Testing the water... er Mud

[lakngulf]

Same song, same verse. The lake I live on is drawn down 10 ft each year for winter/spring flood management. The bottom where I live is very sandy and rocky (in most places). Rest assured those green, orange, red and blue items we call tractors know how to find the muck that is 4-6 inches under that sand.

A few years back I rented a kubota TLB to push down some trees and clear my garden area. With the water down I had about 40 feet of lake bottom exposed and there is a long slough around the corner from me with no development. Some time back the management folks cut a couple of trees and let them fall into the water for fish habitat. So I took all the little trees that I pushed over to a point in the slough and pushed them into the water. All worked well until the orange found the muck, and it happened quickly. I thought I would be able to "walk" out with the bucket and back hoe, but the muck was so soft there was not traction. It took awhile with some 4x4s under each wheel, but eventually I was able to get it out, and avoided that area.

Now with my Kioti tractor I know where that spot is, and cautiously ride over areas of uncertainty, knowing some new muck areas can be exposed with the water movement.

 

[jinman]

The only way to safely dig out the silt, is to dig a trench from the edge of the pond and keep the bottom of the trench on native soil. You'll have to dig out the silt wide enough to drive into the trench and hope that it isn't so muddy it caves in. Read the first page of posts in this thread and look at the photos. I did as described above and found my silt was very deep. There was almost 10' of silt in the center of my pond.

 

[20 20]

Jinman I wish my muck was more like your mud. The stuff I'm into won't hold shape while digging {to many springs}. It slops everywhere looks like I'm haulin liquid manure or really thined out cement. It's funny how different spots can have different densities. One spot can be hard pan while another seems to be a bottomless pit.

 

[Short Game]

I have one of these. Not the fastest or easiest thing to use, but it works.

 

[jinman]

I have one of these. Not the fastest or easiest thing to use, but it works.

Now that's the strangest dirt scoop I've ever seen. It looks like somebody parked their dirt scoop next to a wheelbarrow and that's the offspring.:confused2:

 

[Verticaltrx]

Now that's the strangest dirt scoop I've ever seen. It looks like somebody parked their dirt scoop next to a wheelbarrow and that's the offspring.:confused2:

It's meant to be pulled by a horse. :thumbsup:

 

[jonyyuma]

Well you sure got a duece mixture of answers to this one? I once watched a Cat Dozer sink into the muck after breaking the crust. I have often wondered what would happen if I went into our pond to dip out the silt? I know I will not be risking my cut, it's not nearly big enough..I guess it would be best done with the track hoe if one was available?

 

[IslandTractor]

It's meant to be pulled by a horse. :thumbsup:

That photo does look like it is missing the 3pt hitch points but I have seen those style scoops fabricated for tractors too. I think they were popular before FELs became so commonly available.

 

[Short Game]

I graveled my drive once with my old slip scraper from a big pile of crushed rock that was dumped at the bottom. I had a friend drive my 1300cc Datsun pickup as I ran the handles to dig and dump. I also supplied the haul-back power (I was younger then). I would have hired a little dozer, but the guy wanted money, and I had turned all I had into the gravel.

Anyway, I've kept that slip scraper. If you've got two people, one to operate the handles and one to drive the tractor, you can do things like move muck. The farm I live on is called, "Lucky Mud."

 

[Short Game]

Here's the 3PH version. Not much good if you can't drive out with it.