Alien Invasion - I want my pond back !

[gharms]

That is quite impressive!! Nice work!!!

 

[dave1949]

You got a lot of the muck out. Good job.

The only idea that comes to mind is a bulldozer may have been able to push the muck to the excavator sitting on the pond bank but that would mean another piece of equipment and operator.

The guy who dug my small pond had a JD 450 dozer. Not a big machine but it would push through some amazing muck that was about as deep as the top of the treads. I asked him why it didn't get stuck. His answer was that as long as there is somewhat firm "bottom" to it that's not too deep, it works okay. I think the clay base could be the bottom needed.

 

[txdon]

That's not the end of the story, is it? What about the Alien? Did I miss something?

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Great job Eric, looks like you had some skilled excavator help. Glad your wifey is better now too. I have to admit, I was prepared for a long story without much success concerning the silt. Thanks for sharing. there is an old thread where Jinman cleared out his mostly dry pond.

My pond has at least 3 feet of silt in it and I would love to clean it out but don't have the money. Not sure if there are any govt programs to help or not.
I have thought of drag lines, excavators, and making a home made sort of dragline using a boxblade tied into a cable system using 2 tractors (one on each side of the pond). But that would get very messy fast.

After all the recent flooding here, I have a new idea and this might be the best place to get some feedback. From what my neighbor tells me, there is at least 3' of mucky silt that can't be waded through by one's self.

Here's the idea:
I have a very large watershed and my pond fills up fast if low. The pond is long and narrow. 2.5 acres total. Most of the silt is in the headwater half of the pond. There are 2 tributaries and the primary one flows very fast when flooding, that would make for an exciting inner tube ride.

Next time it floods, while the water is flowing very fast, I want to tie a motor boat on a cable attached to our 7500 lb MFWD tractor and let the boat operator crank up the engine max (tractor holding him steady) and let him gently steer from side to side. I would like a cable at least 200 foot long. As he churns up the silt which is only about 2-3 feet below the surface, the silt would mix with the raging water and go over my dam's swale downstream. I would have myself and the boat driver on bluetooth headsets talking cell phones to communicate. I figure let the power of nature take away that which it built up. The whole thing would depend on timing and having the equipment/manpower ready for action. This is the cheapest thing I can come up with. My buddy has a 200 hp motor on a Mako 21 footer that would work nicely. Besides the normal trim, He even has a hi lift transom jack plate that can raise and lower the motor with a button. The back part of my pond that is the deepest is relatively calm because the overflow swale is about midpoint on the long edge on the dam side. So, if there is a problem during the operation, my buddy could just drive the boat to the calm water and beach it on the shallow side.

Any opinions? What do y'all think?

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

That's not the end of the story, is it? What about the Alien? Did I miss something?

There has to be more, I re-read the 1st post and he did mention trying to stock fish but an alien was invading.....

 

[clemsonfor]

Is there enough water to fill the new volume? I guess the ground around it is just not as saturated if so? or did water run out of the pond before at a certain level tellin you there would be enough rain to keep a larger one filled?

 

[clemsonfor]

Great job Eric, looks like you had some skilled excavator help. Glad your wifey is better now too. I have to admit, I was prepared for a long story without much success concerning the silt. Thanks for sharing. there is an old thread where Jinman cleared out his mostly dry pond.

My pond has at least 3 feet of silt in it and I would love to clean it out but don't have the money. Not sure if there are any govt programs to help or not.
I have thought of drag lines, excavators, and making a home made sort of dragline using a boxblade tied into a cable system using 2 tractors (one on each side of the pond). But that would get very messy fast.

After all the recent flooding here, I have a new idea and this might be the best place to get some feedback. From what my neighbor tells me, there is at least 3' of mucky silt that can't be waded through by one's self.

Here's the idea:
I have a very large watershed and my pond fills up fast if low. The pond is long and narrow. 2.5 acres total. Most of the silt is in the headwater half of the pond. There are 2 tributaries and the primary one flows very fast when flooding, that would make for an exciting inner tube ride.

