Making a hole

[WeedyJ]

Finally got some rain in my neck of the woods. Poured all day so no work done in the fields. Had me a big cappucino from Starbucks and got a chainsaw. Went to work in the swamp opening up a hole.
Had started a small one a month ago but doubled the size. Now to drag out the trees and get some millet growing

 

[Bill]

Should have dumped the Starbucks. Beyond that it looks good :)

 

[Someday isle]

Looks nice - and I agree - just stop and grab a cup of gas station coffee instead.

 

[j-bird]

The amount of growth that area will see by just letting mother nature do her thing will be awesome. Sometimes the best tool for cover and food is a chainsaw. A good chainsaw in my opinion is an essential habitat tool because of the flexibility of how you can use it to create what you are after (at least in timber country).

 

[WeedyJ]

Made a different hole today :-). After summers of swamp slogging to understand the water flow on my place, I finally, at the end of last summer found the combination of 3 beaver dams that hold the secret to allowing me to lower the water levels so I can plant. The beavers rebuild of course, but a temporary dam destruction works wonders. Tried to make a "dam buster" with PVC and 9lbs Tannerite. I was hoping to shove the skinny end deeper into the pile.


.

This is the dam which is about 6 ft from front to back and 5 feet tall. this is before the" boom"



This is after. I had to finish the rest by hand. Just took about 2 feet off of the top. Wish I had a second boom!

 

[j-bird]

That's a hole! Do I dare ask how far back you stood to take the shot? I bet that makes one hell of a bang!

 

[WeedyJ]

That's a hole! Do I dare ask how far back you stood to take the shot? I bet that makes one hell of a bang!

There was a nice sized stumpabout 40-50 yards downstream that I could lie down behind and use as a gunrest. Wore shooting glasses in case of PVC shrapnel.

 

[j-bird]

There was a nice sized stumpabout 40-50 yards downstream that I could lie down behind and use as a gunrest. Wore shooting glasses in case of PVC shrapnel.

man....I wish you had gotten a video!

 

[35-acre]

There was a nice sized stumpabout 40-50 yards downstream that I could lie down behind and use as a gunrest. Wore shooting glasses in case of PVC shrapnel.

man....I wish you had gotten a video!

I'll second the video request.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

[WeedyJ]

I'll second the video request.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

There was not a good place for me to safely put my phone while I was shooting

 

[j-bird]

"Safely"? "SAFELY"???? Didn't you see the TV show "rocket city red-necks"? Safety...THIRD...man! You missed an opportunity to live forever (even if your phone didn't) on the internet!

I'll be honest....I would have gotten as far away as I could have. Ain't no beaver dam worth dying for!


Glad you resolved your issue and had a "blast" in the process!!!!

 

[mikmaze]

did you buy the tanerite or make your own?

 

[WeedyJ]

did you buy the tanerite or make your own?

Bought it online some time back. Almost a year ago I think

 

[35-acre]

So are you building a "beaver baffler" or some other type of capability to keep the water level at a specific state? I've seen lots of designs on hoe people manage this situation. Just curious for your plans long-term.

As for the video, I got my "fix" via Youtube. This guys used 7lbs (I suspect similar to your experience)

But some other guys did some serious stuff with 45lbs but wasn't as well produced as the above.

 

[WeedyJ]

Holy cow! I can't imagine 45 lbs. I piped one with a flap gate on my property last year and need to do one more as well. This dam is on my neighbor's property, so I just open it and try to get my place lowered before the beavers rebuild. I have talked to him about letting me put in a riserboard, but just haven't had the time to follow up. May do that later this year. Goal would be to have riser systems on his dam and 2 on my place. Would greatly simplify my wetland management.

 

[jsasker007]

We battled beavers years ago and when we would remove big sections on a pretty good sized dam they had it fixed the next day. Trappers went in and got it under control. That dam was the smallest of three dams and was over 100' to cross it.

 

[WeedyJ]

I blew this dam last year and it was awhile before they fixed it. Hoping they give me some time again this year. I like having them around to maintain the dams they have built. They are turning my wetland into a large lake, but I am learning how to work with them. Where else can you get a crew of workers with engineering degrees that work for free room and board? They have a lodge on my neighbors property that must be 30 x 10 feet

 

[Big Snow Man]

And when you get sick of those engineers you just blow them and their lodge to kingdom come !