Some people in my area, have electric propellers attached to their docks to
keep ice from forming around their docks and heaving the dock up into the
air. A friend of mine installed his this year, and says he has no ice around
his dock, and his neighbors do. The prop keeps the water moving, and so
keeps it from freezing.

I am thinking we extrapolate this idea to a pond. A small 'lectric motor
driving a prop. Attach the hole mess to a styrofoam donut, with the prop in
the donut hole. Seems it would be cheap to run, and could be effective. Hmm,
maybe I need to experiement with this, while it is cold.

Anyone ever used/done something like this?

--
BenignVanilla
tibetanbeefgarden.com
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BV,
Good idea for boats, probably a bad idea for ponds. Reason being that the
propeller idea works by bringing warmer water to the surface. In a pond this
would lead to unwanted cooling of the bottom of the pond. Many keep a hole
open in their ponds by using a simple aquarium air stone and air pump. $15
at any pet store selling aquarium supplies. Doesn't move the water around a
whole lot, but will keep a hole open in all but the coldest locals. Cheap
and simple too.
Paul

"BenignVanilla" wrote in
message ...
Some people in my area, have electric propellers attached to their docks
to
keep ice from forming around their docks and heaving the dock up into the
air. A friend of mine installed his this year, and says he has no ice
around
his dock, and his neighbors do. The prop keeps the water moving, and so
keeps it from freezing.

I am thinking we extrapolate this idea to a pond. A small 'lectric motor
driving a prop. Attach the hole mess to a styrofoam donut, with the prop
in
the donut hole. Seems it would be cheap to run, and could be effective.
Hmm,
maybe I need to experiement with this, while it is cold.

Anyone ever used/done something like this?

--
BenignVanilla
tibetanbeefgarden.com
x-no-archive: yes

Remove MY SPLEEN to email me.

BenignVanilla wrote:
Some people in my area, have electric propellers attached to their docks to
keep ice from forming around their docks and heaving the dock up into the
air. A friend of mine installed his this year, and says he has no ice around
his dock, and his neighbors do. The prop keeps the water moving, and so
keeps it from freezing.

I am thinking we extrapolate this idea to a pond. A small 'lectric motor
driving a prop. Attach the hole mess to a styrofoam donut, with the prop in
the donut hole. Seems it would be cheap to run, and could be effective. Hmm,
maybe I need to experiement with this, while it is cold.

Anyone ever used/done something like this?

--
BenignVanilla
tibetanbeefgarden.com
x-no-archive: yes

Remove MY SPLEEN to email me.




Sounds like something to do if you've got time to kill, but
the air pump and stone will have the same results for less
time and money.

--
Bonnie
NJ

Another "con" to consider: props foul. If you had floating plants, they
could get caught. Not to mention curious fish. You should see what a prop
does to a manatee's back . . .

Lee

"BenignVanilla" wrote in
message ...
Some people in my area, have electric propellers attached to their docks
to
keep ice from forming around their docks and heaving the dock up into the
air. A friend of mine installed his this year, and says he has no ice
around
his dock, and his neighbors do. The prop keeps the water moving, and so
keeps it from freezing.

I am thinking we extrapolate this idea to a pond. A small 'lectric motor
driving a prop. Attach the hole mess to a styrofoam donut, with the prop
in
the donut hole. Seems it would be cheap to run, and could be effective.
Hmm,
maybe I need to experiement with this, while it is cold.

Anyone ever used/done something like this?

--
BenignVanilla
tibetanbeefgarden.com
x-no-archive: yes

Remove MY SPLEEN to email me.

"Bonnie Espenshade" wrote in message
...
snip
Sounds like something to do if you've got time to kill, but
the air pump and stone will have the same results for less
time and money.
snip

Time to kill...ha ha...good one. *laugh* I am sure this idea will never even
make it to paper, let alone a prototype. Not when I can get an air stone and
pump at PetSmart, and have it in the pond all under 30 minutes. *laugh* Good
point Bonnie.

BV.

"Lee Brouillet" wrote in message
...
Another "con" to consider: props foul. If you had floating plants, they
could get caught. Not to mention curious fish. You should see what a prop
does to a manatee's back . . .

snip

I had not considered that.

BV.