Sludge pump recommendations?

[rrr]

It's been a few years since I last cleaned the oak leaves, algae and general muck from the bottom of my 8'x10' x4' deep shibunkin pond. The muck looks about a foot deep, so I'm figuring that I should get a sludge pump. Any suggestions on brand, size etc?
Thanks

 

[Mmathis]

How about a long-handled net?

 

[sissy]

pool net and do it slowly ,It should be easy .I use a pool net for years and doing it every day or 2 saves anything building up .

 

[rrr]

I'll try the net idea today...Thanks!

 

[Mmathis]

I'll try the net idea today...Thanks!

Probably most of what you’re going to have is either solid or partially decayed crud, and a pump might not work well. As @sissy said, go slow, little bits of netting at a time, so all the crud isn’t in the water column all at one time. Makes great compost!

 

[sissy]

doesn't hurt to put a crate in the pond up high with quilt batting in it so that it picks up the fine stuff and allows the cleaned water to go back in the pond .Yopu may have to clean the quilt batting often but worth it in the end

 

[Lisak1]

We have a small portable sump pump that will handle muck. It's kind of a pain because it has a screen on the bottom so the bigger stuff can clog it up. You have to stop and scrape it off every now and again, but it handles the small stuff just fine. It's made by Simer.

 

[sissy]

Mine are cheap harbor freight ones and have had them for 6 years now .They were mini sump pumps and I noticed hf does not sell them any more and hope mine last ,because I have them in each filter .I bought 3 of them and only use them to clean out the muck in the bottom of the filters and only plug them in for a few minutes .