has anyone used the Clemson Beaver Pond Leveler

mizzippi jb

Welcome back.
If someone from Clemson made it, it won't work that well. GO DAWGS!
 

little rascal

Senior Member
Yeah....

true DAT!
If someone from Clemson made it, it won't work that well.
and THANK GOD it wasn't the "Tennessee Leveler", we would have to look at that stupid Big Orange "T" and it would scare off all the Ducks!

Seriously, another way that is simpler, is nock a whole or gap in the beaverdam and take three large logs a little longer than the thickness of the dam, and wrap them in tin or galvanized sheet metal. Then lay them in the gap the depth you want, cut several holes(slits) in the tin with an axe, and the beavers will repair the dam around the logs/tin, but won't be able to stop it up.
If you want to raise and lower water levels, you need to look into a flashboard riser type apparatus.
 

t bird

Senior Member
I plan on making something similar. Just a little smaller though. Let us know how it works out for you!
 

Hard Core

Senior Member
There is a company called AGRI-DRAIN that has some great water control structures. Good luck with it. I can tell you to be carefull about tearing out a beaverdam. It can wash out a county road in no time if it is of any size....:huh::eek:
 

Jeff Phillips

Senior Member
I have built 4 or 5 Clemson Levelers. 1 worked for several years. The rest did pretty good for 6 months to a year before needing to be rebuilt or extended.
 

Aztec

Senior Member
I made and put one in place. The beavers moved downstream a few yards and built a new dam. My leveler in now under water about 4' deep.
 
There is a company called AGRI-DRAIN that has some great water control structures. Good luck with it. I can tell you to be carefull about tearing out a beaverdam. It can wash out a county road in no time if it is of any size....:huh::eek:
Sounds like you may know alittle something about putting one in.:eek:::gone:.
 

Hard Core

Senior Member
Lets just say.....a 6 ft hole in a beaverdam that was 4 ft deep, plus 20 hours, equals two 60" pipes and a road washed smooth out. I learned a valuable lesson in hydrology that weekend.:banginghe
 

Hard Core

Senior Member
Not something I was proud of. Never dreamed it would have that kind of force that far downstream. My bad.:crazy:
 

Hard Core

Senior Member
No it was like this...........after ripping a hole in the beaverdam we went and hog hunted untill dark on the other end of the property. After no hogs we went out for a few drinks and some dinner. All the while we where taking bets on how low the swamp would be in the morning. Myself being a plumber, thought I could come up with an intelligent guess. I expected 12"-16". The next morning we are riding down the road and there is a cop car, it was at the spot where the creek went under the road. Granted this was 1/2-3/4 mile from the "beaverdam". My buddy asks the cop whats up. He says "beats me, it ain't rained in 2 weeks and the da- road is washed out this morning. I was like "whatttttttttttt". Then it clicked. We told the officer, we would holla at him and shagged. Later, that weekend I had to go see the damage. I couldn't stand it. By then they had two new pipes and a trac-hoe there. Needless to say no more dambustin for Cb. The beavers had it fixed by the next weekend so the biologic rode around in the truck for the rest of the yr. That tells you how long ago it was.:hair:
 
That's the best story on here since the end of duck season:rofl:. I would have crapped myself when I rode down there and seen the cops sitting around::gone:. Word of advise... Check down stream before you make a mess out of the county roads. I cann't blame you, my planning would not have reach out that far either. Sounds like you recovered some of your tax dollars, it made them leave the shed and do some work. :banginghe Thanks for telling the story it may just save a county road somewhere.
 

dux-n-dawgs

Senior Member
Funny story right there, LOL. It's amazing what the force of water can do.

As far as the Clemson Levelers working ..... yes, they do work.
http://www.clemson.edu/psapublishing/pages/AFW/AFW1.PDF
However you will still have to maintain them. Typical problems are beavers messing with them due to water levels getting near the same level as the intake, silted in over time, and primarily poor installment. It's also pretty typical for the beavers to just move and build another dam when they can not figure out how to plug the leak.

Good Luck.
 
Top