What Is Pond Dredging?
On many properties — from private residences to public golf courses — a pond can represent a beautiful focal point. However, if a pond isn’t kept clean and healthy, then its aquatic life, as well as the creatures and plants that live near it, will pay the price.
Because ponds are often fed by other sources of moving water such as rivers and streams, they can form the end collection point for sediment, silt and other environmentally harmful materials. Over time, sedimentation — or the accumulation of unwanted debris — can threaten aquatic and plant life in and around a pond. That’s why, to protect a pond’s water quality, the process of removing sediment deposits with a pond suction dredge is an ideal way to clean the pond while maintaining the health of the water and the various life forms it supports.
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See a Pond Dredge in Action:
Why the Dino6 Is the Ultimate Pond Dredge For Sale
Typically, ponds aren’t as accessible as larger bodies of water like lakes and rivers that often have marinas and/or boat launches conveniently located on their shores. Moreover, the land around ponds is often less robust than the more built-up shorelines found by lakes and reservoirs. And finally, the ecosystem of a pond is delicate and can easily be harmed if its balance is overly disrupted.
When you combine these factors, the cumbersome size and obtrusive nature of many dredges make their use in ponds impractical. With problems ranging from the unwarranted destruction of shorelines to the need to temporarily remove fish and other aquatic life, large dredges can cause more issues in ponds than they’re worth, which leaves property owners with few options for cleaning these water bodies.
In contrast, the Dino6 Sediment Removal System is one of the safest and most effective tools for dredging a pond. It offers a perfect way to conduct pond dredging without any of the hassles associated with large excavators and hydraulic dredges. Because it’s specifically designed to perform in areas inaccessible to most other machines, the Dino6 is simply one of the world’s most unique portable dredges. This makes it a preferred choice among pond dredging companies, who value its ability to maintain the natural beauty and balance of pond ecosystems efficiently.
Specs that make the Dino6 a great pond dredge:
Working Depth: | 13 Feet | Great for deep and shallow ponds |
Performance: | 1500 GPM | Powered by a powerful pump |
Cutterhead Width: | 66 Inches | Efficiently dredge small ponds |
Length: | 22 Feet | Transports on a dual-axle trailer |
Width: | 5 Feet 11 Inches | Narrow for tight spaces |
Engine: | Cummins four-Cylinder Diesel | Powerful and efficient |
Despite its small, compact design, the Dino6 delivers the power you need for a fast, efficient pond dredging process.
The Dino6 features the following benefits that make it an ideal choice for safe, efficient pond dredging:
- Portability: At 22 feet long and six feet wide, weighing in at only 3800 pounds and able to operate in a mere 14 inches of shallow water, the Dino6 is a highly portable unit that needs a fraction of the footprint most other pond dredging equipment requires to operate.
- Accessibility: Because you can transport it using a trailer and one haul vehicle, you can mobilize, launch and recover the Dino6 with ease. Plus, its compact size makes it easy to operate and maneuver in all types of tight spaces.
- Capabilities: Don’t let its small size fool you. The Dino6 features a 1500 gpm pumping rate and a high-torque, direct-drive cutter head to effectively move through and eliminate built-up weeds and algae that often plague ponds.
- Flotation: The Dino6’s design is similar to that of a pontoon boat. The Dino6 rests on two durable stainless steel pontoons that enable superior flotation, providing a displacement factor of two to one.
- Power: With its 65 horsepower, the Cummins four-cylinder diesel engine of the Dino6 is strong enough for tough dredging jobs. The powerful suction boom also offers high torque and can handle waste up to 3 inches in diameter — even large chunks of sediment and debris are no match for it.
- Fuel efficiency: The Dino6 has a 30-gallon fuel tank, yet uses only 3 gallons of fuel per hour. This capacity ensures you can use your dredge for an entire long, hard day without stopping.
- Quality craftsmanship: The Dino6 is built to last through tough jobs and challenging conditions, year after year. We manufacture the heart of the Dino6, its 6-inch submersible pump, right in our in-house facility, so you’ll know you can rely on it for consistent, dependable performance.
Pond dredging, in general, also has numerous benefits, including:
- Cleaner Water: A significant benefit provided by dredging for ponds is that the sediment removal results in cleaner, fresher, healthier water and reduces the level of toxic gases and other materials.
- Minimizing Algae and Weed Issues: Algae and weed accumulation is a common problem in ponds. The Dino6 can help you eliminate weed growth from the bottom of the water body and significantly reduce algae on the water surface.
- Expanding Living Space: By removing layers of sediment and debris from the bottom of the pond, our dredging equipment creates additional living space for aquatic life and can help you increase the water volume if desired.
