“Tire Drag” Removes Sediment From Ponds
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Michigan farmer Doug Kalnbach recently built a “tractor tire drag” to dredge out a couple of small ponds on his property that were partially filled with sediment. He pulls the tire drag behind his Kubota B 6100 14 hp. compact loader tractor. It measures 4 1/2 ft. wide and 14 in. deep.
“I got the tire from my neighbor’s 4-WD backhoe. It’s an inexpensive way to make a pond deeper without having to hire someone to do the job for you,” says Kalnbach, who used his tire drag for the first time last summer. “The ponds are 1/4 and 1/2 acre in size and were made back in the 1960s. We stock them with bluegills and perch and have enjoyed a lot of fish dinners over the years. At one time the water was about 10 ft. deep, but sediment has washed in from a nearby field and now the water is only 2 ft. deep in places.
“Our tire drag works much better than dragging a beam or a big rake, or even bed springs, because it digs into the bottom of the pond while also catching weeds and slime.”
Kalnbach cut away about one third of the tire, using a grinder with cut-off wheel to cut through the top of the tire and then a reciprocating jig saw with wood blade on the rest. He welded together a triangle-shaped, steel rebar frame to reinforce the tire so it keeps its shape. A rebar loop mounted on back extends inside the tire and is welded to the frame.
To use the tire drag, Kalnbach attaches a long 3/8-in. dia. steel cable to a clevis on the frame. The cable is about 10 ft. longer than the pond is wide. He also attaches a spare cable to the rebar loop.
“After I make a pass across the pond I pull the drag about 10 ft. up onto dry land, then attach a short cable to the rebar loop and to my loader bucket and lift the tire off the ground to dump the load. Then I drive back to the other side of the pond again and start over by hooking up to the spare cable,” says Kalnbach.
“The mud comes out of the tire as a real nasty, silky mush full of slime, weeds and dead leaves. It’s too liquid to scoop up right away, so I let it dry out for a couple days and then use my loader to dump it into a pile. Once it dries out, it makes great garden soil.”
Kalnbach says if there was flat ground all the way around his ponds, he would make back and forth passes across the pond without having to go back empty to the other side of the pond all the time. “But there’s a big bank on one side of the pond which doesn’t leave enough room to turn around,” he notes.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Doug Kalnbach, 8270 Thornapple Lake Rd., Nashville, Mich. 49073 (517 204-2871; dougkal1056@gmail.com).
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“Tire Drag” Removes Sediment From Ponds TIRES/WHEELS Miscellaneous Michigan farmer Doug Kalnbach recently built a “tractor tire drag” to dredge out a couple of small ponds on his property that were partially filled with sediment He pulls the tire drag behind his Kubota B 6100 14 hp compact loader tractor It measures 4 1/2 ft wide and 14 in deep “I got the tire from my neighbor’s 4-WD backhoe It’s an inexpensive way to make a pond deeper without having to hire someone to do the job for you ” says Kalnbach who used his tire drag for the first time last summer “The ponds are 1/4 and 1/2 acre in size and were made back in the 1960s We stock them with bluegills and perch and have enjoyed a lot of fish dinners over the years At one time the water was about 10 ft deep but sediment has washed in from a nearby field and now the water is only 2 ft deep in places “Our tire drag works much better than dragging a beam or a big rake or even bed springs because it digs into the bottom of the pond while also catching weeds and slime ” Kalnbach cut away about one third of the tire using a grinder with cut-off wheel to cut through the top of the tire and then a reciprocating jig saw with wood blade on the rest He welded together a triangle-shaped steel rebar frame to reinforce the tire so it keeps its shape A rebar loop mounted on back extends inside the tire and is welded to the frame To use the tire drag Kalnbach attaches a long 3/8-in dia steel cable to a clevis on the frame The cable is about 10 ft longer than the pond is wide He also attaches a spare cable to the rebar loop “After I make a pass across the pond I pull the drag about 10 ft up onto dry land then attach a short cable to the rebar loop and to my loader bucket and lift the tire off the ground to dump the load Then I drive back to the other side of the pond again and start over by hooking up to the spare cable ” says Kalnbach “The mud comes out of the tire as a real nasty silky mush full of slime weeds and dead leaves It’s too liquid to scoop up right away so I let it dry out for a couple days and then use my loader to dump it into a pile Once it dries out it makes great garden soil ” Kalnbach says if there was flat ground all the way around his ponds he would make back and forth passes across the pond without having to go back empty to the other side of the pond all the time “But there’s a big bank on one side of the pond which doesn’t leave enough room to turn around ” he notes Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Doug Kalnbach 8270 Thornapple Lake Rd Nashville Mich 49073 517 204-2871; dougkal1056@gmail com
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