Need Help With Pond Dredging

[Pond Sucker]

Hello all,
I live in Western N.C. and I am trying to dredge 24 years of sediment out of my 30' x 30' spring fed pond. It was around six feet deep new. now, about three. I built this 4" pvc suction nozzle powered by a 3100psi honda pressure washer using a 0 tip. I am getting very little suction. I can feel it with my hand, but will not suck up muck, leaves, etc. I saw a similar design for a 2" pvc suction nozzle. Any advise on how to get this to work? I know you all are the experts! Thanks for reading this and I look forward to any suggestions. (Pictures or drawings are welcome)
Here is my set up:

 

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[IMAUDIGGER]

I'd pose your question in the prospecting forum. Those guys know how to make suction dredge nozzles.

You will need a water pump though, not a pressure washer.

Be careful not to disturb what is holding the water in.
Could be a layer of clay on the bottom.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

I will move it.

 

[N-Lionberger]

Yup going to need an actual water pump, a pressure washer while having plenty of pressure won't supply the necessary volume of water needed to move the rest along. How far are you trying to move the slurry? running it uphill? There's a similar thread over in the dredging forum.

 

[Pond Sucker]

Thank you.

 

[smokeythecat]

I had the same problem. We used a backhoe and reached in as far as possible. Watch out for local environmental regulations.

 

[Pond Sucker]

Hi N-Lionberger, thanks for the info. I am running about 2 feet above the water level and downhill. I thought it wasn't working correctly because the 4" was just to big a circumference for the operation. The video I saw was using a 2" with a lesser psi'd pressure washer. I roughly thought my higher psi might be enough. I do understand it is about water volumn combined with a pressure. Would you happen to know where that thread is in the dredging forum? I could'nt seem to find it? Again, thanks for reaching out.

 

[Pond Sucker]

Hi smokeythecat, that is the reason I went this route. A backhoe or trackhoe would create to much damage to the landscape. I can drain this pond out and stop the water source from coming in. I thought about sucking the crud out to a low spot location that has siltfence containing the material while letting the water seep out. When it dried, spread it with my tractor.

 

[metrotec]

Rent a "mud" pump. 1/2 day and you're finished

 

[Pond Sucker]

metrotec, do you have any photos of a "mud" pump set-up or links to one? Brandnames? Thanks for your imput!

 

[N-Lionberger]

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/dredging-hi-banking/627438-moving-sand-tx.html

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

How big in surface area is this pond?

 

[Bonaro]

You are trying to move about 100 cubic yards of silt. A gold dredge will do this with ease providing there are not a large amount of weeds/roots. You will need a lot of water so if the spring that feeds this is small you will have to do it in stages, waiting while the pond refills. A 5" dredge would take care of this in a weekend so long as the water level holds out.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

The water supply..the problem with dealing 130,000 gallons of muddy water if you do have the supply.

The obvious solution is to pump it dry, then wait a couple months for it to dry out...then drive a skid steer down into the pond and scoop it all out.

 

[Jason in Enid]

Nope, your idea cant work. You need a volume pump, but you dont need a high-end one for this. Look at a local farm supply or harbor-frieght store for a "trash pump" or a generic water pump. You'll have to make a floating platform because it has to have that large volume of water supply for the intake. The pressure output needs to go to a venturi suction nozzle. The one you made would work, but not very efficiently. look at gold dredging and highbanking nozzles. Nozzle size needs to be matched to hose and pump size. Then you put a soft hose discharge on the end, and many sections as needed to get the output away and out of the pond. The hardest part is going to be running this without being under water with it.

 

[Bonaro]

If you are going to dredge this your water supply will be the limiting factor. A 5" dredge will move about 500-600 gallons of mud/water per minute so you will need to devise a way to strain out the mud and recirculate the water back to the pond. It will be a muddy mess but you really dont need to be able to see what you are doing to do this. The biggest problem will be maintaining debris free water to the pump