I have a 2 acre pond that no one visited for a couple years. The owner asked me to take a look and it looks like the beavers were hard at work for at least a year. The water level was about 4 feet above where it should be, and the overflow pipe was nowhere in sight.
The beaver are now gone. I searched the forums and saw how to create suction in a pvc pipe. I now have the water level about 2 feet below where the outfall should start.
It took some doing, but apparently the beavers buried the entire outflow structure under about 2 feet of sticks and mud...I have since dug that out.
The outflow consists of a 4' by 2' poured concrete box that funnels into a 24' concrete pipe (horizontal through the dam). The issue now is that there was a tree near the box, and the roots grew inside the pipe over the years.
I have cut all the roots at the pipe entrance, and cleared about a foot in. The problem is that the pipe is completely filled by roots, mud, and a moss-like plant that I have to peel away from the concrete.
As I am doing this as a favor, I know I could hire a plumber with an auger, but would rather do this myself (without spending much money). Besides, I like the exercise and a project to do myself. The only ideas I have are:
Slowly rake it out, using a tree trimmer to get further into the pipe to cut the roots.
Manual auger with extensions.
Any suggestions? I thought about fire, but I think I would do more damage to the pipe, and possible turn the mud into pottery... I do not have any heavy equipment.
Any ideas?
