Hog Basser Posted May 9, 2016 Posted May 9, 2016 Okay, so here's the scenario. I have a 53 acre private lake loaded with stumps and I mean you hit one every 5 feet kind of stumps. It was created by the previous owners who built a dam and connected two natural sloughs to make the larger lake. They did cut down trees to make a channel through the lake, but the story goes that when they flooded it, they all floated back into the channel. There is no clear path to get from one end of the lake to the other without playing plinko with the boat. We just run smaller aluminum jon boats and a pontoon and do fine, you just can't go very fast and you're constantly pushing off of stumps just under the surface. I mean you can't even run fast with electric (that is all we have on the jon boats). We keep large bamboo push poles in all the boats to get unstuck. Sometimes it works in our favor to get stuck on a stump if it keeps us in good position on a hot fishing spot in the wind, but still need to move around in general without bumping non-stop. This is mostly Cypress stumps. I would like to cut a new channel that goes from one end of the lake to the other and I just don't know if there's any equipment out there that would make it easy. I know there are underwater chainsaws, but I'm not interested in diving in these snake infested waters for long periods of time. The depth ranges down to about 14ft max for the entire lake with much of it closer to 4-8 foot where I would want the channel. Has anyone ever seen any type of equipment mounted to a specialized boat that would cut a path through stumps underwater? I just need to know if this even exists. I know it would be a long shot to have one near me available for hire, just need to know if there is a way to do this with boat-mounted equipment and not by hand with a chainsaw. P.S. I'm talking doing this without draining the lake. I don't want to start over on the fish population, which is decent right now. I don't want to cause a fish kill by taking it down too far either.
blckshirt98 Posted May 10, 2016 Posted May 10, 2016 Found this thread online - http://www.mastercraft.com/teamtalk/archive/index.php/t-267.html Most people suggested dynamite, but the OP managed to remove his stumps by doing the following - " For anyone that actually cares about this thread I was able to remove almost all of the stumps using hydraulic cylinders and log chain. Basically connected chain to the stump I wanted removed in the water and to an even bigger stump on shore and then hydraulic cylinder between the chains. It was a slow process at times and made several modifications but made progress. First I started with a cylinder with 3" inch bore and got some but it ran out of gas on the big ones. Then I bought a 5" cylinder and that got a lot more. Eventually I ran into a stump that even it couldn't pull out. That was the moment that it got personal. Purchased another 5" cylinder to work in parallel and another 150' of chain and out it came. "
Hog Basser Posted May 10, 2016 Author Posted May 10, 2016 5 hours ago, blckshirt98 said: Found this thread online - http://www.mastercraft.com/teamtalk/archive/index.php/t-267.html Most people suggested dynamite, but the OP managed to remove his stumps by doing the following - " For anyone that actually cares about this thread I was able to remove almost all of the stumps using hydraulic cylinders and log chain. Basically connected chain to the stump I wanted removed in the water and to an even bigger stump on shore and then hydraulic cylinder between the chains. It was a slow process at times and made several modifications but made progress. First I started with a cylinder with 3" inch bore and got some but it ran out of gas on the big ones. Then I bought a 5" cylinder and that got a lot more. Eventually I ran into a stump that even it couldn't pull out. That was the moment that it got personal. Purchased another 5" cylinder to work in parallel and another 150' of chain and out it came. " Thanks, I appreciate the research, this method may be what I have to resort to, but I'm really looking for a better way with a single large piece of equipment that floats. Just to give you an idea of what it looks like and how many stumps I'm talking, here are a few photos. The satellite photo shows a rough estimate of the path I want to cut, which is almost a mile long. Individually pulling the stumps along this path would be a heck of a job. You can't see them all in the photos, there are thousands of stumps just below the surface. It is impossible to navigate the lake without hitting them all the time. 5 hours ago, A-Jay said: Just Add Water. A-Jay These stumps have been underwater since 1996 and have not softened at all. I want to leave most of them, but I need a path for navigation that doesn't involve pushing the boat off a stump every 10-20 yards.
