Alien Invasion - I want my pond back !

[gharms]

That is quite impressive!! Nice work!!!

 

[dave1949]

You got a lot of the muck out. Good job.

The only idea that comes to mind is a bulldozer may have been able to push the muck to the excavator sitting on the pond bank but that would mean another piece of equipment and operator.

The guy who dug my small pond had a JD 450 dozer. Not a big machine but it would push through some amazing muck that was about as deep as the top of the treads. I asked him why it didn't get stuck. His answer was that as long as there is somewhat firm "bottom" to it that's not too deep, it works okay. I think the clay base could be the bottom needed.

 

[txdon]

That's not the end of the story, is it? What about the Alien? Did I miss something?

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Great job Eric, looks like you had some skilled excavator help. Glad your wifey is better now too. I have to admit, I was prepared for a long story without much success concerning the silt. Thanks for sharing. there is an old thread where Jinman cleared out his mostly dry pond.

My pond has at least 3 feet of silt in it and I would love to clean it out but don't have the money. Not sure if there are any govt programs to help or not.
I have thought of drag lines, excavators, and making a home made sort of dragline using a boxblade tied into a cable system using 2 tractors (one on each side of the pond). But that would get very messy fast.

After all the recent flooding here, I have a new idea and this might be the best place to get some feedback. From what my neighbor tells me, there is at least 3' of mucky silt that can't be waded through by one's self.

Here's the idea:
I have a very large watershed and my pond fills up fast if low. The pond is long and narrow. 2.5 acres total. Most of the silt is in the headwater half of the pond. There are 2 tributaries and the primary one flows very fast when flooding, that would make for an exciting inner tube ride.

Next time it floods, while the water is flowing very fast, I want to tie a motor boat on a cable attached to our 7500 lb MFWD tractor and let the boat operator crank up the engine max (tractor holding him steady) and let him gently steer from side to side. I would like a cable at least 200 foot long. As he churns up the silt which is only about 2-3 feet below the surface, the silt would mix with the raging water and go over my dam's swale downstream. I would have myself and the boat driver on bluetooth headsets talking cell phones to communicate. I figure let the power of nature take away that which it built up. The whole thing would depend on timing and having the equipment/manpower ready for action. This is the cheapest thing I can come up with. My buddy has a 200 hp motor on a Mako 21 footer that would work nicely. Besides the normal trim, He even has a hi lift transom jack plate that can raise and lower the motor with a button. The back part of my pond that is the deepest is relatively calm because the overflow swale is about midpoint on the long edge on the dam side. So, if there is a problem during the operation, my buddy could just drive the boat to the calm water and beach it on the shallow side.

Any opinions? What do y'all think?

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

That's not the end of the story, is it? What about the Alien? Did I miss something?

There has to be more, I re-read the 1st post and he did mention trying to stock fish but an alien was invading.....

 

[clemsonfor]

Is there enough water to fill the new volume? I guess the ground around it is just not as saturated if so? or did water run out of the pond before at a certain level tellin you there would be enough rain to keep a larger one filled?

 

[clemsonfor]

Great job Eric, looks like you had some skilled excavator help. Glad your wifey is better now too. I have to admit, I was prepared for a long story without much success concerning the silt. Thanks for sharing. there is an old thread where Jinman cleared out his mostly dry pond.

My pond has at least 3 feet of silt in it and I would love to clean it out but don't have the money. Not sure if there are any govt programs to help or not.
I have thought of drag lines, excavators, and making a home made sort of dragline using a boxblade tied into a cable system using 2 tractors (one on each side of the pond). But that would get very messy fast.

After all the recent flooding here, I have a new idea and this might be the best place to get some feedback. From what my neighbor tells me, there is at least 3' of mucky silt that can't be waded through by one's self.

Here's the idea:
I have a very large watershed and my pond fills up fast if low. The pond is long and narrow. 2.5 acres total. Most of the silt is in the headwater half of the pond. There are 2 tributaries and the primary one flows very fast when flooding, that would make for an exciting inner tube ride.

Next time it floods, while the water is flowing very fast, I want to tie a motor boat on a cable attached to our 7500 lb MFWD tractor and let the boat operator crank up the engine max (tractor holding him steady) and let him gently steer from side to side. I would like a cable at least 200 foot long. As he churns up the silt which is only about 2-3 feet below the surface, the silt would mix with the raging water and go over my dam's swale downstream. I would have myself and the boat driver on bluetooth headsets talking cell phones to communicate. I figure let the power of nature take away that which it built up. The whole thing would depend on timing and having the equipment/manpower ready for action. This is the cheapest thing I can come up with. My buddy has a 200 hp motor on a Mako 21 footer that would work nicely. Besides the normal trim, He even has a hi lift transom jack plate that can raise and lower the motor with a button. The back part of my pond that is the deepest is relatively calm because the overflow swale is about midpoint on the long edge on the dam side. So, if there is a problem during the operation, my buddy could just drive the boat to the calm water and beach it on the shallow side.

Any opinions? What do y'all think?

That would work but you would be in violation of the clean water act!!! Dont get caught or let anyone see how dirty the creek is running while doing it. Or someone down stream to complain about to much silt in the stream.

 

[Eric Salop]

Autumn & Winter 2006
We had made quite a hole and it was going to take a while to fill. There was no rush, we settled into a steady routine. Once a week we would go to the hospital for the next stage of my wife's treatment. Once a week I would check the level on the pond.

The Autumn rain set to work first at levelling all the little hollows and depressions.

As the weeks went by the treatment took it's toll and she became weaker. The specialist hospital was a distant drive and on the way we often talked about how, one day, we would go live by the pond. Earlier that same year we had been very lucky to buy part of a derelict farm building in the next field. It would take a lot of work but it gave us something to dream about.

Autumn went and winter came. Slowly and steadily the pond filled. Slowly and steadily she became stronger. The stamina she once had as a keen badminton and tennis player would never return and her career as a teacher was ended. When all that became apparent it was a huge blow, but eventually it was something to accept and adapt to, rather than fight a never ending battle with no winner. There comes a time when it is better to simply be thankful for the things you do have and to make the most of them.

By the end of the year the hole was looking like a pond again and a swan stopped by to have a closer look.

Not sure if it was searching for food, the missing filter or the pink bicycle.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

There's a lot more going on in your beautiful story besides the pond, Eric. I hope you'll continue once the pond fills and the aliens reveal themselves.:thumbsup:

 

[jlgurr]

There's a lot more going on in your beautiful story besides the pond, Eric. I hope you'll continue once the pond fills and the aliens reveal themselves.:thumbsup:

AMEN! This is the best thread I've read/followed in quite some time.

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