Next time it floods, while the water is flowing very fast, I want to tie a motor boat on a cable attached to our 7500 lb MFWD tractor and let the boat operator crank up the engine max (tractor holding him steady) and let him gently steer from side to side. I would like a cable at least 200 foot long. As he churns up the silt which is only about 2-3 feet below the surface, the silt would mix with the raging water and go over my dam's swale downstream. I would have myself and the boat driver on bluetooth headsets talking cell phones to communicate. I figure let the power of nature take away that which it built up. The whole thing would depend on timing and having the equipment/manpower ready for action. This is the cheapest thing I can come up with. My buddy has a 200 hp motor on a Mako 21 footer that would work nicely. Besides the normal trim, He even has a hi lift transom jack plate that can raise and lower the motor with a button. The back part of my pond that is the deepest is relatively calm because the overflow swale is about midpoint on the long edge on the dam side. So, if there is a problem during the operation, my buddy could just drive the boat to the calm water and beach it on the shallow side.

Any opinions? What do y'all think?

That would work but you would be in violation of the clean water act!!! Dont get caught or let anyone see how dirty the creek is running while doing it. Or someone down stream to complain about to much silt in the stream.

 

[Eric Salop]

Autumn & Winter 2006
We had made quite a hole and it was going to take a while to fill. There was no rush, we settled into a steady routine. Once a week we would go to the hospital for the next stage of my wife's treatment. Once a week I would check the level on the pond.

The Autumn rain set to work first at levelling all the little hollows and depressions.

As the weeks went by the treatment took it's toll and she became weaker. The specialist hospital was a distant drive and on the way we often talked about how, one day, we would go live by the pond. Earlier that same year we had been very lucky to buy part of a derelict farm building in the next field. It would take a lot of work but it gave us something to dream about.

Autumn went and winter came. Slowly and steadily the pond filled. Slowly and steadily she became stronger. The stamina she once had as a keen badminton and tennis player would never return and her career as a teacher was ended. When all that became apparent it was a huge blow, but eventually it was something to accept and adapt to, rather than fight a never ending battle with no winner. There comes a time when it is better to simply be thankful for the things you do have and to make the most of them.

By the end of the year the hole was looking like a pond again and a swan stopped by to have a closer look.

Not sure if it was searching for food, the missing filter or the pink bicycle.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

There's a lot more going on in your beautiful story besides the pond, Eric. I hope you'll continue once the pond fills and the aliens reveal themselves.:thumbsup:

 

[jlgurr]

There's a lot more going on in your beautiful story besides the pond, Eric. I hope you'll continue once the pond fills and the aliens reveal themselves.:thumbsup:

AMEN! This is the best thread I've read/followed in quite some time.

Sent from my iPhone using TractorByNet

 

[txdon]

Are we being mooned by a swan?

 

[POC]

So did you find the wooden filter box when excavating? Or did the aliens carry it off?

 

[texasjohn]

some great bones in that derelict, and some true grit in the personal journey. I know it's happened because after all, we have photos to prove it. And, as my grandmother would have said, "I swan," and lean forward expectantly awaiting the next chapter of the story....

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

I love this story.

I looked up the price for a mating pair of swans on this side of the earth and WOW! 3-4K American dollars. Ouch. I don't know why I was thinking you might could have some for a reasonable amount.

 

[Eric Salop]

An Inspector Calls



The pond was clearly visible from the public road, so I wasn't surprised when I had a visit from a man in one of the numerous government environmental departments. Fortunately he was too late to stop anything, the pond was almost full. He walked around the pond with me in ominous silence before asking me, had I commissioned a full wildlife survey before commencing and what measures had been taken to protect the endangered species ?

My answer was no, there was no survey, I was simply trying to give an expiring pond a new lease of life and had been careful not to suck out any water voles. Some people have no sense of humour. My answer did not meet with his approval.:grumpy: He told me I should have erected wildlife barriers to protect voles and newts and have a qualified person determine that the area had been vacated before bringing in machinery.

My measured reply was that water voles often move between ponds (which is true) and that they had every opportunity to find a temporary new place in the months that had passed since starting to drain the pond. Also I added that the cost of such surveys and barriers would have meant the pond would never have been restored, so in a few years time their habitat would have been gone for ever.