How the Dino6 Works to Dredge Ponds Efficiently and Sustainably
The Dino6 is simple in its design and supremely easy to operate. When you need equipment to dredge a pond, the Dino6 will help you complete even a challenging job quickly and easily. Its tough, reliable, direct-drive cutterhead bites through silt and sediment to help you excavate with impressive power and speed.
The Dino6’s main power comes from its dependable hydraulic submersible dredge pump, which works hard to simplify your pond dredging operations. The dredge pump is highly abrasion resistant, so it can continue working even in challenging, swampy conditions without breaking down and requiring extensive repairs.
Overall, the Dino6 sets itself apart from similar machines by offering an ideal blend of power, compactness, lightness and maneuverability with toughness and longevity. Many other pond dredges sold on the market are armored in much heavier materials than the Dino6, making them cumbersome, yet do not approach its dependability and performance.
Best of all, the Dino6 is the most economical of the small diesel dredges used for ponds. When you choose the Dino6 for your next dredging project, you gain the quality, performance and superior results of an expensive, heavy-duty dredge without overshooting your budget.
Pond Dredging Slideshow
A Few Applications of Our Dredge
Below are a few types of waterways the Dino6 excels at pond dredging:
1. Stormwater Management
Municipalities also rely on sediment removal equipment for cleaning and shaping ponds and waterways within their local communities. GeoForm International is your one-stop headquarters for high-quality sediment removal systems and pumps that can meet the community and stormwater management needs of municipalities across the United States and around the world.
2. Farm Pond Cleaning
Excessive solid waste buildup can occur in dairy and hog farm containment ponds and lagoons due to the inability of natural degradation or bacteria in the waterway to break down manure or non-manure materials. While the accumulation of these solids at the pond bottom is a normal, harmless occurrence, an excess amount can reduce the water depth. The less dense materials will remain on the surface and form a floating mat or crust. While preventing non-degradable material from entering the pond is the best “perfect-world” scenario, it is not a practical option in most hog and dairy farm operations. The Dino6 is an ideal machine for dredging this material off of the pond bottom. The Dino6 also has capabilities for cleaning settling basins.
3. Homeowners Associations Pond Dredging
HOAs frequently use the Dino6 for dredging ponds in their neighborhoods. As a pond becomes stagnant, it can become an eyesore with the growth of aquatic vegetation. Sedimentation can also lead to the pond changing from its original shape. As the ponds become stagnant with muck, they can also produce a foul odor throughout the neighborhood. Our dredge plays a large role in restoring these ponds back to their original condition.
4. Tailings in Mining Ponds
Mining operations for hard rock and minerals can produce excess waste and debris (or “tailings”) that sink to the bottom of containment ponds on the job site. This waste often takes the form of coal fines, which can reduce the water volume in the pond. This ultimately poses a significant environmental hazard, so companies will use a small dredge such as the Dino6 to clean out the pond.
5. Pulp and Paper Company Pond Dredging
On-site ponds serve as a depository for waste in many pulp and paper manufacturing operations. The waste forms sludge consisting of a combination of solid and liquid materials. Over time, the solid sludge will accumulate, severely limiting available pond space and creating an unpleasant odor that permeates the entire property and surrounding areas. The Dino6 is used for timely pulp and paper mill sediment removal, which is essential for preventing excessive sludge buildup and keeping the pond clean.
6. Containment Pond Cleaning
Containment ponds serve the essential purpose of preventing wastewater from contaminating streams or surface water — you’ll find them at chemical plants, farms, mines and various industrial operations. Over time, containment ponds can become filled with sediment and debris that settles to the pond bottom, which can reduce water volume and present a long list of environmental hazards.
7. Golf Course Pond Dredging
Even the sunniest, most beautifully landscaped course may begin to look run down if the ponds scattered among the fairways and greens become slimy with algae or clogged with dead fish. The Dino6 makes quick work of dredging these water hazards, restoring their pristine water quality to maintain the course’s professional image without damaging the surrounding fairways. Dredging can prevent the occurrence of unwanted insects and odors associated with your ponds, which helps you uphold your course’s reputation and keeps investors interested.
8. Marina Maintenance
Marinas are often in areas where water currents are slower, meaning debris easily collects and can then become a dangerous obstacle for users. The Dino6 excels at marina dredging, keeping these areas clear and safe for boat docking, mooring and launching. It is powerful enough to get the job done and compact enough to minimize damage and enable the marina to stay open during dredging. Owners can be confident in cleaning their marina without creating any long-term consequences from improper dredging.
GeoForm International Inc. — The Pond Dredging Equipment Experts
Experts in developing high-quality dredges and pumps since 1998, the team at GeoForm International Inc. is here to help you with all your pond cleaning and dredging questions and concerns. Because we build the Dino6, we stand by its performance and are here to assist you with the very best customer service and product recommendations we can provide.
When you have a pond to dredge, contact us. GeoForm International is committed to being your pumping and dredging expert.