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.
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.
