Abstract: Unwanted aquatic weeds are removed by first dragging the bottom of a lake with a horizontal bar to loosen the weeds from the bottom. The uprooted and broken weed stalks are permitted to float to the surface of the lake. The weeds are scooped from the water by a mesh scoop capable of being carried to a dumping area and emptied. The method is carried out by a self-propelled hull having a boom pivotally attached to a forward end thereof. The boom is adapted to receive various implements on its free end. One such implement is a horizontal drag bar with downwardly depending tines to drag the lake bottom and another of the implements is the wire mesh scoop mentioned above. The tines of the first implement each preferably include at least a portion that is angled forwardly, so that when the boom is lowered sufficiently to meet the lake bottom the angled portion of the tine if substantially orthogonal to the lake bottom.

Abstract: A self-propelled dredge includes a floating hull and a propulsion unit associated with the hull to propel the hull at the direction of an operator. Preferably, the propulsion unit includes a pair of paddlewheels disposed on opposite sides of the hull and independently operable to provide maneuverability to the hull. A boom is mounted on the front end of the hull in cantilevered fashion and a bucket is attached to the distal end of the boom to scoop material from the bottom of a body of water during operation of the dredge. Rigging is provided between the hull and the boom to allow the operator to raise and lower the boom to dip the bucket into and out of the water. The bucket has a pivotable scoop portion that actually receives the material being dredged and a stationary cover portion that is affixed to the boom.

Abstract: A method of removing aquatic plants growing from the bed of a lake or other body of water includes the steps of moving a horizontally oriented bar through the plants beneath the surface of the water, permitting the plant stalks to wrap themselves around the bar. As the bar continues to move, the plant stalks are pulled and either broken at a point between the bar and the roots or are pulled out of the lake bottom by the roots. Once the plants have been broken off or pulled out of the bottom, the bar is moved to a desired position and the plant stalks severed to free them from the bar. An apparatus for carrying out the method provides a plant-engaging bar mounted on the free end of a boom pivotally mounted on a hull floating in the water. The boom can be lowered to place the bar beneath the surface of the water and the hull has a propulsion system to move it through the water, thereby moving the bar through the plant beds.