Moving mud from under boat lift?

[movinon]

I live in SW Florida, where the water level is fairly shallow, especially under my boat lift, in my canal.
I was thinking of renting some type of pump where I could pull water from the canal and have enough water pressure at the other end to push mud out from under my boat lift.
I only need to move the mud that is directly under the 2 cross braces of the lift.
This would allow the lift to be lowered an additional 6" or more.
Has anyone done this or have any other ideas on how to move some of the mud away?
Tom

 

[26aftcab454]

Re: Moving mud from under boat lift?

water hose or pump a jet of water to carry it away.

 

[26aftcab454]

Re: Moving mud from under boat lift?

and welcome to iboats!

 

[DaNinja]

Re: Moving mud from under boat lift?

Funny...and timely.

I had my lift pulled a few weeks ago. We're in a shallow cove anyway, but a new highway has caused a change in drainage here to the cove. We were silted up to the point that the Starcraft was stuck on the lift for a month.

With the lift gone, I threw on some waders yesterday to try to dig out the slip. I made some progress and I'll hit it again tomorrow. In another couple of months, my dock will be on dry ground. I may come back here then and try to get a Bobcat in there.

We have used the neighborhood fire pump to blast the silt out before. A local rental company has a pump with 4x the power that I may try.

Good luck!
And...Welcome!

 

[garyq]

Re: Moving mud from under boat lift?

I live in SW Florida, where the water level is fairly shallow, especially under my boat lift, in my canal.
I was thinking of renting some type of pump where I could pull water from the canal and have enough water pressure at the other end to push mud out from under my boat lift.
I only need to move the mud that is directly under the 2 cross braces of the lift.
This would allow the lift to be lowered an additional 6" or more.
Has anyone done this or have any other ideas on how to move some of the mud away?
Tom

this should work but you must have 150 psi or more to move the mud and you will have to get in the water to work the mud out...

 

[movinon]

Re: Moving mud from under boat lift?

My neighbor has a small boat that I was hoping we could use the pressure side of the hose from.
Several years ago, when the water level was extremely low, I jumped in with a shovel and a hoe. The shovel was useless, because the mud would stick to it like glue. I did make some progress pulling the mud, toward the seawall, with a hoe.
It doesn't take long before your feet sink into the mud, it is kind of like quick sand.
My wife freaked out. She thought I would get eaten by the alligators.
Most days I can get the boat on and off if I plan it in advance and take the boat off at the right time of day.
If I remove enough mud to lower the lift six inches more it would really help.
I'll check at the rental places to see if they have pumps that put out somewhere near 150 psi.
Tom

 

[DaNinja]

Re: Moving mud from under boat lift?

A couple of years ago, I employed every able male guest to dig out from under the lift.

Nothing like having a dozen+ family members to the lake with a boat stuck on the lift.

And I measure depth in inches here, too.

 

[trendsetter240]

Re: Moving mud from under boat lift?

If you have a boat with a shallow enough draft, back it in and fasten it securely to the lift/dock. Put the motor in fwd gear and throttle up a bit. You'd be amazed how much mud you can move.

I did this once with a 9.9 on an aluminium boat. Years ago, a friends family had a dock at the mouth of a river and would need to be dredged out annually.

Only try this if there is enough clearance and you can tie the stern on to something very strong. Also be midfull of the amount of silt being turned up and drawn into your impeller.

 

[DaNinja]

Re: Moving mud from under boat lift?

If you have a boat with a shallow enough draft, back it in and fasten it securely to the lift/dock. Put the motor in fwd gear and throttle up a bit. You'd be amazed how much mud you can move.

I did this once with a 9.9 on an aluminium boat. Years ago, a friends family had a dock at the mouth of a river and would need to be dredged out annually.

Only try this if there is enough clearance and you can tie the stern on to something very strong. Also be midfull of the amount of silt being turned up and drawn into your impeller.

If he has the room to back in, he doesn't have a clearance problem. I was scuffing the bunks pulling in forward. Backing in would have required another three feet, which would make the prop dredging unnecessary.

I guess you could tie up in front of the dock/slip and try to blow the silt to the shore.

