Excavator for cleaning pond??

[Western]

Hey guy's, need a little comment on this please.

SITE:
I have a small pond, maybe 70' across, 8' deep so the banks are somewhat steep but manageable.

PROBLEM:
I have cattails over 80% since the drought last year. I have intentions of spraying them With Rodeo, but also kicking around the idea of digging them out first.

QUESTION:

I Have looked at different excavators for rent and was wondering if a small "mini" say a 4000#er would be up to the task?? I have never operated one so there is a learning curve.

Anyway, it was just a thought so I figured I'd throw it out for some ideas.
Thanks

 

[robs660]

Depending on how far into the pond you have to reach you can do it with a mid sized machine. We have rented a 22,000 machine a few times with a extra long stick (over 30' reach) to pull and dredge the bottom out a little. Works great and if you drive carefully you will not do too much damage.

I was able to reach over 25' into the pond to pull them out. Took my time removed very little soil from the bottom and then had by neighbors son go pick up all the floaters.

Good luck!

 

[Western]

robs, thanks for the reply. 25' would be nice, I think the one I was looking at had like 16'( only 4000#) I could probably do it with that reach since the waters down so low, I just don't know if that small of excavator would be stable enough on a slight incline.

I "really" liked the 45000# one, man what a machine, but the wife would kill me spending that much on rental for a pond.

I will see whats available in the # class you mentioned. If I was 30 years younger I'd go in with a machete

 

[McCaskey]

I cleaned up my cattails last summer with a york rake on the tractor loader. I used a skidsteer plate to 3 point adapter. Overall, it worked well when the banks had a slight slope. Backing up with the hydraulics in the 'float' position to rip the cattails out by their roots, then curl the rake to pick up the mess. I had traction problems on steep slopes when trying to pull material and back up the incline. An excavator would work better, but this was a no-cost quick solution for me. This setup also worked well for scraping brush out of a ditch without removing any dirt.

 

[Toddao]

Hook a his your rake on the end of your rental excavator

 

[BoonvilleKid]

Two possibilities:

(1) In very early Spring, just before you're able to see any green growth - but, if you cut down into the roots you'll be able to see new growth - catch a day when there is very low humidity, then set fire to the old growth. They'll burn like crazy and if you catch them at the right time of the year, the fire will kill the plant. Some folks also want to add to this procedure to do the job in the "right sign of the moon". I don't know what size that is but there is a moon sign for doing things you want to kill, like poison ivy.

(2) Cut slot in pond dam to allow all the water to drain. This is what I did on one of my ponds & worked well. Takes a few weeks for pond area to dry to the point you can work it with a tractor w/FEL.

 

[Birdhunter1]

Instead of cutting the pond dam to drain you might do a pond syphon instead. 'letsdig18' at youtube shows a great way to drain it down a few feet.

YouTube - How a siphon works

YouTube - How a 4" siphon works

Also that guy does alot of pond dredging work, might watch his videos to get some ideas on how to stabilize the machine on a hillside and work on soft ground.

 

[BoonvilleKid]

Couple of problems: (1) it's nearly impossible to get all the water out by siphon. (2) it takes a long time. So, after days and days of siphon, one good rain overnight and you have to start all over. (3) nearly impossible to keep the debris out of the line when you reach the lower level of water.

Fowler from Marion says there aren't any quail around Murphysboro!! ('course, that's true about everywhere)

 

[Western]

Thanks again for the reply's.

The pond is so low right now (2' maybe) I would have enough reach with a small excavator. I am going to look into the "rake" idea.

I have been trying to burn it, but it's been so dry and windy. I was able to burn the grass on the dam and some of the surrounding grass when we had a little moisture.

I don't think I want to cut my dam, If we don't get much rain again this year it will be dry by August! I have thought about a trash pump though.

I'll try to get a photo today.

 

[lhfarm]

My backhoe doesn't have quite enough reach, but works well for those I can grab. I have a thumb too and that helps. You aren't going deep, so I think the reach would be the biggest factor.

I'm going to try the rake mounted on the FEL, since I have everything on hand. An issue for me is disposing of the cattails and muck you dig out. I have a little dump wagon I tow, but it is inefficient process when by myself; load the wagon (doesn't take long), dump the load, move BH, repeat. I haven't wanted to dump the cattails on the bank since I don't have a grapple and think it would be hard to gather them up.

I'd be interested in hearing how folks have handled the cattails they are digging up.