Silt Happens!

[BB_TX]

Jim - Just out of curiosity, how is the large lake holding out? I see a lot them are getting really low.
Hope none of those fires have been near you.

 

[LBrown59]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( </font><font color="blueclass=small">( Where did you get that little toy NH? It almost looks real except that it's so tiny. )</font>

Christmas tree ornament... /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif )</font>
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You can't have to many Christmas Tree Ornaments

 

[Louisiana_John]

I planted mine in rye grass and Bermuda grass mixed with fertilizer from the CO-OP. I planted inside pond, banks and the leave. Then I paid someone to blow chopped oat straw. I also laied bails in the main water channels.
John
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John

 

[jinman]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Also, Ertl has made some before and just recently released a 1/10 scale John Deere 9520 and 9620. It is a monstor of a RC. I attached a pic of it )</font>

Oh yeah! I can see me spending entirely too much money on that. I already have too much time and money in RC boats. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[jinman]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Jim - Just out of curiosity, how is the large lake holding out? )</font>

Bill, it's down 4-1/2 to 5 feet. I'd say over half of its normal capacity. The waterline has receded about 20' out from my bank and probably the deepest spot in the lake is just over 6' deep. I'd guess that 1/3 of the surface area has dried up, so about 10 acres under water. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif We have been driving the Mule and my tractor around on the little swampy inlet across from the ponds for over a month. I guess I should take the opportunity to dig out beaver lodges, but I just haven't had time for that yet. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[jinman]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I planted mine in rye grass and Bermuda grass mixed with fertilizer from the CO-OP. I planted inside pond, banks and the leave. Then I paid someone to blow chopped oat straw. I also laied bails in the main water channels.
)</font>

Very nice, John! Thanks, that's just what I had in mind, but I'll probably start with wheat in the spring because rye dies out so quickly when temperatures get into the high 80's.

 

[jinman]

I guess it's time for an update on my project. I've been snatching every chance I can to work on the pond and have divided my time about equally between smoothing out silt and digging down the sides of the pond where the dozer didn't get before he had to go to another job. The silt pile has been brutal. On top it is dry and dusty, but underneath it is still pudge. I've been leveling off with my tractor, but some of the silt "boulders" are 3' in diameter and as soon as you cut into them they are just pudding in the middle. I've had to push myself out of so many stuck spots using the bucket that I'm a virtual expert, it's second nature. One of these days I'll get stuck when I don't have the loader on and I won't know what to do. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

This week, I took two vacation days to try and get more work done in the pond and take care of about 1/2 days worth of business (getting my new bride her military dependent ID card). Thursday was a perfect day for working in the pond and Kathy came down to take some pictures of me getting "down and dirty." /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

This first picture shows how I use a trench to cut down through the silt. By making a trench with my bucket, it stabilizes my tractor on the downslope so it doesn't tend to crab sideways as the rear wheels spin, pushing the bucket into the silt. As you can see, the bank is quite steep and the silt is still very deep when I started. I've worked my way all around the dam doing this same routine and moved hundreds of yards of this red gummy-clay silt. Many times I've had to stop and use a shovel to clean out my bucket because the silt just refused to come out. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

1st picture is my trenches...

 

[jinman]

Here I go... into the trench. Once you commit, there is no turning back. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[jinman]

A close-up of a dirty guy in a dirty TBN ballcap on a very dirty tractor.

I thought I had died and gone to heaven. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[jinman]

This "elevator" is going down...