Hmm..I have a pair a 454s at my disposal....hmmm

 

[trendsetter240]

Re: Moving mud from under boat lift?

Hmm..I have a pair a 454s at my disposal....hmmm

NOW you're talkin

But you are right, you'd need enough clearance to get a small boat in there. Maybe it could be blown sideways away from the dock?

It worked for us because the area was tidal and we could back in at high tide and run the outboard to flush out the silt/mud. Then at low tide there was still enough depth to dock the larger boat.

 

[Fireman431]

Re: Moving mud from under boat lift?

A standard home pressure washer works wonders on moving mud. Only takes 15-20 minutes.

 

[DaNinja]

Re: Moving mud from under boat lift?

A standard home pressure washer works wonders on moving mud. Only takes 15-20 minutes.

We couldn't make that work for us. Getting to a water hookup was a pain and the sprayer didn't make a dent on 10'x30'x2' mud.

That's why we switched to the neighborhood fire pump. It draws from the lake and has a lot of volume and pressure.

 

[rbh]

Re: Moving mud from under boat lift?

Don't know if this would work or not, but just a thought.
How about laying in some pipe/hose and turning the area under your lift into an aeration area once you get the mud out.
The air bubbles should help in keeping the area clean by not alowing the mud to set up???

(sort of keep the solids in motion)

 

[DaNinja]

Re: Moving mud from under boat lift?

Don't know if this would work or not, but just a thought.
How about laying in some pipe/hose and turning the area under your lift into an aeration area once you get the mud out.
The air bubbles should help in keeping the area clean by not alowing the mud to set up???

(sort of keep the solids in motion)

Along those lines, someone said they installed dock de-icers with the flow strategically aimed. I have a submersible pump from my garden pond that I've thought could serve the same purpose.

 

[ShadowB]

Re: Moving mud from under boat lift?

I'm with Fireman431, used a pressure washer before and it works pretty good. On our lake we have to be a little careful, anything other than minor we have to get permission from the Lake Gods. There's a contractor that has a pontoon with a diesel auger/pump set up that can move a lot of mud 3000 ft away in short order (with permit). For what your talking about I'd try the pressure washer with a 4 - 6" extention.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Moving mud from under boat lift?

This is what "friends" use to remove creek mud from the boat ramp:
4" trash pump, hose w/ fire hose nozzle.
If you don't have a nozzle, step down the outflow hose into a 1" galvanized or iron pipe.
Hang on!
Do this on the outgoing tide so that the suspended silt is washed away
Do not push (or shovel) silt toward shore; it will just fill back in.
Once you have your hole, maintain with your outboard as suggested.
To get good pressure, put the pump in a jon boat rather than the pier.

Drag a clam dredge, with someone standing on it.

Get a friend with a big inboard, like a tug boat, to visit.

Shovels and home pressure washers won't get it.


Feed ducks cracked corn on the bottom; their grazing around stirs up the mud and it will wash away.

 

[garyq]

Re: Moving mud from under boat lift?

yep this sounds right to me

 

[dsiekman]

Re: Moving mud from under boat lift?

You might try a jetski along the same lines mentioned earlier. Just be sure your neighbors are all on the same page. If you tried that around my neck of the woods some JA tree hugger would call the DNR on you.

 

[DaNinja]

Re: Moving mud from under boat lift?

You might try a jetski along the same lines mentioned earlier. Just be sure your neighbors are all on the same page. If you tried that around my neck of the woods some JA tree hugger would call the DNR on you.

Yep, I had a talk with the "Lake Czars" today and was told that my waders w/ a grain shovel operation was against the law.

Now...if my boat, or a twin 454 Black Thunder was inexplicably stuck to the dock, and under power, for say...an hour, would that be dredging or just an oversight.

Pay no attention to the chains Mr. EPA Man.

 

[Fireman431]

Re: Moving mud from under boat lift?

...home pressure washers won't get it.

I beg to differ. My brother uses his home pressure washer (2800 PSI) every 6 months and it work very well. It's sand/silt/mud bottom. Only takes less than an hour.