lake weed harvester – Aquarius-Systems

St. Albans Weed Harvesters Remove Tons of Unwanted Plant Material

Tue, 26 Oct 2021 21:08:38 +0000

Each year, the St. Albans Area Watershed Association uses mechanical harvesters to cut and remove tons of unwanted plant material out of St. Albans Bay. The harvesters scooped up almost 90,000 bushels of plants in 2020 alone.

The aquatic weed harvesters are used for establishing things like navigation lanes and clearing out areas of varied plant growth, like impacted boating or swimming areas and the weed harvester can remove a lot of plant material. Alternatives would be more time consuming and expensive!

Funding for the 18-year old program is now in question as concerns were raised whether the harvesters are contributing to the spread of Eurasian watermilfoil by fragmentation in Lake Champlain.

However, an environmental analyst with the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation said that there’s no hard scientific evidence outside of anecdotal observation to suggest that harvesting is causing the spread of the milfoil. There are no data sets to answer whether the two lake weed harvesters are the major spreaders of the invasive plant species when there is plenty of boat traffic making waves and cutting through the invasive vegetation.

A Tale of Two Harvesters

Mon, 27 Sep 2021 20:51:43 +0000

As a child, growing up on the lake was an amazing experience. Summer days were filled with fishing, swimming, and catching frogs. Winters were filled with ice skating, more fishing, and hockey. There was always something to do on or near the water!

I fondly remember sitting on the pier with my brother; toes just skimming the top of the water’s surface; watching the weed harvester cut the mats of weeds growing along the surface knowing that the swimming and fishing were going to be so much better when the operator was finished.

I grew up on Potter’s Lake, a relatively small lake in Southeastern Wisconsin. Little did I know that I would not only work for the company that produced the weed eating machine I used to watch, but that one of my co-workers grew up on the same lake watching an Aquarius Systems harvester cut and collect plant material.

Potters Lake – 1976

Chad, Aquarius Systems’ customer relations manager, recently visited our customers on Potter’s Lake and sent a photo of the aquatic weed harvester. When I mentioned to Chad that I used to watch that weed harvester, but recall it being all blue (the photo he sent showed a weed harvester with a stainless-steel barge) he thought I was “stealing his story” about watching the harvester as a child. What a small world! Chad also grew up on Potters Lake and spent time watching the weed harvester as well.

Potters Lake – 1985

Of course, after a little digging through our archives (yup, we have a room dedicated to all the equipment we produced) we discovered that while we both watched an Aquarius Systems’ aquatic weed harvester operate on the lake they were in fact different machines.

The machine I watched was purchased in 1976 and was indeed all Aquarius Blue; my memory was correct. Potter’s Lake Protection and Rehabilitation District traded up in 1985 to the machine that they are still operating today, over 36 years later!

Mechanical Harvesting of Eurasian Milfoil Improves Safety at Columbia River Parks

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 12:59:26 +0000

By Rochelle Feil

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

This harvest feeds no hunger, just a compost pile.

The benefit from the harvest is safety and convenience for users of parks along the Columbia River in Washington: no tangled feet and easier launching for boaters.

Ben Mendoza and Randy Smith, Chelan County PUD park maintenance personnel, spend four days a week July through August clearing parks of Eurasian milfoil, an aquatic noxious weed. The parks are between the Beebe Bridge and Rock Island Dam.

“It’s kinda like mowing lawn,” says Smith about running the milfoil harvester.

The harvester cuts the milfoil below the water level, catches and lifts it onto a conveyor and secures it in a holding tank until the harvester docks and the milfoil is removed.

Smith and Mendoza have worked together since 1997 and have been harvesting milfoil for the state and county parks along the Columbia River in Chelan and Douglas counties for two years.

A day harvesting milfoil begins with getting the harvester ready for the water.

They lower the paddle wheels, take the “Oversize Load” sign off the back and erect a large shade umbrella over the seating area. Even with the umbrella, they lather on the sunscreen and get ready for a hot day on the water.

Also with them are inflatable vests, safety goggles, ear plugs, lots of water and iced Gatorade.

The men back a trailer holding the harvester into the water, then push the machine off the trailer with the help of a hydraulic lift.

While one person runs the harvester on the water, the other stays on shore, performing basic maintenance on the pump and trailer.

When the harvester is full, it is maneuvered toward shore, where the conveyor is shifted into reverse and the load is dumped onto a truck bed. The load is then taken to a compost heap on park grounds.

Keith Truscott, environmental and permitting manager for Chelan County PUD, says milfoil has such a high water content that even a very large pile will break down to almost nothing when it dries.

By the time the truck has come back from dumping the weeds, says Smith, the harvester is often full again and the next batch of harvested milfoil is ready to be taken to the compost pile.

Mendoza and Smith agree that Dave Coble, their crew leader and the man who trained them to use the machine, holds the record for most loads harvested in a single day at 26. Mendoza and Smith claim they aren’t really keeping count, but Mendoza says his personal record is about 14.

The size of the park, technical difficulty and the amount of milfoil to be harvested determines how long it takes to finish each park and how much is harvested each day.

Mendoza says the job is easier when the water level is lower. The milfoil and any hazards are easier to see then.

Both he and Smith concede the most difficult park is Will Risk Memorial Park, commonly known as Entiat park. Foundations from the original town of Entiat, buried underwater after the erection of Rocky Reach Dam in 1961, are near the surface there. The two slow down when harvesting that area to prevent damaging the machine.

If something on the harvester needs fixing, often it can be done while still on the water, with the tools kept on board.

Harvesting can get a little scary when the gates at dams open, Mendoza says. With the stronger current and a full load, the harvester can’t move very quickly and has to fight against the current.

Duties working in park maintenance vary and include plowing snow in the winter, mowing lawns and pruning.

The two men work four days a week, Monday through Thursday, avoiding Fridays and weekends because the boat launches and parks are busier on those days.

“We try to be considerate and stay out of people’s way,” says Smith.

Rochelle Feil: 664-7153

feil@wenworld.com