Mud Dredger!

[T_S]

I need to construct something that will disperse mud from my mooring.

Also any good designs of mud rakes for dragging creeks?

If anyone knows anything about this subject I would really appreciate your input.

 

[reeac]

[ QUOTE ]
I need to construct something that will disperse mud from my mooring.

Also any good designs of mud rakes for dragging creeks?
f anyone knows anything about this subject I would really appreciate your input.

[/ QUOTE ]

We at Orford Sailing Club have years of experience in removing mud from our slipway but that's smoothish concrete. We use a combination of hand and petrol-powered scraping plus washing down with water from the estuary.I assume, though, that your mooring doesn't have such an underlying surface.

 

[mikemonty]

Not something I know much about, but I'd suggest an "Air lift".
A length of pipe, close to vertical, reaching down to to the mud. feed air continuously to the bottom of the pipe and let it escape back up through the bore.
The result should be a strong flow of water/mud up the pipe.
Scale the thing up or down in size depending on how big the job is and how much you can handle.
What you do with the slurry you get is another issue!

Mike

 

[chasroberts]

How much do you need to get rid of? Is this from a drying mooring in one of the Canvey Creeks. A bit more detailed info might help get more specific responses.

 

[DJE]

You could try a pump. Used with a firman's hose or similar nozzle should shift soft mud.
I'm assuming the offending mud is exposed at low water.

 

[BenchHead]

How close in is your mooring? Many moons ago I worked on one of the oil jetties on Canvey with a Swedish company who used diesel air compressors to blow the mud and silt away off the bottom and simply used the ebb tide to take it away. It worked a treat and I assume it must have cost a lot less than conventional dredging but timing was key. One downside of this method is if you're in a fairly narrow creek then this method is akin to shovelling the snow off your path onto the neighbours. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[T_S]

Yes it is a drying mooring in Canvey, My boat has dug itself well in the mud and is ok, but my friend next to me has a 20' bilge keeler and now has trouble getting off on the lower tides.

I have offered for the both of us to dig out his mooring, trouble is the PLA don't like us doing that, so this why I'm trying to find some idea/design that will help me to build something that shifts mud.

Regards....Dave

 

[T_S]

Hi there, yes I have already thought of buying some sort of petrol driven waterpump and constructing some sort of water jet layout.

If I can get some reasonable presure using this tool with an ebbing tide, I would like to think it should have some good effect.

Regards...Dave

 

[William_H]

Given that this is a situation I have no experience of. I wonder why you can't dig the mud with a shovel at low tide. OK so maybe it is just too damp/soft.
Around here hire companies will do a mud pump for draining holes on building sites where the hole goes below the water table. They have pump type that can handle mud and solids. A diaphragm pump engine driven.
The advantage of a pump being that you can have a hose to deliveer the mud to a suitable dump ie well out the way. However the pump will be quite heavy. Possibly a small one in dinghy.
Anyway as a matter of interest please tell more of the details especially when you spolve the problem. olewill who is the PLA?

 

[Twister_Ken]

PLA = Port of London Authority aka God for all 95 miles of the tidal Thames.

 

[William_H]

So my confusion with Palestine Liberation Army was really not so far out.................

 

[DJE]

Have a wander round to Benfleet Y.C. and look at John Marrison's wonderful contraption that keeps their slipway clear.

 

[kds]

I know this sounds unlikely - but we have feet deep of soft mud here ar Burnham on Sea and find that a mobo running in gear - but anchored - clears it very quickly. The boat propellor must be just above the mud, so you need to get your tides right. We clear the slipway with pressured water from a diesel pump on the pontoons.
Ken