Dredging a channel

My favorite lake is a couple miles long, 1/2 mile wide, very protected and calm with big hills and heavy forests all the way around. The bottom drops off sharply and most of the lake is 30 to 70 feet deep.

There is one problem. After launching the boat at the only ramp, you must cross the only sandbar area on the lake. With the hot summer and no rain, we can't get across anymore!

Does anyone know of a way to dredge a channel without a big barge and highly specialized equipment?

No specialized equipment? How about a shovel and bucket then?

Sounds like a lot of work....
I was thinking more along the lines of taking some equipment that isn't exactly made for dredging, and making it work...
Maybe a big gas powered pump? 4" hose or so? Basically suck sand and water from the sandbar and relocate it to deeper water. Anyone tried anything like this?

You can do it like that! Also if you just use the discharge end and spray against he bottom it will relocate on its own but the whole process takes time either way and is illegal because of the environmental impact just about everywhere. So don't tell anyone and get it done as inconspicuous as possible. We had to do about 100' worth and it took 8hrs sat and about 4 on sunday. Oh yeah and expect it to smell bad.

well Jamie if there was a cheaper way of moving dirt,I'm sure that special heavy equipment would become irrelevant.

How much dirt do you think you would actually have to move?

I seen it done but with a huge pump and they were just dumping it not dredging.Also I think you need a much bigger hose then that,more like a 8" hose.

We really wouldn't have to move a lot. The boat nearly floats across now. We usually have to push it across, but now it is a multiple person job!

The lake is very clean, and we would only be moving clean sand, so I wouldn't think it would smell too bad.

how far is the sand bar from shore? and how deep is it between shore and bar...and how wide is the bar?

You can't go around it, if that is what you are thinking...
It totally sucks. The ramp itself is great. Perfect angle, good cement, great dock, deep. Then about 100 feet out from shore,the water gets about knee deep for probably 30 feet, then quickly drops off to about 25 feet deep.

Really all that would be necessary would be a narrow channel that would get us across that 30 foot stretch.

Jamie whats up dave rahoi here, noticed yooper as your name and had to check it out, was going to get a hold of you and jake, going to be in Marquette for my brothers wedding in about a month, hoping to get a little ridin if i can, good luck with the sand bar that really sucks.

Hey, Dave! We should be around... Give me a call while you're here.

I have my boat on a boat lift and have blown a huge swim hole behind my boat....what used to be 2 feet deep is now 8 feet deep and 30 feet long....all with the power of my prop. In your situation you are missing a boat lift close to the bar so you have to find a way to stop your boat from moving so the prop can blow the sand away. maybe sledging some 2 by 4's
into the sand at an angle away from the rear of the boat and deep and attaching cable or rope to either side of the rear of the boat to the 2by4(normally those eye rings)....you would have to do this in stages .....and probably still some digging. Also if you did this it would put a big and I mean big dirt cloud into the lake which would eventually sink again and disappear.

......try at your own risk

Now we're talkin'!! What about a Waverunner? It seems like it would be easier to hold back, plus it would really shoot out a heck of a water stream.

..............yup anything would work but we once tried that holding back an aluminum with a 9.9hp.....its awfully difficult...couldn't do it...bad leverage etc.... you def. will somehow have to anchor it. then again your waverunner is shaped a bit different and if you don't throttle too much...all depends how firm the sand is.

good luck!

I was thinking about using something like this:




Or maybe a big yacht anchor borrowed from a local marina.

All you need is a water pump. Use the stream of the water pump to blow the sand in the direction of the deep water. If it's only 30 feet you would only be talking a few hours work. And unless your lake has currents, it's probably only a one-time deal.

This begs the question though, is this a private lake? Otherwise wouldn't others complain about this sandbar and then force someone to do something about it?

Check with your local scuba shops....I have some wreck diver buddies that have their own dredge gear. If the gear will do the job, they might hire out to get extra money for their projects...

How about a river dredge that gold miners use in streams there small and would do the job... MAybe.

jamie....yes that would be perfect!....but two would be better one on each side...that way your out of the blast zone. dont think the yacht anchor would work as well. you do want some pressure...when I did my hole it was full blast with a 90 yamaha.

to dredge a channel i have my friends peter and katherine bring there boat over for a weekend of wakeboarding, surfing, and dredging. there boat is a 1962 army bridge boat. it's a 27' long aluminum tug boat used in the construction of bridges. powered by twin 2 stroke 353 detroit diesel pushing 25" x 19" stainless props. a 100' wide sandbar formed at the mouth of are sloughe. at low tide the water was only 6" deep. we now have a channel 15' wide 5' deep. peter has 40 of these boats for sale $25000 each.