Canyon,

I observed similar equipment removing cattails from ponds at a park near me. Was very effective. Its bucket had forks like the ones depicted in your post. It had rubber tracs and it could easily maneuver up the steep banks of one of the ponds. Resembled a boat with tracs. Was fun to watch them work. They removed the entire stand of cattails in both ponds and possibly some of the accumulated organic matter under them. The cattails were a serious problem. The vendor first treated them with an herbicide and then latter removed them. This improved the ponds considerably. A good (not excessive) bloom followed but I noticed also that the naiad wasn't as bad this year. Not sure if it was related to the removal of organics when removing the cattails, but it may have help reduce nutrient mobilization this summer or possibly was a side effect of treating the cattails with herbicide. Enjoy the ponds much more after this improvement. Looking forward to seeing next year's naiad growth to see if there is less naiad than historically or whether removing competition from the cattails makes it worse.

It isn't what we don't know that gives us trouble, it's what we know that ain't so - Will Rogers