Super User A-Jay Posted May 10, 2016 Super User Posted May 10, 2016 My implication was to raise the lake water level to allow safe navigation over the hazards. A-Jay
Hog Basser Posted May 10, 2016 Author Posted May 10, 2016 5 minutes ago, A-Jay said: My implication was to raise the lake water level to allow safe navigation over the hazards. A-Jay okay, gotcha. Not an option...it is already at max level for the spillway. 1
ClackerBuzz Posted May 11, 2016 Posted May 11, 2016 are maker buoys not an option? sounds like you have plenty of stumps to attach them to
Avalonjohn44 Posted May 11, 2016 Posted May 11, 2016 Hire those river logging wizards from Ax Men to pull some out. Nothing ever goes wrong with that cracker jack crew. 2
Hog Basser Posted May 11, 2016 Author Posted May 11, 2016 13 hours ago, ClackerBuzz said: are maker buoys not an option? sounds like you have plenty of stumps to attach them to I could mark them, but it wouldn't do me any good. There are simply too many, I need to remove hundreds to make a path. Even if I can see them, there's no avoiding them completely and no quick way to navigate from one end to the other.
nhpleasantlakebass Posted May 11, 2016 Posted May 11, 2016 try a kayak they only need a few inches of water. that's a decent size pontoon boat might just be the wrong boat for the body of water
ClackerBuzz Posted May 11, 2016 Posted May 11, 2016 Email Bob Lusk the pond boss. he'll probably have multiple suggestions. not sure if he's a member here or not. message Glenn or a mod
Hog Basser Posted May 11, 2016 Author Posted May 11, 2016 2 minutes ago, nhpleasantlakebass said: try a kayak they only need a few inches of water. that's a decent size pontoon boat might just be the wrong boat for the body of water Too many snakes for a kayak, I'd be nervous and fending them off all day. I have thought of using a canoe when it's just me. The pontoon actually has less surface area touching the water than the jon boats, so it works best. It's not that I can't get anywhere, it's just that it takes a while and I'd like a clear path for convenience and speed. That's why I don't want to put too much effort or money into this. I can live with it like it is, but if there's an easy way to clear a single path, I'd do it. 1 minute ago, ClackerBuzz said: Email Bob Lusk the pond boss. he'll probably have multiple suggestions. not sure if he's a member here or not. message Glenn or a mod I've posted the question on the pond boss forums too. I may share what they come back with, had a few interesting suggestions! 1
nhpleasantlakebass Posted May 11, 2016 Posted May 11, 2016 happy there aren't snakes like that around my parts. I have owned snakes as pets and been ok, but something about a wild snake crawling in my kayak is horrifying. and I understand the pontoon boat less surface area that does make sense. so besides getting in the water im not sure there truly is a cheap solution to your problem. 1
Super User Gundog Posted May 11, 2016 Super User Posted May 11, 2016 Ok. This is not a solution but probably the most fun way of not solving your problem. I would lower the lake and duct tape tannerite to the stumps. Just sit on the shore with a high powered rifle and have some fun. Like I said, this probably is not what you want to do or won't solve your problem cause some of the stumps will be left but it sounds like the best weekend of my life. If you decide to take my advice all I ask is you tell me when you are gonna do this and if I can't be there at least record it and put it on youtube. 2
Super User buzzed bait Posted May 11, 2016 Super User Posted May 11, 2016 while i doubt this would be a very cheap solution, at all, check out amphibious excavators. looks dangerously fun! 2
Brayberry Posted May 11, 2016 Posted May 11, 2016 Could you lower the lke 1 - 2 foot, then after a few days when the stumps dry some, chainsaw them in the path your looking for, then just raise the water level again? 1
Hog Basser Posted May 11, 2016 Author Posted May 11, 2016 43 minutes ago, Brayberry said: Could you lower the lke 1 - 2 foot, then after a few days when the stumps dry some, chainsaw them in the path your looking for, then just raise the water level again? This looks like it may be the only way and the suggestion that has come up the most. I was just hoping to avoid chainsawing hundreds of stumps. May have to put my teenage nephews to work for the summer, but I don't trust them with a chainsaw, so I'd have to do that part and they do the heavy lifting. 2 hours ago, buzzed bait said: while i doubt this would be a very cheap solution, at all, check out amphibious excavators. looks dangerously fun! seen a few of these and it might work, not sure what it would cost to rent or have someone come out and do it, but I will probably price this option too.
Red Bear Posted May 11, 2016 Posted May 11, 2016 seems to me that lowering the lake and cutting a few feet off each stump as suggested above would be the cheapest way, then you can let it fill back up. you dont have to completely drain the lake and the fish should be fine...
Hog Basser Posted May 11, 2016 Author Posted May 11, 2016 2 hours ago, Gundog said: Ok. This is not a solution but probably the most fun way of not solving your problem. I would lower the lake and duct tape tannerite to the stumps. Just sit on the shore with a high powered rifle and have some fun. Like I said, this probably is not what you want to do or won't solve your problem cause some of the stumps will be left but it sounds like the best weekend of my life. If you decide to take my advice all I ask is you tell me when you are gonna do this and if I can't be there at least record it and put it on youtube. 1
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