Homemade Weed Removal Tool for Pond - Removes hydrilla, milfoil, lily pads and more - Part 1 - S1:E1

This video shows you our homemade weed removal tool that we use to manage the hydrilla/milfoil growth in our pond.
Instagram - / pleasant.valley.outdoors
If you are interested in ordering one of the rakes please email us at [e-mail]
#pondweeds #weedmanagement

[@stephenbingham5001]

Can you make another apparatus like this? I’ll pay for one! My neighbors and I have tried just about everything. We’re desperate to remove lily pads from our pond. Where are you located I’ll even drive to pick it up!

[@PleasantValleyOutdoors]

Absolutely. We'll price out shipping to see how much it would cost to get one to you. We're in Northern Indiana

[@stephenbingham5001]

Pleasant Valley Outdoors give me a call 6015436515

[@PleasantValleyOutdoors]

Send us a message at [e-mail]

[@williamterry3177]

Your comment was a couple of years ago, Did you get a chance to do anything about your pond? We are loaded with pond lilies.

[@willsiewert987]

@@PleasantValleyOutdoors I’d like one priced out pls

[@Theandrew189]

I will be putting this contraption to the test for my pond. Thanks!

[@Elmo_Fuddleputt]

I love this. A beautifully simple tool that I believe would greatly assist us in removing a lot of the grass from our shoreline. Thank you for posting this up. You really did me a solid.

[@PleasantValleyOutdoors]

Glad you liked the video! You could make many different variations of this tool to work best on your shoreline. Even a smaller version of this that could be pulled by a small lawn tractor would work great. You may also want to check out our second video on this that shows a little bit more of the tool in action. Thanks for checking us out!

[@saallday294]

Love the video! Seriously, Ingenius! Lots of fun. Smiled all the way through. Jealous of the red tractor!

[@PleasantValleyOutdoors]

Thanks for watching

[@bradsimbric7023]

Excellent idea! We used a similar apparatus and a four wheeler near our dock in NW Ontario. Handled the cat tails with ease.

[@JeffreyOlsen1]

how large were the tines on your apparatus? thinking to do that same with cattails in my pond

[@williamterry3177]

We have a 5 acre pond that gets covered in Pond liles. This looks like a good way to drag about 2/3s of them out, leaving the balance for the fish. Thank you for sharing your method.

[@PleasantValleyOutdoors]

Thanks for watching

[@halfmoon5022]

Try a 6x4 section of chain link fence. It rolls up quite easy. Covers lotsa water. Your idea is great as well. Thank you!

[@halfmoon5022]

You, I have regressed from the fence piece and now use a metal hoop. Not a very big nor heavy steel hoop. Heavy enough that it will sink, yet light enough to throw. It is alot easier to pull through the water abd easier to clean once on land.

[@kenbrewsaugh2473]

I have a 2 1/2 acre pond and fought weeds for 7-8 years. Got tired of it, got the right chemicals and killed the weeds. Then I added the right number of carp and haven't had a problem since. That was 22 years ago and have I now have trophy Bass, Crappie and Blue Gill. Don't fight those weeds every year, spray it and get it over with!!

[@PleasantValleyOutdoors]

I treated it this year with chemicals for the first time. Had pretty good luck. Still have some bladderwort that the Hydrothol didn’t kill. I’ll use something different next year. Thanks for watching

[@Gillyg71]

Much better than wrecking the water column with a drag over and over.

[@donh202]

what were the chemicals you used....

[@Irtadoom]

Do you have to clean up the dead foilage after treating with chemicals?

[@BillB]

What chemicals did you use? Can you still eat the fish after using them?

[@alfredopacot5724]

That awsome machine we need to my country because theres a lot of water water lily in pasig river

[@lanaarpin6540]

Love the engineering and manufacturing skills.

[@PleasantValleyOutdoors]

Thanks for watching

[@tomhenne50]

Simple idea. I'm thinking of the chain link fence idea or similar to yours. I purchased a 9000 lb winch to pull it in as I wouldn't have the distance to drag as far.

[@PleasantValleyOutdoors]

That'll work great!

[@williamterry3177]

I was thinking of using shiv blocks and trees then hooking to the 4 Wheel Drive pick up. Driving up the driveway.

[@martinparker6536]

you may find in the summer or next that you will get green algae blooms forming as the sunlight hits all the nutrients disturbed from the bottom, thats what we found happened here in the UK when we tried to de-weed a local pond.

[@PleasantValleyOutdoors]

Fortunately we haven't encountered that yet. This is the second year in a row that we've removed the weed growth and it seems that every time we remove the weeds fewer and fewer are returning.

[@geekia5216]

how about a few catfish to help to eat the green algae ? I too use a wide rake to remove as much as I can

[@papahenry9360]

Pleasant Valley Outdoors l

[@rustyman351]

Thought about making one like an axle with thin tubed tires slightly larger than the tines. Still sink but help in pulling up and shore. Good job.

[@11012Boomer]

Will this work on Lilly pad overgrowth? That’s our main problem. Lily pads have big roots.

[@PleasantValleyOutdoors]

Hi Catherine, this will work great at pulling those lily pad roots out. There’s a chance that the lilly pad stalks won’t wrap around the tool; the roots may pull out and the lilly pad may just float on top of the water. If that is the case you may have to try raking the floating pads by hand after the tool pulls the roots out. The stalks should wrap around the teeth of the tool no problem though!

[@11012Boomer]

Pleasant Valley Outdoors Thank you, sounds good.

[@williamterry3177]

@@11012Boomer Your comment was a couple of years ago, Did you get a chance to do anything about your pond? We too have acres of lilie pads.

[@warrenlee3472]

Can this be hooked up at the back of a tritoon boat. Te canal of the dead end of the lake is becoming hard to get in and out. None of the neighbours are able to put their boat in the water except me because i have a trolling motor. Even my trolling motor broke because of too much weeds. I need one of those.

[@PleasantValleyOutdoors]

I don’t know if a boat would pull it. Weeds get really heavy. In the last few years I’ve switched to chemicals to control weeds. Dragging worked good but it was really a back breaking job. Thanks for watching

[@cliffcampbell8827]

If you install a zipline above the pond and use that as your pond rake delivery system, you won't have to use the kayak. Multiple lines may be needed for the size of your pond.

[@PleasantValleyOutdoors]

I like your thinking. I’ll run it by our R+D department. Thanks for watching

[@starbager]

After removing the algae with a rake, you need to remove the bottom sediments with a mini dredger. This will provide a two-year guarantee that the pond will not become overgrown with algae again.

[@dennisdueck3303]

Looks pretty neat I have a pond that needs that I was waiting till you would clean off the tool seemed to me like that would be the biggest job but didn't show it in the video

[@PleasantValleyOutdoors]

You’re absolutely right, cleaning the tool off is definitely the biggest job. We posted a follow up/part 2 video that shows us cleaning it off. Thanks for watching!

[@integr8er66]

If you were to make another one, is there any reason to have the tines that are on the top since the rake can't roll over due to the pulling eyes welded on the front? Do the top tines serve a purpose in your opinion?

[@PleasantValleyOutdoors]

They definitely do. The more tines there are the better. They catch weeds above the bottom surface and help to pull more out by the roots. When we pull it up on shore the weeds are wrapped around all the tines equally and you can’t tell the top of the drag from the bottom. Thanks for your comment

[@ZsaZsaUmbra]

That was satisfying to watch! Although I'm pretty sure I can smell it through my phone lol!

[@PleasantValleyOutdoors]

It really did stink. Probably took a week to get it out of my nose

[@hermansheartlandfarm]

If you used a winch to do this, what size in pounds would be needed?

[@PleasantValleyOutdoors]

Not really sure. The rope we used is 800 lbs test and it’s never broken but heavier is better just to be sure. Thanks for watching

[@Hyposonic]

I made something similar and drag it with my Grasshopper. Pulls a few hundred pounds each pass.

[@HumorousHearsay]

Well, his pond is no go for dumping bodies lol!!! That thing is awesome!!

[@PleasantValleyOutdoors]

😂

[@bobbob9280]

would something like this work on bushy pond weed?

[@PleasantValleyOutdoors]

It depends what type of weeds they are. The thicker the roots would require a heavier tool. Things like cattails probably wouldn’t work too well

[@mwanauwanimbukuzi4677]

Thank you so much for the idea.how about chemical treatment do you have any?

[@PleasantValleyOutdoors]

We are currently looking into chemical treatment for this year. Hopefully we’ll get a video on that

[@integr8er66]

I used Aquacide this spring, used the highest recommend doseage and it failed. I have watershield (sometimes wrongly called water lillie's) it just didn't do the job. Now I'm looking to try this before draining and getting the dozer almost certainly stuck in the pond again.

[@PleasantValleyOutdoors]

@@integr8er66 I’m going to try chemicals next week. Been doing lots of research and contacted manufacturer for additional advice. I’ll have a video out with my experience using it and results. Thanks for your comment

[@kymerdeth]

@@PleasantValleyOutdoors Another option besides chemicals, if you can get electric there or solar panels work well for it, for a small air compressor about the same size as fish tanks, essentially you have a pvc pipe down in the water with a oxygen rock at the bottom down inside, so it moves water, and oxygenates it, algae has a harder time growing and provides a little current. There is a swimming pond guy in europe that has tons of videos on this idea. He tested his water in his swimming pond and it was cleaner then his drinking water out of a the tap.

[@thomaskrushka1967]

Use Rodeo for watershield

[@FredFlintstone21]

Awesome video! I'll fab something similar up with steel I have laying around. Will be fun to make it then test it!

[@cindywalkus1409]

I have large grass bogs on my shoreline. Would this work for getting those out? If not, what do you recommend for the pipe and rebar? Get bigger sizes?

[@PleasantValleyOutdoors]

I don’t know if this would work fo you or not. The tool we made is 1 inch solid still with 3/8 dia rebar. If it’s just the shoreline you could use aquatic roundup which is called Rodeo. We have a new video coming out that talks about using chemicals. This is our 1st time using chemicals and we share info from the manufacturer.Don’t know if this helps or not. Thanks for watching

[@DevinCrosbie]

Nice and simple idea that works !

[@richardreagan6365]

Does it work on lily pads?

[@PleasantValleyOutdoors]

It should. We don’t have any lily pads in our pond but no reason it shouldn’t work. Thanks for watching

[@BeautifuLakesStreamsBiologists]

This is the fate of the vast majority of undesigned lakes. The tool looks effective. It needs to be used again as soon as the weeds get tall. Do this during colder months as to avoid starving the water and fish of oxygen.

[@bagermaster-club]

This is great! But you have completed only the first part of cleaning the lake. The next step is to clean the bottom of the silt using a motor pump for dirty water and a suction nozzle Bagermaster

[@andyk8993]

Wow that’s a great idea. We just bought a farm with a large pond like this. We didn’t know what to do. What do you do with all the debris that you collect? Let it rot? Do you do anything after the raking to improve the Murkiness of the pond or improve habitat of your pond?

[@PleasantValleyOutdoors]

We scooped up the debris with tractor loader and the water cleared up in a few days. The last few years I’ve switched to chemicals and I have a video on that. Thanks for watching. Controlling Pond Weeds kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y6fbiKNujtN4hac

[@popsboatsnhotrods]

Any idea how it got in your pond ? I'm in Georgia on a large lake and it's getting worse every year.

[@PleasantValleyOutdoors]

We're not too sure how these moved into the pond. It seems that natural ponds and those with soft bottoms like mud always have continual problems with these weeds. The pond on our property and surrounding woods were left untouched for years which allowed the weeds to completely take over. We now have a constant fight with new seeds from the submerged weeds every year. We've tried a pre-emergent/weed control granual as a way to kill the established weeds and prevent new seeds from taking hold, however, this never ended up working. The only thing we've found to manage the weeds year round is using our tool. Thanks for commenting!

[@geekia5216]

@@PleasantValleyOutdoors how about grass carp that could eat some of these .. Do you have any fresh water coming in ? how about an aeration pump to help during the summer ?

[@PleasantValleyOutdoors]

@@geekia5216 We've definitely thought of this but we talked with a few landowners down the road from us with ponds that have grass carp and they are actually struggling a little more with weed growth in their ponds. I'm sure that ponds with isolated weed growth would do great with some grass carp but in our pond that could easily be completely solid with matted grass unfortunately that hasn't helped. We do have fresh water coming into the pond which has helped keep everything pretty aerated and the fish are really thriving in this small pond. Without this water supply I'm absolutely sure that we would lose most of our fish. Thank you!

[@dontfit6380]

Gee Kia grass carp won’t eat milfoil

[@ZsaZsaUmbra]

@@PleasantValleyOutdoors the weeds are more likely what is keeping your pond oxygenated.

[@TheArtofRVing]

*we have an issue at our lake with weeds...so this was awesome*

[@PleasantValleyOutdoors]

Glad you liked it! We appreciate the comment!

[@TheArtofRVing]

@@PleasantValleyOutdoors you welcome

[@manjunathags9544]

Good information

[@Amazighi-NJ]

yes sir it works great. i cleaned up 3 acres dam. thank you

[@PleasantValleyOutdoors]

Glad it worked for you. Thanks for watching

[@baldes]

Can't you put it in the water near a bank, and after you paddle to the other bank only the ropes!

[@PleasantValleyOutdoors]

We thought about that but we’ve got just under 200 feet of rope which isn’t long enough and if we did it would probably have too much weeds to pull it out. It really gets loaded up and ways a ton. Thanks for watching

[@Stevennickel]

You might just need to throw one of those $80 bacteria blocks in there (chop it into pieces first)- that should clear up the water!

[@PleasantValleyOutdoors]

I've seen those, good idea. Typically our water will clear up but during times of heavy rain and cleaning the pond weeds out it definitely gets clouded up.

[@massi7idarifi428]

oh man your a life saver thank you ,,, you saved me 20k god bless you

[@PleasantValleyOutdoors]

Awesome, glad you found this helpful!

[@williamterry3177]

Your comment was a couple of years ago, Did you get a chance to do anything about your pond?

[@wiboater4]

Might be worth making a spool with a gear reduction you could just use the tractor PTO then instead of driving the tractor.

[@k.k7881]

Good ideas 👍😉

[@bavondale]

nice job. i imagine a winch tied to a tree could do the same

[@navagatingthroughthebeasts2908]

Nice

[@David-kj1vm]

???? why didn't you show what you dragged???

[@PleasantValleyOutdoors]

The video shows debris and weeds being pulled out towards the end of the video. Also, you can watch Part 2 to see more being pulled out.

[@stephenbingham5001]

Hey how’s it going Pleasant outdoors. I sent you an email. We’re ready!👍🏾 All systems go on one of these!

[@massi7idarifi428]

thank youuuuuuuuuuuu

[@johnjoswiak]

Get idea think you

[@airlope22]

Hank Hill!

[@zzman5306]

Seems like a chemical process would be far easier

[@PleasantValleyOutdoors]

Yep that’s what I’ve been using the pad 3-4 years. Thanks for watching

[@mhpjii]

"seaweed" in a pond LOL

[@PleasantValleyOutdoors]

Yeah I know. Not the smartest thing I’ve said. Thanks for watching

[@mhpjii]

@@PleasantValleyOutdoors I hear you. Not a problem. I like learning from humans.

[@slange455]

Might be making it worse over time making it spread in your pond

[@Jonathan32177]

use hog feed that has copper sulfate in it, as a year round fish food .. and you won't have any of these weeds to bother with.

[@PleasantValleyOutdoors]

I’ve never heard that before. I’ll do some research into it. Thanks for the tip

[@GardensoftheAncientsHerbal]

Removes all the fish cover and food lol…. Hoomans. Always trying to add or remove something from nature….

[@thatfeeble-mindedboy]

Maybe you can save up for a snatch-block… This is the first time I’ve heard of pond algae being called “seaweed “ … interesting…

[@PleasantValleyOutdoors]

😂😂🤣

[@here_for_the]

Yeah, the snatch block in some environments w/trees & obstacles in the way of tractor path, & could be helpful. When I was a kid, in Missouri, the most common type algae we has in our area, was very thin strands like hair, that was yet very thick & green in color, ( no leaves or beads or balls or flowers) Covering overall, that grew up from bottom to flat to be flush w/waterline, "Moss". I live in a different location 3 hrs away, & are 1/4 acre pond we just built got engulfed in like 3 different kinds of algae in less than 1 yr from the build. Primrose, Duckweed & another algae I forname of. Neighbors pond us small & never cared for, & I believe since his Overflow is our best water source across property lines, its likely all his establishment weeds that flourished in our new pond IMMEDIATELY. WE have been usin chemistry now for about a month, & have a long handled rake. We were told that all the Oak, maple, walnut, (& a few other's) trees massive amt if leaves that blew into the pond in the 1st Fall last yr in '21, contributed to the accelerated growth. Not sure if thats true, but the entire pond at less than a yr old had massive amt of dead brown/black leaves covering nearly every inch if floor as far out away from shore the water clarity will allow you to see. I did not anticipate this rather overwhelming leave problem when we built pond, as we took out several near buy trees during construction. We been looking for reviews of the 24" & 32" rakes advertised on various sites including Amazon. The type you are to throw into the water, ,& pull in by hand. So we found your video while looking for an actual use case of the ones we saw for sale. It tk me about 2 wks to develop the idea in my head, using our Polaris 1000cc ranger, or our tractor, to pull a larger that 2ft rake by hand. Had I found your video a month ago, it would have saved sone time as we arrived very similar conclusions as your already putting into practice. As a kid, we used a Queen size Box spring (for a mattress, with all fabric weathered off) to remove our Moss bk then, by hand, with 2 pple & a rope on ea side, pulling it in. It didn't work very well. The rake design seems to be the best real world design overall we have seen thus far. I suspect that as long as my neighbors pond flows into ours, & is completely overan with 3+ diffcalgae types. Both rakes & chemistry might be necessary to try to have ckear looking water in 60%/75% of the water. My wife wants fish, but reawants an attractive pond to look at. In 30 minutes yesterday afternoon, in the heat, we saw a baby ground hogg, & a fox, & a spotted fawn walking in the water. Drinking & eating w/its 4 feet in about 6" of water. Lil guy even pooped in water. Never seen that before. Took him for ever to releave him/her self, w/lil tail shaking while trying to go to the bathroom. We were resting in lawn chairs next to our Ranger when all the animcame around 1 by 1 in less than an hr. Where do we find pricing for your custom made rakes? & I suspect you offer a few sizes? Or just what ur clients order? Thx. Sorry or rambling. Im to soar today to do anything other than sit, from hrs of aquatic weed removal yesterday. Much of it dying or dead from chemicals we started using nearly a month ago. Regards, & thx for the video!

[@BeautifuLakesStreamsBiologists]

This is the fate of the vast majority of undesigned lakes. The tool looks effective. It needs to be used again as soon as the weeds get tall. Do this during colder months as to avoid starving the water and fish of oxygen.

[@PleasantValleyOutdoors]

Thanks for your input and thanks for watching

[@here_for_the]

I suspect not all owners of all ponds & lakes have the benefit of designing the ideal topography. In our case the lay of the land dictates some things. My neighbor capturing the majority of watershed up high, & then the other property owners at lower elevation, must contend with his naturally pollution of clean pond water with his lack of interest in keeping his pond clean, just to wster cattle w/a few months out if yr when rotating animals up to his highest elevation pasture that then drains into 2 other ponds & eventually a creek. Oh well. Play the cards your dealt. Thks everyone gor great input & a great video created by the content creators channel 👍👏

[@BeautifuLakesStreamsBiologists]

@@here_for_the Any site can be recontoured for a better habitat. You bring up a great point about upstream influence. Building a pond / lake within the natural stream channel will be a victim to upstream circumstances unless a by-pass is created. That can be pretty expensive at times.