I was certified and used explosive on beaver dams for the state. Started with dynamite (ditching powder) but switched to water gel and det cord because it was safer to transport.

The dynamite was easier to place and did a good job. Poke holes down into the base of the dam on the upstream side and put the sticks a foot apart for as big a hole as you want to blow. Put a cap and fuse in only one stick and the rest would chain react. You do not want to position yourself downstream of the dam because that's where the majority of the heavy stuff will go (amazing how big a rocks you can find in a beaver dam!). You also didn't want to be downwind and inhale the smoke. Nitro headaches are not fun!

Water gel was a lot harder to detonate. You layed it out the same way as dynamite but you had too string all the sticks together with det cord (basically an high explosive cord) to get them to all blow at the same time. You capped and blew the det cord which blew all the sticks of water gel simultaneously. Kind of a pain - but again safer to transport and work with.

Explosive force blows outward from the most dense backing toward the least dense backing - hence more force goes through the dam than the water (water doesn't compress). Taping a bag of saline solution over a charge on a door will cause the explosion to blow through the door.

So the tannerite on the downstream side would be very inefficient. Using enough to get the job done would be pretty dangerous and very loud.

Thanks for the info.....set on upstream side of dam and ignite from upstream side.

I just watched a YT video where 1.5 lbs of Tannerite in a 2" pvc pipe pushed down into dam blew a very large breach all the way down to base of dam.

2lb and 3 lb pipes did just as good a job on larger dams. I was impressed!!

In an area with widespread beaver problems, a trained and certified explosive handler that advertised dam removal could probably do pretty well. Although, bureaucratic BS in some jurisdictions may make it not worth it.

We are trappers bud! kill the beavers and get an excavator to come out. Or some motivation and a shovel!

Your "idea" probably works in Iowa, but you obviously know little about southern US timberlands. Things are a little different here in these large swamps of the deep South than they are in those cornfield drainage ditches.

An excavator can get to some dams here, but not all of em. There is no bottom that will support an excavator in these cypress swamp bogs. I've seen an excavator stuck where water was over knee deep in the cab. Takes a while and bigger equipment to get that out....especially when a road has to be built thru the swamp just to get to it.

The beaver are trapped first, Bud! Then the water needs to be released so the valuable pine timber won't drown or continue to drown. I guess yall don't worry about a few corn stalks drowning.

"Motivation and a shovel".....that's laughable!!!

For sure^^^^

Would likely have a need for the "boom" about 10 or 12 times a year.

I have some beaver work near homes where a big boom is a no-go.

But, I have some work that is more than 20 miles from any residence...just miles and miles of plantation pines and cypress swamps.

Ought to invite a few folks down to see what we deal with.

"Motivation and a shovel".....that's laughable!!![/quote]

I've ripped thousands out by hand for years right down to natural flow.Some big ones too.
Still do but its a little harder when your older.
Ripped out 7 the other day finishing off a contract.

Anyone ever use Kinepak. A 2 part explosive so it is very safe to transport.

It would be interesting to have someone from “up there” come down and see the gators and cottonmouths, and even experience the humidity and gnats.

If you're looking to do this as part of your job on going, I'd advise you to get ATF certified. You will need storage bunkers for the explosives with regulations on distance, security, etc. David Denton, varmintshooter on here, did that. He's the trapper who took over my timber company contract. He does a great job blowing dams using such binary explosive charges as dam busters or other such charges. http://www.omniexplosives.com/Land%20Mgmt.html

This timber company required insurance that covered using explosives. They were strict about this.

David is home now recuperating from a surgery, so you may be able to get up with him. I'll PM his phone number to you if you want it.

Not to mention the sweat and physical discomfort from all day in saturated drawers.

Those are childsplay compared to blackflies,horseflys,mosquitos,and noseeums.And bears if you dont haul out the dead beaver.

im from "up here" in minnesota, and ive spent alot of time in the mississippi swamps over the years. blew some dams down there with a buddy who used kinepak. used to buy it at the local coop by the case, before the 9-11 fiasco. now its pretty highly restricted, and more requirements needed to get it. it was very stable, and worked well with a 3 minute fuse and det cord. swamp wolf describes the southern swamps very well. no comparison to north country.

LOL, we've got the yeller flies, mosquitos, cotton mouths, copper heads, heat, humidity, south of me are gators and we got BIG BLACK BEARS (some go over 800 pounds) and they love beavers in traps.

Boco says,
I've ripped thousands out by hand for years right down to natural flow.Some big ones too.
Still do but its a little harder when your older.
Ripped out 7 the other day finishing off a contract.
[/quote]




Many/most dams in these swamps have large trees and shrubs growing along their length complete with live roots from those trees/shrubs. If the dams were all mud, logs, and sticks that the beaver placed there then my 58 year old butt could tater rake em down until the rushing current took over. This is just not the case with most dams where I get a call to trap. Most places the beavers and the dams have been there too long.

Pretty sure Swamp has those on his side of the State as well. But what you don’t have is gators. What’s strange is our horsefly’s over here don’t bite. Noseeums drown when they land on you, but the skeeters and yellow flys will light you up. I’ve even gone to wearing pants again. My legs were getting tore up in shorts.

It's downright steamy in these deep south beaver swamp in the summer.....jungle-like.

Thanks for info Paul.

At this point I dont have enough need for explosives to go thru permitting (except I am gonna check on the tannerite legalities for commercial purposes). The timber company here are the ones that suggested I use Tannerite. Says they "approve" it on their lands. Sorta surprised me when the topic came up.

Just curious, is removing the dam part of your agreement?