Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Controlling unwanted plants Testing the Kasco Aquaticlear

So, I got a new toy last fall and only now got around to setting it up and I wanted to document how it works as I have not seen anyone else talk about using it. First, what is it, it's basically a trolling motor on a float that runs on 240 amp power (or 120 if you buy a different model) and pushes water. The product page says to never never point it down because that would be dredging and you definitely don't want to do that. However, I do want to do that so I placed it pointed towards shore in the shallowest bay of my pond. First thing I noticed was installing issues. Do NOT attach it to anything less than a thoroughly secured post on shore. Both of the ropes I use to hold it are hooked to small trees/bushes. Anchors will not work and I would be willing to guess it might even be able to push a floating dock around if it doesn't have some sort of concrete anchor. I believe mine is the 1 HP motor so with the 1/2 hp simple anchors may work but IMO stick with trees. Now, the pay off, what did it do? Within ~4 hours of being on it managed to clear a channel 24x7x2 feet through the thick muck the pond. Keep in mind the lengths are an estimate but this was a long strip that went from can't find the bottom of the muck with a paddle to hard solid bottom. At no point did it make the water cloudy but that is likely because my substrate is nearly entirely organics instead of sand or clay.
I plan on moving it around slightly until a larger area is cleared and then moving it to a different part of the pond. This was great and all but the main purpose of the machine was to combat chara and duckweed in the middle of summer. I will keep this space updated when I find out how well it can do against those later in the year. Not sure if anyone will find this helpful but I would be happy to answer questions about it if anyone is interested.

Sounds like it would work for keeping an area (like around a dock) ice free in the Winter.

That's interesting. I see they have a dock mount for it. It'd really be nice if they had an oscillating head that would move it in a 180° area if it was mounted on a pier. I have a customer that has a shallow area in front of their house where that might be able to be used to make more depth for a pontoon boat next to the pier.

It would move DW around and might keep an area clear of that, but for the Chara I would expect it to have to run before it started growing. I don't know if it would move much of it if the Chara got a foothold on the bottom. Please keep us updated on how well it works!!

Well, bad news and good news. The good news is, the areas cleared by the current have stayed pretty much clear of chara even with the summer explosion. The bad news is that somehow the chara fought back. In an unknown order of events (while I was away on vacation, of course) the chara clogged the prop, the prop unscrewed itself, and the cable near the prop was lacerated. Not sure how all those things happened but they sure did happen. I have sent it back to the seller to be repaired but in the mean time I am getting very tempted to resort to herbicides as the duckweed and chara really liked the grass fertilizer that just had to be put on the lawn.
I guess ya win some, ya lose some

No battle plan completely survives first contact with the enemy!

Learn your lessons, regroup, and then re-join the battle against the chara.

Good luck!

]You may have lost the battle, but not the war. I believe you will be victorious at the war. Don't give up hope!

Excellent news, I have regathered my forces and attacked the chara once more. After getting the Kasco back from repairs, (and pulling the power cord in along with a couple hundred pounds of chara) I re-deployed it this time facing the middle of the pond instead of the edge. After a day of messing with it to stop the chara from clogging it, it began to run clear. a few days later and it is holding open about 1/6 of the pond on its own. 20 yards in front of it is completely clear of chara and it is knocking down chara all around it as the current makes a circle about 60 feet wide. It has cleared the water down to the bottom directly in front of it (6ft) without being pointed down (which I now am thinking of trying). This has also knocked the duckweed down to a very manageable degree.

So, to learn from my mistakes, point it towards the center of the pond (ish) and be very mindful of clearing stuck vegetation, especially when moving it.

Good info - thanks. I am interested in this device. Do you think it could blast away mats of filamentous algae?

I did a kill of FA with Cutrine Plus. The mats turned brown and still remain on the surface. It takes a couple heavy rains to pummel the FA, waterlog it, and get it to start sinking. I am hoping this device can accelerate that process.

In my experience it should easily knock that stuff back, but you may need to move it around to effect the entire area you want to.

It would need to be a strong, vascular plant like lily pads to resist it.