Dredging a Pond?

[RonR]

A while back, at an ag implement show, I saw a local company that had a 25ft long barge type deal, with a hydraulicly operated thrust system at each corner to control the barge. The guts of the unit operated from a 300HP diesel engine, and operated a dredge system as show in California's post.

They contracted to clean out ponds. Sorry, I don't know how much they charged, but from the looks of the unit, it would move a LOT of silt in a day.

Ron

 

[knute_m]

Scesnick,

I would post your question on the Pondboss site:

Pond Boss

There are a lot of great professionals and experts at that site.

If you've got a couple of years, one of the answers that may be suggested includes adding tilapia to your pond. They eat a lot of muck, and they die out when the water gets below about 50 degrees. Research seems to indicate that they can eliminate most muck in about three seasons.

I'm planning on starting this season with tilapia in a half-acre pond. I hope I've found a local source of tilapia. If you are interested, PM me, and maybe we can split a load -- I think we are only about 50 miles apart.

Knute

P.S. What happened to those photos of you plowing snow by riding on the hood of your Yanmar? I've had a fair amount of snow -- so I can only guess you got a couple more feet than I did.

 

[meadowlarkponds]

scesnick,

There's another option, which I didn't see mentioned. I've used this approach in two small ponds, successfully. First you have to drain the pond..either by pumping out, knocking a hole in the dam, or digging out a trench through the spillway.

After drying some time, come in with a dozer and push the muck into an island, ringed by clay. I push it in until I get the area I want cleared and the muck island is still under the water line. This task can be accomplished in a few hours on a small dozer...I have a Case 450C. The island in the middle of the pond provides a fish haven and isn't visible and the pond is clean all the way around.

It's a compromise approach, for sure, but has worked well for me in two ponds.

 

[MarkV]

scesnick,

After drying some time, come in with a dozer and push the muck into an island, ringed by clay. .

How much drying time did you have to wait before the pond bottom was workable with a dozer? We talked to one local here that told us it would be a year before dry enough for heavy equipment.

MarkV

 

[WayneB]

I think it all goes back to what Eddie stated. I believe your best approach would be to drain the pond and then hire someone to come in with a dozer and push the silt to one end. Then you can go ahead and move it to an area for final resting!

just my 11/2 cents

 

[meadowlarkponds]

How much drying time did you have to wait before the pond bottom was workable with a dozer? We talked to one local here that told us it would be a year before dry enough for heavy equipment.

MarkV

Yes, it can take a long time to sufficiently dry if you are intent on removing the stuff with a dozer...but if you push it into an island with a clay ring, it doesn't have to be dry....just dry enough to be able to get the blade to good clay. You are working in clay, with this approach, not the muck.

I'd say I waited about two months in summer to begin working the stuff. I haven't ran across anyone else who has done it this way, but it really worked for me and saved me substantial money and time. An old time dozer operator in my area, who is a good friend, suggested the approach and it worked for me. You wouldn't want to go swimming on that island, but the fish love it and the drop-offs to deeper water.

 

[MossRoad]

A lot of folks are assuming you can drain the pond. From observing the folks from the south west talking about ponds, tanks and dams here on TBN over the past few years I've got to say that they have a very different idea of what a pond is than is around here in northern Indiana/southern Michigan. It seems most of the ponds, tanks and dams out west are constructed to catch runoff water and store it for animals and irrigation. It sounds like it is easy to drain them.

Around here there are huge underground aquifers that flow like rivers within feet of the surface in many locations. If you pump the water out of a pond more just comes back in. On construction projects they have to pump and keep the pumps running for days and days and if the pumps stop the hole fills up pretty fast, as in a day or two. Sometimes they sink multiple wells upstream of the construction site and pump the ground water out and around through man made "streams" lined with palstic sheeting. There simply is no other way to dredge a pond around here than to use a dragline or an excavator with a long reach. A dredge is sometimes used in gravel pits, but I have never seen one on a small pond reclamation project.

 

[scesnick]

Knute,

What exactly is a tilapia?? fish or plant? I'm guessing a fish. Yes that does sound interesting. Any Idea of the cost? I have nothing but time to do this so that isn't an issue for me.
Where exactly are you in West "By God" Virginia? ( I work in Hazelton Wv, near Morgantown)
I will do some searches on tipalia and see what the deal is with them.

As far as the pictures of snowblowing while sitting on the hood goes, I have not had the chance to use the blower this year. Not because we didn't get snow, I have plenty ( wish I could sell it. I would make a fortune !!)
My tractor has been broke, the 4wd. system isn't working and I have slowly been narrowing down the problem. I got it figured out now and I'm just waiting on the parts. I have been taking care of the snow with my Case 380 backhoe this year. . I will PM you in a bit.
Thanks for the info.

 

[EddieWalker]

What exactly is a tilapia?? fish or plant? I'm guessing a fish.

It's a fish. It's a fast growing, highly reproductive fish that eats alge. I've heard it also very tastey. If you have bass, they are an excellent source of food for them as the reproduce so quickly.

They are also illegal in some places because they will take over a body of water very quickly. Here they die off every year in winter when the water tempatured gets down to 50 degrees. Then they all die and your pond is free of them. If they didn't die off, they would easily take over a pond.

I'm not sure how it would benifit a shallow pond full of silt, but from what I've read, they do a good job on alge.

I noticed in the AmericanClassifieds an ad for pond dregding. It gives a local phone number, but that's all. It might be worth looking at your local classifieds and see if anybody provides this service.

Eddie

 

[knute_m]

Knute,

What exactly is a tilapia?? fish or plant? I'm guessing a fish. Yes that does sound interesting. Any Idea of the cost? I have nothing but time to do this so that isn't an issue for me.
.

Scesnick,

Eddie answered some of it. I can't find the articles and links I really wanted, but here are three that may help you get started:

BoatCycle Tilapia

Meadowlark Tilapia
(I noticed that Meadowlark added a post to this thread. Maybe he can add a little more about tilapia.)

and see page 4 of Cecil Baird's great newsletter:
http://aquanic.org/newsltrs/state/indiana/IAAvol15-2.pdf

In recent years, I've read claims of people putting tilapia in ponds much like yours and finding that within two or three seasons, they've substantially cleaned out much of the muck. My pond is still in pretty good shape, but I figure I've probably got 12 inches of muck. I'm hoping to start my first season of tilapia this year to see if they really work. I think I've found a source in Virginia, and one in West Virginia.

Definitely go to the Pond Boss site. There are lots of incredibly great threads about rejuevenating ponds -- whether naturally or with heavy equipment.

I got your PM, and will PM you with a little more info later this evening or over the weekend.

Knute