otlski
Gold Member
So this garden tool forum was sitting here all empty... And now that I got your attention, I figured I post something to get it started.
Last summer my 82 year old diabetic friend calls me and says "Hey, you use to have beavers. Do you still have them and if not, how did you get rid of them?" I explained to him that a January rain storm over topped the frozen beaver pond, washing out the dam, lowering the water level and likely killing the beavers. My next words to my friend were "Why do you ask?" He explained that some property he was selling now has a dam and the flooding was devaluing the property. He went on about how the town and state were less than helpful.
He then said that he was going over to the property that day to take the dam out; that he could not get his tractor or mini-ex near the dam unless he partly drained it enough to dry it out a bit. I asked if his grandson was going with him and he said "no". My next words were "I would love to take a little adventure with you today, give me an hour, I will meet you there". He said "wear boots you dont care about, and are you allergic to yellow jackets or poison ivy". My reply "I will see you there".
I grabbed every tool I thought was useful. Shovel, prybars, hoe, etc, and headed out. When I got there he told me the walk in was longer and we should choose carefully what we carried. I took an ordinary shovel and this.
Rogue Hoe Field Hoe with ... | Forestry Suppliers, Inc.
Let me tell you, there was no reason to bring anything else to start manually disassembling a beaver dam than that pro-hoe. What a great tool. Its compactness allowed me swing down near my feet while being precariously balanced on beaver chew logs. It was a pry bar, an ordinary hoe for trenching, a surrogate axe for severing logs and branches. I used it to chop and loosen the pile, getting under it and almost as a shovel to scoop the loosened mud/grass/stick-log mess up.
My buddy kept asking for me to hand it across to him so he could use it. We made good progress until I told him I needed a break: that is when he checks his sugar levels ;o)
The water level noticeably dropped and with any luck it would dry out enough. We broke for the day and he said he would come back with his grandson the next day "and oh by the way, can I borrow that fancy hoe of yours?" This is a man who I have no problem letting borrow tools.
Turns out that him and his grandson went back a couple of times, enough to drop the water level to where he got a mini-ex in there and finished the job. And they all lived happily ever after - except the beavers. Honestly, I think the beavers had already moved on because they did not fix the damage we caused overnight.
So if you ever have to manually disassemble a beaver dam - that pro hoe is the tool to use.
Last summer my 82 year old diabetic friend calls me and says "Hey, you use to have beavers. Do you still have them and if not, how did you get rid of them?" I explained to him that a January rain storm over topped the frozen beaver pond, washing out the dam, lowering the water level and likely killing the beavers. My next words to my friend were "Why do you ask?" He explained that some property he was selling now has a dam and the flooding was devaluing the property. He went on about how the town and state were less than helpful.
He then said that he was going over to the property that day to take the dam out; that he could not get his tractor or mini-ex near the dam unless he partly drained it enough to dry it out a bit. I asked if his grandson was going with him and he said "no". My next words were "I would love to take a little adventure with you today, give me an hour, I will meet you there". He said "wear boots you dont care about, and are you allergic to yellow jackets or poison ivy". My reply "I will see you there".
I grabbed every tool I thought was useful. Shovel, prybars, hoe, etc, and headed out. When I got there he told me the walk in was longer and we should choose carefully what we carried. I took an ordinary shovel and this.
Rogue Hoe Field Hoe with ... | Forestry Suppliers, Inc.
Let me tell you, there was no reason to bring anything else to start manually disassembling a beaver dam than that pro-hoe. What a great tool. Its compactness allowed me swing down near my feet while being precariously balanced on beaver chew logs. It was a pry bar, an ordinary hoe for trenching, a surrogate axe for severing logs and branches. I used it to chop and loosen the pile, getting under it and almost as a shovel to scoop the loosened mud/grass/stick-log mess up.
My buddy kept asking for me to hand it across to him so he could use it. We made good progress until I told him I needed a break: that is when he checks his sugar levels ;o)
The water level noticeably dropped and with any luck it would dry out enough. We broke for the day and he said he would come back with his grandson the next day "and oh by the way, can I borrow that fancy hoe of yours?" This is a man who I have no problem letting borrow tools.
Turns out that him and his grandson went back a couple of times, enough to drop the water level to where he got a mini-ex in there and finished the job. And they all lived happily ever after - except the beavers. Honestly, I think the beavers had already moved on because they did not fix the damage we caused overnight.
So if you ever have to manually disassemble a beaver dam - that pro hoe is the tool to use.
