I searched and read a lot of pond cleaning info today on this site--some very good reading. Since it was dated 2001, I thought I'd ask again to see if there are more or new ideas. Obviously, hiring a drag line is the easist and most costly approach.........
I'm trying to help clean up my uncle's pond, which is about 2-3 acres in a hilly area with sandy loam type dirt. The pond is 30+ years old, spring fed (the spring runs ALL the time), was originally about 20 feet deep near the dam, but has silted in to about six feet or less all over. Cattle have always been near the pond, and cultivated fields are above the pasture where the pond sits.
This past year, the uncle's family, after finding out how much it would cost to hire a drag line, had a second pond built below the first one for fishing. (It was cheaper than cleaning the original one.)
Now, the family would like to clean out the first one. Some thoughts are try to drain it and after it dries, doze the silt out. I doubt this is possible, due to the spring feed.
The terrain is such that it is likely cost prohibitive or technically impossible to dig a trench to divert the spring water around the old pond.
Some of the earlier posts mentioned using a trash pump, and that might be feasible, as the sludge could be dirverted away from the new pond.
As a takeoff of an earlier post, I thought about rigging a five foot box blade so that it could be towed across the pond, using a large tractor and cable from each side of the pond.
Or maybe a box blade mounted on a 40 foot long hitch that could be backed into each side of the pond and pulled out with a large tractor. That wouldn't reach across the whole pond, but would be a start.
And I plan to tell the family about their cottonwood tree growing in the dam--where if it dies, its roots will become a pond drainer, as stated in a earlier post.
Any thoughts welcomed and appreciated. THANKS.
Ron /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
I'm trying to help clean up my uncle's pond, which is about 2-3 acres in a hilly area with sandy loam type dirt. The pond is 30+ years old, spring fed (the spring runs ALL the time), was originally about 20 feet deep near the dam, but has silted in to about six feet or less all over. Cattle have always been near the pond, and cultivated fields are above the pasture where the pond sits.
This past year, the uncle's family, after finding out how much it would cost to hire a drag line, had a second pond built below the first one for fishing. (It was cheaper than cleaning the original one.)
Now, the family would like to clean out the first one. Some thoughts are try to drain it and after it dries, doze the silt out. I doubt this is possible, due to the spring feed.
The terrain is such that it is likely cost prohibitive or technically impossible to dig a trench to divert the spring water around the old pond.
Some of the earlier posts mentioned using a trash pump, and that might be feasible, as the sludge could be dirverted away from the new pond.
As a takeoff of an earlier post, I thought about rigging a five foot box blade so that it could be towed across the pond, using a large tractor and cable from each side of the pond.
Or maybe a box blade mounted on a 40 foot long hitch that could be backed into each side of the pond and pulled out with a large tractor. That wouldn't reach across the whole pond, but would be a start.
And I plan to tell the family about their cottonwood tree growing in the dam--where if it dies, its roots will become a pond drainer, as stated in a earlier post.
Any thoughts welcomed and appreciated. THANKS.
Ron /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif