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My slip is unusable. It's full of silt. I got a price today to rent a 4" trash pump to see if I can pump it out. I told the people what I was doing they seem sure it will work no problem. But being as its a "you break it, you buy it". Kinda a deal. I thought I would get some opinions from you smart fellow's.

Also anyone got some great ideals for a cheap easy DIY boat ramp?

You got a Mac, right?

Put extra spring lines on and gun the motor. That'll clear the silt!

I have thought about this but the slip is on a small canal (15' - 20' wide). Afraid the silt will build up in the canal or become a problem father down the canal. So i would like to pump the silt back up to the marsh island on the other side of the canal that no one owns (uncle sam).

And if this works i would like to dredge the rest of the canal to make winter access to my land easier. In the winter it is very shallow during the day ,about a foot deep. Summer its about 3' - 4' depth in the day time.

And just to add this is for informational purposes only.

DaveC426913 wrote:You got a Mac, right?

Put extra spring lines on and gun the motor. That'll clear the silt!

This is the standard way to dredge without anyone noticing and it works a treat, just make sure the tide is going the the right direction when you do it

I just used Tide and the delicates cycle.

Although it seems like the "Muckmaster" could be a relation of your humble Bilgemaster, surprisingly he is not. Still, any guy who spends a lot of his time and mental and creative energies engulfed in muck is clearly a kindred spirit. Some variation on his little wheelbarrow-like scoop contraption seems like it could be a gentle cheap "as-needed" tool for your occasional slip silting problem, assuming your layout has a straight shot to some nearby incline over which you could winch the thing out. I don't know as I'd want to dredge a whole canal with this thing, but a slip's worth now and then and just enough to float a Mac? Sure. I'll don those waders. The other silt removal techniques showcased on YouTube, and there are many, all seem to involve pumps and chains or rollers and little barges and whatnot...but it seems you have some sort of pump solution already sorted out.

As for a boat ramp, this just seems like the sort of thing you'd bite the bullet and hire a contractor for, with all of the attendant permits and easements and other bureaucratic rigamarole.

Ill check out the video when get home. Thx for an ideas.
I would blast it out with the motor but its only 1 foot deep at high tide. Low tide the silt is 1 foot above the water. It hasnt been used in decades i imagine.

Far as the boat ramp. My neighbor has one that is just wood to keep the trailer from sinking in the mud. But he only launches like an 17' - 18' power cat. I dont need any thing fancy. I thought if i could find seem cheap grating for the incline and then bring in some gravel or oysters shells for the top. Kinda need a road going to the slip anyways. ground gets kinda soft in the winter time.

Not to be a naysayer, but anytime you think about moving silt or water from one place to another, you might trigger investigations by state and/or federal bureaucracies.

Lot of stories locally over time about guys who dam up a stream or dig a pond on THEIR property without permits. If they are lucky, all they have to do is UNDO what they did.

If you do it, might want to do it at night or on a holiday weekend.

ron

captronr wrote:Not to be a naysayer, but anytime you think about moving silt or water from one place to another, you might trigger investigations by state and/or federal bureaucracies.

Lot of stories locally over time about guys who dam up a stream or dig a pond on THEIR property without permits. If they are lucky, all they have to do is UNDO what they did.

If you do it, might want to do it at night or on a holiday weekend.

ron

This was actually one reason I might look into something like that "Muckmaster" wheelbarrow thing, if it might do the trick for the situation at hand. It seems far less likely to attract unwanted attention than a barge blasting a stream of muck skyward to shore like some fireboat on the Thames welcoming the Queen's arrival home aboard the HMY Brittania. As for the timing of the dirty deed, a holiday weekend is precisely NOT when I'd recommend it. I might instead suggest the lightly-drizzly Tuesday morning AFTER the Holiday weekend, when nobody but old Earl the retired pipefitter in his ancient bass boat's likely to be out and about ('cause Earl's just gotta get away from the wife rain or shine, you understand?).

Good point Bildge.................

fouz wrote:My slip is unusable. It's full of silt. I got a price today to rent a 4" trash pump to see if I can pump it out. I told the people what I was doing they seem sure it will work no problem. But being as its a "you break it, you buy it". Kinda a deal. I thought I would get some opinions from you smart fellow's.

Also anyone got some great ideals for a cheap easy DIY boat ramp?

A 2 to 3 inch pump Harbor Freight cheap pump will work, to move muck, a rack or even water sprayer to loosen up the muck, and a place on the bank with a small berm to hold the muck and let the water run back. If you do not have much space you can do some let that dry out the move the dried muck, and pump out some more. That being said, the water police who ever that is in your area, may come after you for what you do. Years ago I dumped sand in a guys yard for him. Months latter I got a letter from the city he used the sand to make a small beach on the lake in his back yard. The city wanted 934 dollars from me for environmental study for damage to the lake. I did get out of paying but I think the land owner got stuck with the bill, It turned out the guy I delivered the sand to was a renter. No permit no right some government has the right not the owner. On the ramp one of the paver companies make a ramp or parking lot open paver, lay them out add some stone as filler work as fast or slow as you want or can afford.

Ok, so it'll definitely work as I've personally done it more than once at a previous house on a lake that was heavily affected by rainfall. The challenges are numerous for you, where they weren't for me however. First you don't need a 4" pump and that thing would wear you out. A 3" pump would be plenty and you could probably do fine with a 2" pump, which is what I have. A 4" pump is huge and heavy, loud and the hoses are monstrous when you're trying to control them under water.

Second, go to another rental facility and don't tell them what you intend to do with it. The first one you talked to will likely find something wrong with the pump and blame you. Most big pumps have levers that hold the casing together so you can get to the impeller and vanes easily to clear them out without having to remove four bolts, if there's a choice between the two types and everything else is equal, go for the one without the bolts, you'll thank me later.

If it were me, I'd pump out enough just in the back of your slip for you to be able to back your boat in, tie it up to the front pilings, and put her in gear and let the motor push the front silt into the newly dug back hole. I'd pump out 5 or 6' in the back and let the motor do the majority of the work. It's a lot less intrusive and noticeable than a pump with Doc Oc hoses going everywhere (Spiderman reference there). I'd do this on a fast moving tide to minimize the evidence. Do this in a slack tide and mucky brown water will be all over the place for hours and people take notice of that. Take the suction end of the hose and lay it flat on the bottom and slowly drag it across horizontally as if it were a big line of coke you were cleaning up with a shop vac (sorry, couldn't come up with any other analogies).

It'll probably take an hour or so, depending on the solidity of the silt. Speaking of which, it may behoove you to take the output hose and buy a small section of 2" PVC, and reduce it to 3/4" at the end and try to blast it up. That works a lot faster than sucking and displacing. You may find it's best to blast away and then do the sucking to clean it up. Again, if you have neighbors, they may not appreciate the newfound land under their boats, but doing this method, you could conceivably be done in 30 minutes and outta there before too many eyebrows were raised.

One last thing to consider along the lines of keeping it on the down low... that silt you're displacing? It stinks.

I've also heard that a pile of silt will never dry out..............

Thx for the info taylormade.
I don't really have to worry about neighbor are anyone really. None every comes by and only one real neighbor and he don't mind. He told me to hold off on renting a pump to see if his friend we let me borrow one.