Several of the ponds i have are starting to silt in pretty good. They are about 30 years old and i was wondering, what options i have to clean it out.
Zach: You may have a lot of options. Large trackhoes, cranes, dredges, etc. On one pond, I went around the edge with my trackhoe and deepened it as far out as I could reach when water was low. You might be able to siphon out most of the water and do that. I'm not sure I really recommend that though as it can get expensive if having someone do it and even a decent size trackhoe can't reach that far out in a decent size pond. Cutting the dam may be an option. I chose this route on a 60+ year old pond. I wanted to accomplish multiple things (discourage trespassers, redesign it, remove trees from edges, etc.). I have let it sit empty now for about three years. I hope to redo it before the end of June. Jeff
Zach,
To add a little more...
Another option is to drain the pond, then push the muck into an "island" in the middle of the pond and raise your dam so that the island will be well under water when pond is full. That was my approach recently when renovating an old pond. The "island" will be 3-4 feet under water and surrounded by 6-10 feet deep water. This was a "cheap" solution to the problem....in fact I did it myself with a small dozer. The end result will be not only a cheap solution, but some great structure also.
Does the muck stay put? I have a similar situation and the muck on the pond bottom is very loose and soupy. If it is dried out and then pushed into a pile does it remain firm? Seems like you would be do something like piling up pudding and it would keep running down.
Rob,
Good question....when you push it, you need to grab some bottom clay first in your blade so that you build a "ring" around the muck to hold it in place. Also, note that it takes this stuff a good while to dry out before you can work it. Mine never did really dry out completely but got to a point where I could push it into a very nice island. With the clay ring, it stays put. It was a great solution for me.
Sounds like a good idea and gives some look to the pond also.