Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations slope of the back of the dam

Our pond is about 40 years old. The back of the dam is very steep so that I doubt it could be safely bushhogged. Last year when we had some logging done I had the loggers clear off all the trees. Based on the size of the trees that were there I suspect it was never mowed since the pond was built.

The next time I have it dredged, I am wondering if it is possible to have the dirt removed packed onto the backside of the dam...in order to make the slope more favorable to mowing. Could this be done successfully, and would it add a lot of cost to the dredging? Thanks.

That might not work. The junk that is usually removed is usually the consistency of pudding. You might be able to stack it somewhere until it dries and then use it.

I just had my pond sludge cleaned up today, about 350 to 400 cubic yards. It's been sitting for exactly 367 days. I hired a small bulldozer. He spread it and shaped it in less than 3 hours. Afterward, I seeded it. We used part of it on the back side of the new part of the dam, which now has about a 10:1 slope. My advice if you are going to re-use sludge, is to spread it out no more than a foot thick to dry, if possible. Mine averaged about 2.5 feet deep, and took way too long.

I had not considered the slop factor. The last time it was dredged was 14 years ago after a summer of record drought. They took out over 1400 yards and it was all bone dry. I had them fill in and grade an old barn foundation with @150 yards. The rest was topsoil quality and we got a couple thousand bucks for it.

If I had to dry it out before using to shape the dam, that would be cost prohibitive. It couldn't be moved back to the dam with just a doser as our pond is in the woods. I probably wouldn't have work done in the next few years unless there is another drought scenario. Another option I guess would be to drain the pond 2/3 after the rainy season and let it dry in place.