too. After much research, we have decided to stock "triploid" grass carp. They do not reproduce and will help control the weed problem. They are not available in all States, so if you are interested you will have to check with the conservation dept.

 

[czechsonofagun]

The snapper was too fast for me. Went right back in the pond cursing me in that tortoise english they use

TRUKFXR unfortunatelly carp does not eat the Watershield weed. And being czech, I hate carps, it is the traditional Christmas fish in my country and I was forced to eat carp every Christmas - it takes a lot of fun out of holidays, let me tell you

MrJimi thanks for the idea, I may look into it for the next model. The problem with the bed frame is the steel line twists it, pipe would take care of it while being light enough.


Our neighbour put 10 water lilies in his pond about 15 years ago - he thought it was a good idea - but check out the picture. Our pond is the small round one - and water lilies are starting to show up in it too now.

 

[TRUKFXR]

Yea, you are right about them not eating your type of weed. I hate carp too, but reluctantly I agreed to this solution as the best for our situation. We studied cutting, killing the darn weeds but everyone says the fish control is the best. (I liked your reply about the Christmas dinner.)