He still wasn't going to let it go. Next, pointing to the area where we had cut a ramp into the bankside, he said that voles could have been living in the bank. I explained it was necessary to get onto the base of the pond to extract the silt and that it was only a small portion of the bank. I assured him there were no vole holes in that part of the bank before we started. At this he gestured to where we made the second ramp, as if we had wantonly trashed another 3 yards of bank for the sake of it. I told him that in my book humans count too when it comes to protecting things and explained how someone could have got hurt if we hadn't put in a second ramp.

Conversation over. He either thought I wasn't that bad a person, or concluded that he had nothing that would stand up in court. He said, next time I do something like this, contact them BEFORE starting the work, then he left, never to be seen again. That reminds me, about 3 years ago we had an excavator in for some building work and cleaned out another smaller pond. Silly me, I clean forgot to give him a ring...


Bank Repairs

Rush was replanted where the ramps had been cut to hopefully stop little waves from eroding the bank on windy days once the level rose. Later in 2007 I put willow cuttings all down one side to give some shelter from the prevailing westerly winds. After that I left it for plants to re-colonise the margins in their own time. There were plenty of other things to keep me occupied in the following years, so I stuck to the terms of the original agreement and left the pond well alone until 2014.

 

[the old grind]

Willows? Still water with those gentle banks? 5 years? (worried ..)

 

[texasjohn]

omg it's a cliff hanger...we're waiting for the tick/tock of progress to get to 2014....

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

An Inspector Calls

View attachment 428477

The pond was clearly visible from the public road, so I wasn't surprised when I had a visit from a man in one of the numerous government environmental departments. Fortunately he was too late to stop anything, the pond was almost full. He walked around the pond with me in ominous silence before asking me, had I commissioned a full wildlife survey before commencing and what measures had been taken to protect the endangered species ?

My answer was no, there was no survey, I was simply trying to give an expiring pond a new lease of life and had been careful not to suck out any water voles. Some people have no sense of humour. My answer did not meet with his approval.:grumpy: He told me I should have erected wildlife barriers to protect voles and newts and have a qualified person determine that the area had been vacated before bringing in machinery.

My measured reply was that water voles often move between ponds (which is true) and that they had every opportunity to find a temporary new place in the months that had passed since starting to drain the pond. Also I added that the cost of such surveys and barriers would have meant the pond would never have been restored, so in a few years time their habitat would have been gone for ever.

He still wasn't going to let it go. Next, pointing to the area where we had cut a ramp into the bankside, he said that voles could have been living in the bank. I explained it was necessary to get onto the base of the pond to extract the silt and that it was only a small portion of the bank. I assured him there were no vole holes in that part of the bank before we started. At this he gestured to where we made the second ramp, as if we had wantonly trashed another 3 yards of bank for the sake of it. I told him that in my book humans count too when it comes to protecting things and explained how someone could have got hurt if we hadn't put in a second ramp.

Conversation over. He either thought I wasn't that bad a person, or concluded that he had nothing that would stand up in court. He said, next time I do something like this, contact them BEFORE starting the work, then he left, never to be seen again. That reminds me, about 3 years ago we had an excavator in for some building work and cleaned out another smaller pond. Silly me, I clean forgot to give him a ring...


Bank Repairs

Rush was replanted where the ramps had been cut to hopefully stop little waves from eroding the bank on windy days once the level rose. Later in 2007 I put willow cuttings all down one side to give some shelter from the prevailing westerly winds. After that I left it for plants to re-colonise the margins in their own time. There were plenty of other things to keep me occupied in the following years, so I stuck to the terms of the original agreement and left the pond well alone until 2014.

Your bureaucrat sounds like he got trained in California.

 

[alchemysa]

Your bureaucrat sounds like he got trained in California.

Finally, the Alien invaders are identified. Freakin' Bureaucrats! They really do come from another planet.

 

[SPIKER]

Finally, the Alien invaders are identified. Freakin' Bureaucrats! They really do come from another planet.

Not to mention one they get in the are mean blood suckers who propagate and only destroy everything around them and cause it all to twist in wind taking every bit of breath freedom and life away from everything around it... These things can't be stopped it seem no matter how much voting is done as these same bureaucrats get the " illegal," 'dead" and "cartoon characters" to vote for them somehow...

M