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#50659 11/30/04 02:33 PM
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Has anyone ever bought or rented a dredge to clean out their own pond? I have a 2 acre pond and about 1/2 of it has almost 2 feet of muck on the bottom. The pond is only 6 feet deep at the deepest point and I want to get the muck out (up to 5,000 cubic yards). Building up the sides of the pond to deepen it would not be a good option. I found mining dredges that would suck out the muck and/or silt and dump it below the dam (I have plenty of room to store the spoils). Company is called Keene Engineering (www.keeneeng.com) in California. Whole system would be $5,000 but that is A LOT cheaper than hiring someone. I know this would be a lot slower but there is a big difference in money.

Am I crazy for trying to do this?

#50660 11/30/04 02:51 PM
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RobA,

I faced a similar problem this year on a smaller scale...rennovating 1/4 acre into 2 acre pond...DIY. After looking at it and getting some advise here, I decided that it was far better to just raise the dam height than to dredge or remove the sludge with a track-hoe. So, I lowered the water level down to only a foot or so remaining and then, with my dozer pushed the sludge/muck into an island in the middle of the pond..an island that will be covered by about two feet of water with the surrounding water depth of 8 feet(by raising the dam height). Something to consider...and very cheap and very good bass structure.

#50661 11/30/04 10:59 PM
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we have a 15 acre lake we have to do this to and your choices are pretty limited.

your cheapest is to drain it and dig it out with a backhoe, if it is dry enough should be easy enough to do

and should be well below 5k

just make sure you have dried it out, it makes good soil enhancer

If you do the pump dont forget after you use the pump - EBAY and get back 1/2 of what you spent


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#50662 12/02/04 09:08 PM
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I removed 6" of muck from the bottom of my pond but mine is much smaller .18 acres, 25 feet deep. I used a dredge called a coin dredge made by keene. The coin dredge is made to float over you while you are dredging and return the silty water back to where it was sucked up from, not good in our case, but you can extend the discharge and use the dredge to pump out a pipe which I hung over the dam. The coin dredge is a 4" dredge made to recover lost coins and jewelery and you work it as you swim along using the air supply from the dredge compressor. It worked well for me but I'm a diver and it's not possible to do this from anywhere but directly on the bottom! If you are not a diver and not comfortable working by feel in zero visibility (I dove for 30 years in New york) you should rethink this. I had the dredge because I used it to recover lost jewelry from ocean beaches so it didn't cost me to try it. While it did work, it was an intensive project. I'm not sure I'd do it again. It's amazing what goes through your mind when you are in a total blackout and you're sticking your arms elbow deep into black ooze!


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#50663 12/02/04 09:22 PM
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Forgot to say the coin dredge will only reach to 15 feet down but in your case that should be plenty. Also it creates it's suction by pumping water so it is capable of draining a pond quickly. If you don't have a reaspectable flow feeding the pond you may only be able to work a few hours a day and wait for it to refill so you don't drain the pond too much.


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#50664 12/02/04 09:26 PM
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check out WWW.PONDCLEAN.COM he does it for a living.


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#50665 12/02/04 11:06 PM
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PA Pond, I'm sorry this is off-topic, but I'd love to hear what kind of things you found while dredging ocean beaches if you wouldn't mind sharing.

Thanks.


Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:"
"She took another microscopic bite of her sandwich, then pushed it away. Maybe she absorbed nutrients from her surroundings."

#50666 12/04/04 08:41 PM
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PaPond, Does pondclean clean ponds in Pennsylvania?

#50667 12/05/04 11:48 AM
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RobA
I have never contacted the guy, I just found the site and realized he was doing what I did (and what you'd like to do) I have no idea of his rates or how far he travels. If you do have it done, I'm sure I'm not the only one on this forum interested in what the going rate is for this type of work. Please keep us posted.


