An interview with a Dane County Aquatic Plant Harvester Operator
If you’ve spent time around any of Greater Madison’s lakes, you’ve probably seen these large machines in action. Unofficially and incorrectly known as “weed cutters,” the machines and their operators play a vital role in keeping our lakes open to everyone. The proper name for the machine is aquatic plant harvester, because they’re not just cutting weeds, they’re harvesting and removing vegetation from our lakes.
So how do they work? What are they doing? Who is out there driving them? Clean Lakes Alliance visited Lake Monona on a beautiful August day to ride along on one of Dane County’s aquatic plant harvesters driven by Donn Kidd to get some answers.
On Lake Monona in August 2023
Clean Lakes Alliance: How long have you been doing this?
Donn Kidd: This is my sixth season.
CLA: What got you into it?
DK: Well, it seemed like an interesting job, so I applied and I got it! And turns out I really liked it! I was doing an office job before – data management in epidemiology. It’s just kind of a nice change. I’m outside. It’s great!
CLA: How long did it take you to learn how to drive this? It looks fairly sophisticated!
DK: I’d say by my second summer I was pretty proficient. It just always depends on the operator though. Some people get on and it’s like they’ve been doing it forever.
A one-person operation
CLA: Usually you’re alone, right?
DK: Usually, you’re on the boat alone. Sometimes you’re cutting with other people on other boats. But, you know, there’s a lot of alone time.
CLA: Is it odd being out here all alone?
DK: We look like we’re alone, but we’re not. We have a big support staff. If I break down, somebody will be here within minutes.
CLA: How often do you break down?
DK: At least once a summer. There’s a lot of moving parts on this machine. Conveyors, hydraulics, there’s a lot that can go wrong. These machines get worked really hard.
CLA: How long each day are you out on the water?
DK: We head out on the water at 6:30 a.m., and then we are back at the shop at 3:00 p.m. We’re on the water as long as we can be. We stop for half an hour for lunch and occasional restroom breaks. But other than that, we’re on the water a good six hours a day.
Not your typical watercraft
CLA: How does this work?
DK: Pretty simple. Front goes up and down. You hit the gas and there are cutting teeth on the front that remove the surface vegetation, bring it up the conveyer belt, and put it below.
CLA: How do you know where and how to cut?
DK: I usually find the bottom and then bring it [the cutting mechanism] up a few inches. We don’t want to dredge. The equipment can’t handle the mud, so we just want to cut the plants a few inches off the bottom of the lake. When you feel it go up, that means we’ve hit a little rock. It’s interesting that the longer you do this, you know the bottom of the lake as well as you know the top of it!
Clear water in 2023
CLA: The water looks pretty clear here.
DK: The whole lake is clear, I can see everything! I’ve seen rocks I’ve never seen before.
CLA: How has this year [2023] been?
DK: I would say it feels a little different. Vegetation seems a little down. The lakes look to be in really good shape this year. The water clarity has been good. I haven’t noticed a lot of blue-green algae [cyanobacteria] blooms. We had some blooms early in the season, but I haven’t seen many since.
Cutting paths
CLA: From the untrained eye, the path the harvesters take seems random, but it isn’t, right?
DK: Oh yeah, I’m coming in and out making the channel wider for where boats will come out. I kind of have a plan every day, but a lot of times that plan changes due to wind. After I cut this, I don’t want it [aquatic plants] blowing into somebody’s pier. I have to work with the wind, not against it. We get about 90% of what we cut up the conveyor. We try to do our best to get it all.
CLA: Can you easily see your progress?
DK: I wear polarized glasses to see better. I can see really well in the morning. Sometimes I come back and see what I’ve missed. If the bottom is sandy too, it’s easier. Otherwise, I just try to turn and stay straight.
CLA: How close to the shore do you get?
DK: I can get in there, but we don’t cut between the piers. We cut near them but focus more on the navigational channels.
CLA: When you’re harvesting, what specific plants come out of the water?
DK: If it’s [a plant] and in the navigational area, it comes out. Number two priority is navigation and recreation. Number one priority is waterflow. We haven’t cut the river in two years now because of the dredging.
Aquatic plants become compost
CLA: How fast does the harvester fill up causing you to need to come in and offload?
DK: It just really depends on where we are and what the situation is.
CLA: How many dump trucks will you haul away today from this area? One or multiple?
DK: There’ll be multiple – with luck.
CLA: Where does it go? I’m assuming it’s composted somewhere, right?
DK: Most of our harvested vegetation is taken to a Dane County property. We have a landowner who will take quite a bit of it as well. It’s good compost.
CLA: What happens with the bottle caps and the cups and everything else that comes up from the water? Is that just part of the process like, “Hey, farmer that’s taking it, there’s something in here and good luck to you?”
DK: If I know it’s going to a farmer, I won’t get a load like that. I can pick up better. A lot of farmers, if they have livestock, they won’t take that, because they can’t eat bottlecaps.
CLA: What’s the craziest thing you’ve pulled up into the harvester with the plants?
DK: I don’t know if it’s crazy, but you get big fish. If we get a big fish, we’ll reverse the conveyer and put it back. I get a lot of garbage, too. Big logs, tires, a lot of dead animals, which is pretty weird.
Avoiding anglers
CLA: What is the reaction from anglers when you see them out on the water?
DK: We give them a wide berth. I mean, if they’re fishing, we stay out of their way as much as we can. So, the reaction depends. A lot of times, I think the action of our wheels excites the fish and they’ll bite right when we’re going by, so the anglers are busy. But, you know, if the anglers don’t get a bite when we go by, then it’s our fault!
Pete Jopke of the Dane County Land & Water Resources Department, who was on the water with us, added this to the conversation: With respect to the fishing, we work closely with the DNR and look at the data about the fish population numbers over the years. We’re cutting a 40-foot swath from the end of the docks out. But there’s just exponentially more habitat for those fish to spawn in. We get a little pushback in the spring occasionally…why are we disturbing the bass and the bluegill beds, but overall, looking at the data, we have found no negative impact on any fishery group at all.
Lake celebrities
CLA: Do people seem interested in the harvesters when they see them out on the water?
DK: I’m probably one of the most photographed people in Madison! Sometimes we see drones flying around taking pictures of us.
CLA: Do you feel like you’re providing a big public service? Snowplow drivers drive in the winter, and this is kind of like a snowplow driver on the lake.
DK: Yeah, for sure. I definitely think of myself as a public servant. I’m here for people and the lakes – to make the lakes better for them.
CLA: Kind of a nice view for a day at the office!
DK: Yeah…ya know, I’m not a vice president, but I have a better office than a vice president would have. This is the best office there is!
CLA: How lucky are we to have these big lakes in Greater Madison?
DK: Super lucky! I mean, that’s why I moved here in the first place. We wanted a place to sail so we moved here. The lakes are great – they really make the whole area unique. And they’re all beautiful lakes. People ask me which one is my favorite and really, they’re all great.
There are 12 aquatic plant harvesters working on all five lakes and the Yahara River. They cut from mid-May through September. They stay on the lakes through rain and snow, only coming off if there is lightning or severe weather. Running at a maximum speed of four miles per hour, the aquatic plant harvesters move slightly faster than a brisk walking speed in order to safely complete their job.
To learn more about Dane County’s Aquatic Plant Management Harvesting Program, visit:
lwrd.countyofdane.com/what-we-do/lake-management/aquatic-plant-management
This article was first published in the 2024 Greater Madison Lake Guide.
