Anyone Use a Trash Pumpt to Clean pond?

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CollinLeon; I realise there are floating excavators, but we were discussing getting across muck. Not very many of the floating excavators around atleast not cheap. I do know of a place in central NY along I90 that has had a floating excavator, dozer with swamp tracks, and a tracked dump working in wet lands. They are using the floating excavator because the area can not be pumped out.

 

[CollinLeon]

CollinLeon; I realise there are floating excavators, but we were discussing getting across muck. Not very many of the floating excavators around atleast not cheap. I do know of a place in central NY along I90 that has had a floating excavator, dozer with swamp tracks, and a tracked dump working in wet lands. They are using the floating excavator because the area can not be pumped out.

Just pointing out that there are always options no matter how bad the "terrain" might be, although they aren't cheap... One of the things that I noticed a few years ago when I was working in New Orleans is how they had basically drained a swamp and make "dry" land out of it... Basically, they dug a bunch of drainage ditches (they called them "canals") in the swamp, which then let the water from the swamp go to a lower place. They then pumped all the water out of these "canals" which resulted in the "land" above them being dry. The fact that this "land" was perhaps below sea level didn't matter as long as they were able to get any additional water to flow to the lower elevation of the "canals" and then eventually to get pumped higher into the Mississippi River or Lake Pontchartrain. It didn't make for all that solid of a foundation for a house though, as they learned from some of the slab-on-grade houses that were built in the 1950s and 1960s. All in all, it worked pretty good as long as you didn't have a large storm that deposited more water than the pumps could handle... Or as long as the levees keeping out the water from the Lake didn't fail... Like what happened during Katrina... In the short run, man can bend nature to his needs, but in the long run, nature always wins... Just like in this case... In the short term, we can build a pond, but in the long term, nature will fill that pond back in... It might not be quick, but nature has the advantage of extreme patience...

 

[boggen]

Good info Mike, I will have to look into a centrifugal also.

Anyone have any experience with one of these? FA Series Diaphragm Pumps - Mud Sucker Pumps

I emailed them and they suggested models 2FA or 3FA.

the linked peaked my interest. it more like a piston pump. but has a rubber O-ring / diaphragm. to allow for a bigger piston. at same time keeping oil and like out of the water.

never done it myself, but just over years on farm and ponds and like. and diaphragms. just scare me, when i start thinking about amount of pressure that would be putting on them. then the abrasive nature of all the mud/silt/sand/small rocks. that will take a toll on the diaphragm rubber. plus if ya let it set and try to re-use it a couple months later possible cracking of the diaphragm and need to do a replacement of it.

on other hand. looking at it. if the diaphragms were cheap and easy to replace without much effort or tools needed. i would think this setup might be more forgiving long haul to motor, shafts, seals, piston, etc... just not on the diaphragm itself.

as far as centrifuge pumps, *cringes* i would be looking at a "rock pump" or "concrete pump" knowing my luck, if i went with anything less, i would be cracking blades, blowing seals, bending shafts. if it was pure sand like mixture on other hand. i might go with something less.

my worry is, the mud/sand/silt/etc... acting like sand paper, and just eating away at any sort of blades. or internals of pumps. not to mention the occasional rock that will go through and be like a gun hitting the insides of the pump.

on another note. the diaphragm pumps you noted. i would assume has 2 check valves, one to let water in, and one to let water out. as piston raised and lowered. these could get pretty banged up. or get stuck open with a rock or something. or perhaps with some wear not close all the way. would be a concern.

 

[Don in LA]

I helped my brother-in-law clean the silt from his pond several years ago. We used a trash pump and a long suction hose with a strainer. I secured the suction hose in the middle of a rope and we had 50' of rope on both sides going to the banks of the pond. With that arrangement we were able to drag the suction hose back and forth across the pond. Depending on the configuration of the pond, you may have to float the pump on a small flatboat, etc. The process worked pretty well for us but digging would have been more effective.

 

[moored4]

I have been thinking!! "we are in trouble now"

Here is what you do!!

Go to the state prison and ask a bank robber to tell the warden that he hid the heist money in the bottom of your pond!

The Feds will come out and drain out the pound. :confused3: They won't find anything!

The bank robber gets a :laughing: out of it, they love playing with "The Boss Man's head" and you get your pond cleaned for no cost!

Sounds like a plan to me!:cool2:

 

[moored4]

Thinking again!
To get the settled silt into a suspended solution that will be easier to pump out have you thought of taking an air lance (long piece of pipe) conecting it to an aircompressor and agitating the bottom! The silted bottom and clear top water mixed up to become a more pumpable slurry. :thumbsup:

 

[scesnick]

I have been thinking!! "we are in trouble now"

Here is what you do!!

Go to the state prison and ask a bank robber to tell the warden that he hid the heist money in the bottom of your pond!

The Feds will come out and drain out the pound. :confused3: They won't find anything!

The bank robber gets a :laughing: out of it, they love playing with "The Boss Man's head" and you get your pond cleaned for no cost!

Sounds like a plan to me!:cool2:

HA !!!! That is too funny.... Especially since I actually work at a Federal Penitentiary !!

 

[moored4]

HA !!!! That is too funny.... Especially since I actually work at a Federal Penitentiary !!

OOOOPS!!

That explains you avatar picture!



Oh! How about a little supervised outing for the 'buckett bergade'!
:laughing::laughing::laughing:

 

[scesnick]

OOOOPS!!

That explains you avatar picture!



Oh! How about a little supervised outing for the 'buckett bergade'!
:laughing::laughing::laughing:

LOL !!!!!

 

[MikeD74T]

Good info Mike, I will have to look into a centrifugal also.

Anyone have any experience with one of these? FA Series Diaphragm Pumps - Mud Sucker Pumps

I emailed them and they suggested models 2FA or 3FA.

I've used mud suckers, they're great for what they are for. They will move water, slurry - even with stones sand etc & will usually pass anything that fits thru the suction port. In many ways they're more versitile than centrifugal pumps. They just don't move anything very fast. As I said, you won't find any commercial dredges with diaphram pumps.