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#50668 12/05/04 12:45 PM
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Sunil
The dredge was used to pick up lost jewelery which is in the sand just offshore in the surf line. Alot of people loose jewelery at the beach, I guess a combination of suntan oil and water helps. The surf action on the beach, over time deposits all of the denser materials, jewelery, small stones, and garnet sand, in a line parallel to the beach. By using an underwater metal detector you find the line the pieces lie in and suck them up with the dredge. The sand and small stuff falls back to the bottom and the jewelery and rocks and stones are retained in a screen. The trick is to do it on a dead calm day when there is no surf to toss the floating dredge around. We usually did it after the summer busy season when the beach was empty in october or november. There were 4 public beaches on Long Island we hit every year for about 6 years running and the least we ever recovered was just under 7 ounces of jewelery. Most of it was 14 karat so at todays prices that's $1800. The most we ever recovered was a bit over 15 ounces. These totals were from hitting all the beaches we dove in the fall, usually 4 spots. There were also some diamonds the biggest was just a shade over 1 carat. (my dive buddy did the dumbest thing I could imagine with that diamond, he had it set and used it as a wedding ring. can't help but think that if we didn't find that ring, he wouldn't have done it. it only lasted for a year and a half.) There are divers using these dredges, they are called 'coin dredges', to recover jewelery and civil war musket balls in lakes all over the south. At least the guy who wrote the book I bought when I bought the dredge claimed it to be worth doing. My experience seems to reinforce that claim.


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#50669 12/05/04 01:55 PM
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Thanks PA Pond. That is interesting to hear about.


Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:"
"She took another microscopic bite of her sandwich, then pushed it away. Maybe she absorbed nutrients from her surroundings."

#50670 12/07/04 08:20 AM
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I sent out an email requesting information from pondclean.com (out of Necedah, Wisconsin). I also found pondcleaning.com out of Omro, Wisconsin. Sent them an email too. Looks like Wisonsin has a lot of pond cleaners. I'll let you know what they say.

#50671 12/07/04 02:00 PM
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I have limited experience with both companies. THey use divers to move the end of the suction hose along what they call the "bowl" of the pond.Prices are around $1700 per day and they can do about 1/2 acre per day depending on amount of sediment. Also, water depths around 3 feet or less can't be done due to cavitation at the surface. It is very physically demanding. If someone had the diving equipment, you could rent the trash pump. I am reasonably sure that they stay in states surrounding Wisconsin and they will probably have a waiting list. Plants growing will clog the pump and would need to be treated. They also recommend a diffused aeration system to stop the sediment from accumulating again.
Robert B
fishmgr@hotmail.com

#50672 12/07/04 02:42 PM
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Before you spend $5000.00, look into making your own dredge. You don't need the floats, etc. that Keene uses to support the dredge unit. Instead, place a gas operated pump on the shore with the suction hose in a few feet of clean water, run the discharge to your venturi (make or buy one), and then divert the dredged material from the venturi over the dam. Keep in mind that dredging uses the motive force of a relatively small volume of water to entrain more water / sediment; extended dredging could significantly lower water levels without rainfall to replenish the pond. With the venturi on a pole, this could be done from a boat. Only problem is removing stuck material from the venturi opening.

#50673 12/08/04 10:33 AM
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Interesting idea FarmPondLover. That gives me another idea. Couldn't I just buy a decent trash pump with 3" inlet/outlet?

RobA #561231 09/08/23 08:29 AM
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Anybody ever get anywhere with a DIY pond dredging operation?

I've got a 30,000 sq ft pond with 3' of muck on the bottom. Willing to spend some time and money to clean it out but unsure of what type/size of dredge I'm supposed to be shopping for.

I've got 3 lakeside lots I can dump the muck onto as I need to build them up anyway.

Thanks

RobA #561234 09/08/23 09:41 AM
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Can’t answer size question but that stuff is the consistency of pudding. Not an easy task.


It's not about the fish. It's about the pond. Take care of the pond and the fish will be fine. PB subscriber since before it was in color.

Without a sense of urgency, Nothing ever gets done.

Boy, if I say "sic em", you'd better look for something to bite. Sam Shelley Rancher and Farmer Muleshoe Texas 1892-1985 RIP

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