Pond dredging Project

[JeremyBX2200]

Tie a long chain around your SCUT. Now use a 30 ton excavator to pull the SCUT through the pond to dredge the bottom.

Hmmmm........probably not

 

[JeremyBX2200]

What’s the motivation? I have a similar issue in my smaller pond which if I’m lucky is an eighth of an acre.

As somebody mentioned above, you need to be careful, since if you disturb the pond bottom and cause a leak to happen you may regret what you did, that in hindsight, maybe, you didn’t have to do.

I don’t have any good ideas that I can share or use myself…wish I did.

Well, I have lost a couple of swim shoes in the muck. I don't know what all is in the pod, and judging by other things I have found around the property it could be a bunch of junk.

 

[JeremyBX2200]

I'm in the same boat, my pond is a mess but I had no money or time to work on this year, so 2025 it'll have to be.

From what I was reading bottom up aeration proves to be helpful, so i am starting there and using a pond rake 16"-24" with a rope and have the tractor pull it out. it will take awhile but figure I'd work on it slow to see what works and what doesn't. Like you my pond is heavily stocked with fish, frogs, turtles and I'm on conservation land so draining is impossible..

Keep us posted!

Let me know what you try and how it works

 

[JeremyBX2200]

I go by a farm pond that was cleaned out 4 years ago with track hoe and dozer to push it over the dam. It was a dry year that year, and the pond is STILL dry.

It turned out years back the pond was dug so the construction co. could get material for a nearby bridge construction. They hauled in clay to seal the pond. The cleaning eliminated the sealing clay!

The new owner only discovered the reason the pond was there and it's sealing clay after the damage was done.

When removing material from a pond be aware of possible outcomes.

When using a machine to remove the muck off the bottom (in a dry pond) it is necessary to cut down into dry material under the muck or the blade will never clean off or keep track clean. That gets down into material that seals the pond. That's where trouble begins.

This is something I have been thinking about also. I don't know if something was used to seal the pond. Where I am at we are all hard clay, so I dont think it would have to be sealed. The neighbor said a previous owner years ago just dug it out with a tractor and then let it fill up. Our water table is pretty high too.

 

[JeremyBX2200]

This guy tried it .

Something along these lines is what I was thinking about. I don't have all the vegetation to remove though.

 

[Sidekick]

I think you can buy bags of bentonite fairly cheap to reseal small areas without draining if there's a problem.

 

[JeremyBX2200]

I think you can buy bags of bentonite fairly cheap to reseal small areas without draining if there's a problem.

Thanks.

 

[JeremyBX2200]

I was thinking maybe something like this with a longer rope that I could pull across the pond. Another option vs a long arm tool on the FEL or 3pt