It's taken me a number of years to realize that ponds don't take care of themselves. [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img]
The first few years after my parents bought the property, we actually used to swim in the pond. Now, a couple of decades later, the algae bloom as well as the number of water fowls fouling the water has deterred us from even sticking our hands in there if we can help it. [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] Also, the trout/bass/catfish population has deteriorated to just bass and maybe a few catfish.
Pop never talked to me about what all he did to keep things perky, and now that he is gone and the pond is in my hands, I need to do some real learnin' on the subject.
Over on that tractor forum (which shall remain anonymous [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img] ), I heard various suggestions for controlling plant growth. The one that appealed to me the most was the use of grass carp, although I'm not sure they're legal in this state (California).
Some years the water level drops down to almost nil during the hot months (see attached picture), and I've heard that one thing you can do is to go in with a bulldozer and just scrape off a layer of soil to give things a fresh start.
I recently heard that it might be better to just scatter chicken poop all over the pond bottom when it's pretty dried out. Not sure how that helps, but I'm not much of a poop expert. [img]/forums/images/icons/smirk.gif[/img]
Just wondering how other folks keep their ponds fresh and clean.
Harv -- Our pond is a LOT more healthy when the water is aerated. We use a 1.5" line from a nearby stream set high so it splashes into the deep end. Our neighbors use a small windmill pump to do the same thing. Those years I've neglected to connect the line to the creek our pond is one huge algae bloom. This year, despite the heat, I can see the bottom eight feet down.
Aeration sounds interesting. I'll look into that. Do you know any formulas or rules of thumb about how much is required for what volume of water?
Knucklehead -
Crisp edges around my pond could be quite a challenge. In other words, I'm not sure I want to work that hard. [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img] I'm pretty sure this pond always had pretty "natural" edges, even back when it was clean. I recall it was easy to wade in almost anywhere except along the dam.
<font color="blue">Seems like a great excuse to rent a 'hoe</font color>
If I had money, I'd love any excuse to use a backhoe, but I gotta tell ya, the edge of the pond is the scariest place I can think of to use a tractor, whether there's water in the pond or not. [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]
My neighbor brought over his 'hoe to my pond this summer to clean up the edges. The problem with 'hoes is that they have to have somewhere to dump. Normally this is a dump truck, but in pond areas this is not always possible.
In my case, I had to move the dirt with my tractor. Harv's intuition is right on -- I tipped my tractor into my pond! Pond muck is very heavy and my bucket was very low. Still, even with the proper ballast and what I consider to be a conservative angle of approach, my tractor tipped over. The ground around the newly dumped dirt gets soft real quick, allowing the front wheels to sink under the heavy load.
This was an experience I do not wnat to repeat! [img]/forums/images/icons/blush.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/blush.gif[/img]
I had my dam (pond) cleaned out last week as it was pretty low. My dam is very small compared to Harvs but it still cost me 6 hrs excavator hire. He took out about 4feet of sludge from the bottom. Looks like it had very been cleaned out before.
The previous summer I had some work done around the dam but not in it. Even then it never settled for the entire year. Once it fills this summer I wonder if it will clear up.
Anyway, yes excavators are the only way to go I reckon but no, they can't move the crap very far away. So now I have bid "rice paddies" everywhere he dumped the stuff. It flowed like lava some 60 feet away.
What I now do with that I don't know. On TBN I posted a question as to what I can do with it and of my tractoe stuck in it.
If there's someone in your area who maintains one of those old cable draglines they can clean out your pond without having to drain it. We have a guy in our area who keeps one of those old beasts running just for that purpose. He stays pretty busy cleaning out the ponds for the dairies.
If I had money, I'd love any excuse to use a backhoe, but I gotta tell ya, the edge of the pond is the scariest place I can think of to use a tractor, whether there's water in the pond or not.
Now I will have to agree with you there. I have included a pic of me and my new E110B excavator cleaing out one of our ponds. As you will note that I was almost in there but didn't give up. LOL
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Eagle Ridge
