...how do you keep trees and plants from growing along the banks and in the water? I just got through cleaning up and cutting away everything and don't want to do it again. I am planning on mowing up to where the bank drops off. I do have fish.

Thanks.

We used this guy. He had the big momma amphib tractor and cleaned the pond. Great job. I’d send a video, but I think the file is too big. He’s in South Louisiana, but goes all over Texas too. He fit us in when he made a tour through the area.

Ok, interesting. Did he just clean up weeds and what not? Or did he dredge it?

I guess the best way to explain it is that he had a shovel/grapple on the front of that thing. He’d dig and grapple up about 6’ of the pond bank, climb out and dump it in a pile. He worked pretty fast with that amphib tractor, and when he got finished (took 2 days), the pond bank was clean. Here’s before and after. He really cleaned up the cattails and weeds and everything.

Action shot.

Thanks, he did a great job. I guess I was hoping there was something I could use to suppress growth without harming the aquatic animals.

How did he rig that hydraulic grapple up?

He bought it for this specific purpose. Made in Sweden, I think. Cost about $250k, if memory is correct. He didn’t modify it or rig anything up, since it was made to do what it does.

One thing to mention is that he got all that stuff from the pond and dumped it in piles near the bank. Weeds and mud. I got his lowest price because I took care of those piles, using my tractor and grapple to make a real big pile. Let it dry for a couple of weeks and then burned it.

Didn’t harm the fish at all, though it did muddy the water for a time.

Prior to this, we got lots of chemicals and potions from places like The Pond Guy. It might have worked, but the weed growth was too big to whip by then. I decided to go big. Pond looks good now and the fish are biting.

He was a real nice guy and very knowledgeable. If you call them, you probably will talk to his wife to get on their schedule.

Thanks, I might not have any other options. It's good to see his work, though, before hand. Appreciate it!

I have some cool videos of the machine working that the wife took, so I’ll try to post one. Probably too big to send, but I’ll try.

Nope. Can’t seem to do it.

On the few times I’ve needed to, I got my grandson to paddle a jon boat while I used a pump up sprayer.

Can you share what that cost you? I have a similar sized pond and need to do the same thing.

Going on memory, it was a couple of thousand dollars. It would have been more if I had requested that he carry off all the removed weeds/mud. I think the cost will vary depending on whether or not he has other ponds to do in your area, or if he has to travel a long way to get to you. We had arranged for him to do the job, and we were told that he’d schedule it and call ahead before he showed up, but he showed up much quicker than he or we had planned, due to changes in his list and sequence of jobs. That was not a problem.

By the time he left, that pond had slick banks. And, it got me out of a job the wife had assigned to me, which was to spray all the weeds and algae and all the garp that was in the pond. I did kill some of the weeds and cattails, but now I had all the dead stuff in the water. The wife’s plan just wasn’t working that well, so I decided to go big. Took a while and a lot of phone calls to find just the right guy.

I have an algae problem right now. Well, maybe had? It has now turned brown from green. It might have had something to do with my fish kill; that, and lack of wind, air and circulation from all the plant growth I cleared out.

We've been here about 13-14 years now and have had about 3 fish kills. Very few will die, though. Maybe 20 or 30.

My cousin does it. His company is We Clean Lakes and Ponds. He has a website and is on Facebook. He's out of Waxahachie and travels. He had two machines.

When I had this stock tank over in Fayette County at the Ranchito the Cows kept it clean. They would even wade out and eat all the Lilly Pads. Those Longhorns would eat them before they would eat the grass,

Thanks. Nice looking body of water. Maybe I need some cows!

The original owners built our pond. When we bought the place, the guy said they dug it about 20 foot deep. But that was over 40 years ago and plenty of sediment has entered the pond since then so no telling how deep it is now. It's surely not 20ft. I know it never goes dry so who knows...

A neighbor next door to me at the farm had a backhoe come in and clean up vegetation along the banks.

Actually, that may be needed at some point. I have Chinese Tallows that grow along the backs as well and will need to be dug up.