I have had a hard time getting my pond dug correctly. the people I have had out to do it had a very hard time because the water flows in so quickly. I was looking at the mini dredge (http://www.piranhapumps.com/mini_dredges.html) and it looks like it is just a trash pump?

The soil in the bottom of my pond is 100% fine sand. Today I took a shovel and pressed it into the sand to see how deep it would go before I hit something hard. I was able to push the entire shovel + 4 foot handle into the sand by just wiggling it back and forth.

What type of equipment would I need to buy / rent to dredge this type of material out of the ground?

I have no experience in this but i have been wanting to try it also. I talked to one of my bosses and he said to look into a diaphragm (not sure if spelt correctly) pump instead of a trash pump, apparently the larger solids will hurt the impeller in a trash pump. I would be no help in what equipment to use but my idea was to use a trash pump and place it 1-2' above the bottom and use a pressure cleaner to blast the bottom and stir it up and have the trash pump take a higher water to solid ratio. no idea how well it will work but i definitely have considered trying it. If you do try it would love to see a post with how it goes!

You could try sending Diver Cody a PM. He has a lot of dredging experience. I haven't seen him online for awhile but maybe the PM will reach him thru e-mail.

I looked into the diaphragm pumps. they look very costly. I was hoping to buy one of these cheap off brand trash pumps cause I am only going to use it once. I am thinking it would work cause in my case these is nothing larger than grains of sand to pull out. it looks like most of these dredges use a air compressor to agitate the dirt before the pump sucks it up.

The fella Bill mentioned works off-shore, so he is gone for long periods of time.

Here is a link to some info he shared when another guy asked about the piranha pump. Pretty interesting thread.

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Main=30718&Number=394560#Post394560


My pond had/has a lot of sand areas, which made it difficult digging. You really have to plan it all out carefully. If I would do it all over again, I'd probably go the route of a dragline.

Thanks for the thread. After doing some more research I think I would be better off using water powered suction over air. I am thinking about buying this pump

http://www.harborfreight.com/65-hp-212cc-3-in-gas-engine-full-trash-pump-264-gpm-69746.html

and building a nozzle off of this info

http://www.wvminers.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/dredgenozz.pdf

If anyone has any experience building these nozzles and sizing the to a pump I sure would appreciate it.

axen You can rent the pump you are looking at. That will be the best way to see what kind of results you will get.

Agree with Mike about renting. Or, if you buy the one from Harbor Freight, get the extended warranty.

Check into the price of hose if you are buying. That stuff, especially the suction end can get pricey.