Lakebed agitation includes various types of weed rollers and blowers. With names like “Aqua Blaster” “Muck Blaster” “Weed Roller” and “Beach Roller,” the idea is to stir up the bottom, dislodging weeds and sediment. The apparent goal is to leave a nice, clear, sandy bottom.
The BIG Problem: There are many problems, here are a few.
A Lake Weed Baby Boom
Breaking lake weeds into thousands of fragments guarantees you’re creating thousands of new weeds. Many aquatic weeds reproduce by “fragmentation,”) meaning all those little pieces will settle and start thick masses of new plants — in your neighbor’s beach!
You increase weed-growth in your lake, literally, by several thousand-fold. You may have a little clear area, but other parts of your lake are becoming choked with weeds from the baby weed factory you created.
An “All You Can Eat Buffet” For Lake Weeds
Stirring up the sediment re-suspends particles that drift with the current. In the process, you release the nitrogen and phosphorus (key lake weed fertilizers) that was trapped in the sediment on your lakebed. Outside of your little clear area, all the weeds in your lake thank you for the “all you can eat buffet” you’re providing them.
How Low Will You Go?
This should be obvious but… How far down do you think your solid bottom? Do you have a beautiful sandy bottom just inches below your muck that a little rolling or blowing will reveal?
Or is it more likely your “solid” bottom is several feet down? If so, how low are you going to go to reach it? If you did manage to remove all the sediment, you’d reach a slippery, gooey type of gray clay called marl. If you’re artistic, you can make pottery with it.
Can you see how absurd this is?
On most lakes, you’ll never have a solid, weed-free bottom by rolling or blowing out your lakebed.
Mechanical weed rollers are big and heavy to move. Hand held weed rollers could be a great workout, I guess. They may also be the dumbest lake weed tool I’ve ever seen.
MuckMat Pro vs. Weed Rollers
.A lake weed roller costs $4,699. It’s advertised to “eliminate muck” among other things… It is the stuff of alchemy. (You can usually find used ones for a lot less, wonder why?)
A Large MuckMat Pro is $509 with free shipping in the lower 48 states. You lay MuckMat Pros on your lakebed, it takes less than a half-hour to assemble. You’re instantly weed-free and have a firmer lake bottom. MuckMat Pros cover muck. If you put sand on one, you’ll compress the muck below it. It’s still muck, you just won’t sink in it anymore. Plus, you’re not making any new weeds with a MuckMat Pro.
Note:
LakeMat Pros are for lake weeds only.
MuckMat Pros are for both lake weeds and a firmer lake bottom
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