Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Renovating a Pond or Lake? Removing a "cow shelf".

Hi, and thanks for the amazing resource. I've been reading and searching quite a bit and learning a huge amount. We recently purchased some land adjacent to our property. The land has a pond (about 1 to 1.5 acres) that was a really nice pond in it's day. The previous owner worked for the Missouri Dept. of Conservation and built the pond to their specs. He was also a cattle farmer and built his ponds with watering troughs on the back of the dams and fenced out the cattle. Unfortunately as he aged he began to let the fences go and also rented his land to another farmer that just let the cows in. As you can imagine they have destroyed the pond bank pretty much all the way around. Even more difficult is what I call the "cow shelf" around the entire pond. It's where the cows wade out and carry clay mud with them and leave it on the bottom slowly building a shelf. The pond is still 12 feet deep in the middle but there is a shelf around the entire pond that is around 2-3 feet deep (even along the dam). This shelf is covered with cattails.
Here's the question. Can I drain the pond via the watering valve and use a skid steer to dig out the "cow shelf"? Am I just asking for trouble in attempting this? Any other ideas that may work better. Cost needs to be very minimal.
Thanks

I would think your plan can work if you leave it dry up really good. A skid steer on track will be needed. A track hoe would be your best bet if one happened to be close by. I wouldn't remove 100% of the shelf unless your water is very clear. The weeds on the shelf tie up nutrients that other wise will grow weeds somewhere else deeper or just make an algae bloom. Maybe that would be desired.

Definitely better to use an excavator (or mini) to remain on dry land and scoop out the material. Less soil disturbance or getting stuck. A good sized hoe with a trenching bucket would be my thought. No teeth so it leaves a nice flat surface.